Woman Details The 3 Things All Men Think About That Have Her Convinced They All 'Share A Brain'
It's really starting to seem like men have done some kind of mind-meld.
jakubgojda, Makhbubakhon Ismatova, Monkey Business Images | Canva If you've been anywhere near social media lately — including this website — you've likely heard about the weird phenomenon of a seeming vast majority of men having a fixation with the Roman Empire.
But what if that's actually part of a wider trend? Have men undergone some kind of mind-meld? One woman on TikTok thinks so, and she just might be onto something.
She says there are three things all men think about, and it has her convinced men all 'share a brain.'
For as inscrutible as many women (and other men, for that matter) tend to find the male brain, it certainly is strange that so many of them would all be on the same page about so many things. But that's precisely what TikToker Lydia (@lydia_kyl) seems to have landed on with her list of three thing all men think about.
"I don't have an explanation for this," Lydia said in her video, "but I have come to the conclusion that men or quite a lot of men share a collective brain... a collective stream of consciousness." She went on to posit her theory. "There is a series of three questions that you can ask men, and the majority of them will answer the same way."
And judging from the responses she got in the comments, she's definitely onto something.
1. Men think about the Roman Empire... a lot.
The first item on the TikToker's list is the one that has started this whole conversation in the first place.
"When I asked my husband [how often he thinks about the Roman Empire] literally, he did not hesitate," Lydia said. "He was like, oh, at least two to three times a day. And then he launched into a dialogue that lasted for at least an hour about all the things that fascinate him about the Roman Empire!"
You've gotta admit, this whole viral Roman Empire obsession is pretty darn bizarre. Even I was shocked when I looked into it — not only because a ton of men in my own circle share the obsession, but I share it myself.
But while the Roman Empire fixation is intriguingly bizarre, the next two items on Lydia's list are more hilariously bizarre, because they speak to a sort of hubris on men's part that is... well, downright funny.
2. Men think they could safely land a plane if called upon to do so.
"Question number two, ask a man if they think they could land an airplane," Lydia said. "Like, if they had to in an emergency situation, could they figure out how to land an airplane? They will say yes. Without a shadow of a doubt, they will say yes."
This, of course, sounds patently absurd. But I know from experience that she's right. When I had one of my best friends ask her husband how often he thinks about the Roman Empire, she told me, with an eyeroll that nearly lodged backward in her skull, "He says never, but this dude sure as heck thinks he knows how to land a jetliner."
After my shock wore off and she explained to me that many men think this, we called her brother and he, too, agreed he could pilot a 747 if need be. In fairness, he is an engineer, so he has the requisite understanding of physics, but what are the rest of these dudes doing thinking this about themselves? As one commenter put it, "Just asked my husband if he could land an airplane. He said yes. Earlier he couldn’t figure out how to work my Lexus A/C."
I can barely drive a car with any reliable safety, yet even I found myself being like, "I don't know, I suppose if I could keep calm and had some guidance from, like, a flight attendant, maybe I could pull it off?" To which my friend just bellowed, "John!" in exasperation, because she's a hater. (But a correct hater!)
Absurd as this is, though, Lydia's final entry on her list of three things all men think about is far and away the most ridiculous, especially since it's already been put to the test.
3. Men think they could befriend a grizzly bear if they had to.
"Question number three, ask a man if he was in the woods with a bear for long enough, does he think he could befriend the bear?" Lydia said in her video. "They will tell you that they can." Now, clearly this is the question that made all the men finally come to their senses, right? Wrong.
"OK I asked my husband," one woman wrote. "Roman Empire once a week, doesn’t think he could land a plane, and he could befriend the bear." Honestly, the plane is more plausible.
One man chimed in on the comments to say that he could maybe befriend a black bear specifically which, as any hiker worth their salt will tell you, are the most docile of bear species. There's even a handy rhyme to remind you: "If it's brown lie down [play dead], if it's black fight back."
But that doesn't mean you can befriend them. Have none of these men seen the infamous Werner Herzog documentary "Grizzly Man," in which bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell lived among Alaskan grizzly bears for 13 years only to be eaten alive by one of them in Katmai National Park?!
This is a disaster waiting to happen. The Rome fixation is cute but all this plane-landing, bear-taming nonsense is a bridge too far.
We need a government inquest into what is going on in men's brains before something goes sideways. Because, at this rate, it's only a matter of time before some dude tries to board a plane with his grizzly bear buddy to try to fly it. And we'll have no one to blame but ourselves — TikTok tried to warn us!
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.