10 Little-Known But Most Common Things in the World

It has been said that too many of us, especially nowadays, live in our own bubbles. If you limit your experience to just one media source, one type of food, or one genre of film, you are missing out. It also distorts your understanding of everything outside your bubble and makes you think that perhaps these things are less visible or less popular than they actually are. Sometimes you can be convinced that something is very rare and obscure, when in fact the opposite is true.

10. Bioluminescence is the most common form of communication on Earth.

We humans tend to be a little biased towards our own species when it comes to communication. We are the only species that has language, and we are obviously masters of communication. But language and communication are not the same thing.

While speech or the written word may seem like the most common form of communication in the world, there is compelling evidence that it is not. Thanks to the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean and all the life that exists where the sun never reaches, there is a more commonly used tool for communication: bioluminescence. While it seems strange and incomprehensible to us at first glance, that is simply because it exists in a world we don’t spend much time in.

Research has shown that "76% of creatures living in the water column and 45% of creatures living on the bottom" have found a way to make their light shine in a way that conveys meaning to others.

Light signals generated by creatures that have never even seen the sun can be used to hunt prey and inform others of the prey. Some fish even emit light in a spectrum invisible to their prey, so they can hunt while literally keeping their dinner in the dark.

Luminescence can also identify potential mates, warn off predators, and do almost anything non-luminous displays can do for creatures living where natural light is available. The numbers are always a bit sketchy when dealing with things that live so far away from us, but they are thought to be potentially the most common form of communication in the world.

9. Falling in love is the most common form of retail theft.

Retail theft costs $112 billion in 2022. There's a lot of loot missing from Walmart shelves. But retail losses aren't limited to someone smuggling Goldfish crackers out of a self-checkout lane. Shoplifting is responsible for many retail thefts, but the cute stuff is almost as popular.

In 2018, the National Retail Federation found that employee theft accounts for 33.2% of retail losses each year. A large portion of that is what’s called a favor. So, an employee doesn’t actually steal the item from work. Instead, a friend or family member comes in to buy it, and the employee either discounts it without permission or gives it to their friend for free.

According to a survey on the practice, 67% employees admitted to doing it in the two months prior to the survey, with costs estimated at $80 million.

8. Walking is the most common leisure activity

Do you like walking? There is a bit of a reputation that walking, one of the simplest and most mundane activities a person can do, is the realm of old and boring people. For example, there is a stereotype of old people strolling through shopping malls. And many old people do like walking malls because of their ease, convenience, and safety. But walking is much more popular than all of that.

Walking is literally the most common physical activity for adults. In some ways, it’s so obvious that it seems easy to overlook. If you think about your favorite physical activities, you might be inclined to overlook walking, since for many it’s as mundane as breathing or blinking, but that’s the point. People who do nothing else still walk.

Although transportation accounts for 29% of walking goals, in 2010, 50% people reported doing it as a leisure activity. By 2015, that number had reached 65% for women and 62% for men, according to CDC statistics.

7. The $100 bill is the most common

If you still shop with cash, you know that many stores won't accept hundred dollar bills. This has been a problem for years, and one of the reasons is that hundred dollar bills are popular with counterfeiters, so stores don't want to take the risk.

For most people, this isn't a problem because when you have cash, how often do you carry hundreds? Well, statistically, these are the bills you should carry because they are the most common form of currency in the United States.

In 2017, the $100 bill surpassed the $1 bill to become the most widely circulated banknote. If you don’t see the correlation in your wallet, fear not. The other half of this fact is that most $100 bills circulate outside of America. American hundreds are huge in other countries, especially for use in black market transactions and other criminal enterprises. They are small, very light, easy to transport and conceal, and they have a high value. They are perfect for all your legal and illegal cash needs.

6. The most common form of entertainment for school shooters is writing.

School shootings have been a nightmare in the United States for too long. Every time one happens, potential causes and solutions will be discussed by experts and talking heads, and of course, most of us will agree that nothing effective will be done.

In examining the people who committed these horrific crimes, there is a strong belief among the general public, thanks to media reports and statements from the same talking heads, that certain media outlets are to blame. Video games in particular often take the blame. Music and film have also been blamed since Columbine in 1999.

According to the FBI, about 27% of the shooters showed an interest in violent movies, which is extremely low. A more common interest? Writing. The largest group, 37% , showed an interest in violence in their writing, including poetry and essays. So if you're looking for warning signs, you might want to worry less about Call of Duty and horror films, but more about magazines and stories.

5. Faro is the most common form of gambling

If you're a fan of Wild West movies and shows, you've probably watched more than your share of poker scenes. Even in video games like Red Dead Redemption, poker is part of the storyline. Kenny Rogers famously gave us the combination of song and movie "Player" Thus, poker and westerns have been linked in pop culture for several decades.

Ironically, poker was not as popular in the Old West. The most popular game of the time was called faro, and in the modern world it is almost extinct. Faro was in every gambling house, and no other game, including poker and craps, could match the popularity it once enjoyed.

According to the good people at Bicycle Cards, the game originated in the court of Louis XIV. By the time of the Civil War, there were 150 gambling houses in Washington, and Faro was a popular game in every one of them.

The game involves a banker, against whom all the other players play. Players bet on a card from Ace to King. Then the banker is dealt a card, and all the players are dealt a card. If you bet on the banker's card, you simply lose. If you bet on the player's card, you win. There's more to it than that, but in a nutshell, that's how it worked. It was quick, easy, and everyone loved it.

4. The herb called "Laser" was the most valuable and widespread in Ancient Rome.

Before lasers meant "pew-pew," they were grass in ancient Rome. It may not even be a living thing anymore, since it appears to have been cut down to extinction. And yet, there was once a laser in everything and everywhere.

The plant, also called silphium, was a wild crop that grew near modern-day Libya. For many years, it was the region's largest export, and the city where it was harvested became one of the richest in the Mediterranean.

Caesar kept 1,500 pounds of the plant's resin in the Roman treasury, and it was worth its weight in silver. Apparently, it was used as a medicine, a food seasoning, a perfume, and basically anything else you could do with a plant. And because of this widespread use without regard for sustainability, it was destroyed.

3. Plasma is the most common form of matter.

If you were of a certain age, you were taught that matter comes in three forms; solid, liquid, and gas. Later, in science class, you learned that there was a fourth form called plasma. So, there are four kinds of matter. Without going into more advanced science, there is degenerate matter, Bose-Einstein condensate, and quark-gluon plasma. But that's it - seven kinds of matter. Okay, there may be 30 or so, but never mind. Let's stick with the top four.

If you had to decide which state of matter is most common, you might guess liquid. There's a lot of water on Earth, right? But there's also a lot of solid matter, and probably a lot of gas, it's just hard to see. Luckily for you, we won't keep you guessing. The most common form of matter is plasma. It's rarely seen sitting on a lawn, but there's a lot of it out there. In fact, 99% of matter is thought to be plasma.

Plasma is a lot like gas, but it's so hot that it strips away most of the electrons, and the rest is ionized gas. That's stars and nebulae and all those bright, shiny space things we love about "Star Trek" And "Star Wars" If you see it in space, it's probably plasma. Also, if you don't see it, it's probably plasma anyway.

2. Opus number one is the most widespread music

Have you ever heard that crazy synth music with a soft percussion rhythm in the background on your phone? If you've ever been on hold, you definitely have, because it's one of the most heard pieces of music in the world. This hold music, the most common hold music in the world, is used by over 65 million corporate phones worldwide.

The music called Opus No. 1 was written by a 16-year-old named Tim Carlton in his parents' garage back in 1989. A few years later, a friend of his was working at Cisco and remembered the track. He called Carlton and asked if he'd be okay with letting the company use it as their hold music, and he agreed. He likely had no idea it would spread around the world and be used decades later, but here we are.

1. Lysol is the most common form of suicide in Australia

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Suicide is a very serious issue, and if you are suffering from depression or other issues that make you feel like you want to harm yourself, we strongly encourage you to find someone you can trust to talk to and get help.

Historically, people have committed suicide in many ways, and in today's world, firearms are still the most popular method. About 52% people use guns to end their lives. But as we've said, methods have changed over time.

In Australia, as early as 1911, Lysol inexplicably became the most common choice for people wishing to end their own lives. It was cheap, readily available, and extremely toxic, making it an easy option for anyone who wanted to follow through.