We may not realize it consciously, but our brains are used to a measure of symmetry. And when it’s lacking in what we look at, it can be disconcerting and even stressful.
Some of us seem to be bothered by this more than others, and some can still find order in clutter. Or maybe what causes our dismay has nothing to do with symmetry–or the lack of it. There are a lot of reasons someone might look at something and just think, “This is wrong.”
Where do you stand on this scale? How long before skewed arrangements and patterns that have gone awry make you want to pull your hair out?
You can test that for yourself. Can you make it through all 75 of these images before you need to look away?


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Reddit
1. Laptop clutter
This would give me a panic attack. All those files are bad enough, but the fact they are so haphazardly placed is killing me.


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Reddit
2. This is horrifying
At least the next door is proper, so you can right yourself mentally. The thing is, that will look the same on the inside. I’d have to cover the door.


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Imgur
3. Once you’ve seen it…
The poster of this picture said they’d been living in this house for 5 years before noticing this. I bet they wish they could return to their previous ignorance because now that’s all they’ll see.


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Imgur
4. Seriously?
How does this even happen? One person parks the wrong way and then everyone else like sheep just follows?


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Reddit
5. Impractical use of space
Nope. This makes me tense. Because I’m a bit of a worst-case scenario sort of person. And you know what’s going to happen if you hit a pothole. That’s going to be in your lap.


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Reddit
6. This is just evil
Who would do this? Can you imagine having company over and someone cutting a piece out of the middle of the pie?


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Reddit
7. Why?
This is clearly by design. Someone thought it was cute. I think it’s stupid. Anyone else?


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Imgur
8. Talk about a pattern gone awry
No toilet stall should have more than one door. And one of those doors most certainly shouldn’t be an elevator door.


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Reddit
9. Would you eat it?
This is actually funny. So sometimes patterns that have gone wrong can amuse rather than torture.


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Reddit
10. A raise of hands, please.
So, how many of you could just stick those buds in your ears without correcting what must be corrected first? That giant knot.


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Reddit
11. Something’s not right
Typically, the seeds of a strawberry don’t start sprouting while the berry is still growing. Has it been over-fertilized?


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Reddit
12. This has got to be deliberate
How could anyone do this by mistake? And even if you did, you would be quick to catch it and fix it. This is the work of someone very evil.


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Reddit
13. So wrong
I don’t think I would be able to cook on this stove. It would be returned in a heartbeat. I like my pots to be perfectly centered on the burner—yes, I’m anal. I would struggle, wondering which ring to center in.


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Reddit
14. Aaargh!
How could anyone put up with that? Imagine seeing this every time you walked into your kitchen? And it’s such an easy fix too!


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Imgur
15. Networking 101
Just looking at this makes me a little sick at my stomach. What do you do when you need to find the back cable?


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Reddit
16. Lazy or deliberate
Clearly, there is a right and wrong way for that to sit. Maybe it weighs a ton and whoever put it down couldn’t lift it again. Because there is no way I could leave that there like that without just cause.


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Reddit
17. Mismatched spindles
Apparently, a lot of houses in the south are like this. It’s said to keep the ghosts from going up or down the stairs. I think I’d rather take my chances.


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Reddit
18. So random
I’m sure a lot of people do this without any concern for order. Not me. Everything in neat rows and columns.


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Reddit
19. Fire your contractor
Really, this is absurd. Even if there is a very good reason to have those dispensers at staggered heights so shorter people could reach, there had to be a better way to arrange these.


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Reddit
20. How weird
Okay, full cap STOP signs are yelling at you, but that’s often a good thing. Do we really want soft-spoken, wimpy stop signs?


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Reddit
21. Confusing
Isn’t green for go or on and red for stop or off fairly universal? This would be endlessly confusing and frustrating.


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Reddit
22. The horror
Puzzles are kind of old school, but a lot of people love doing them. The very worst part if finding there is a piece missing. This 4,000 piece puzzle only had 3,999.


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Reddit
23. Murphy’s Law
You know if you are going to drop or spill your food, it’s going to be in the worst possible place. Like this whole area of red shirt with a tiny strip of white. Of course, the ketchup lands on the white, and you can’t miss the stain.


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Reddit
24. Tipsy?
This could mess with your head if you’ve had too much to drink. That glass isn’t properly centered on its stem.


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Reddit
25. Any Pac Man players here?
So there seems to be some issue with this cup, and it’s driving its owner to distraction. Exactly how did pac man get there without eating those dots?


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Reddit
26. Design flaw
I would be outraged. The center of the front door should be centered with the window and railing above. This never should have happened.


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Reddit
27. Group necklace
First, what the heck is a group necklace? Second, how annoying to buy one where there’s an odd man—slice—out in the group. Traumatizing in so many ways.


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Reddit
28. Which way?
If you were to load the next two baskets on top, which way would you put them? At first, as is, this may seem wrong, but you could start a balancing pattern here. Next one to the right, the following one to the left.


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Imgur
29. So wrong
This is pretty much an abomination. Not only are the utensils out of order, but they also aren’t spaced properly.


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Twitter
30. No uniformity
Not only are the boxes different sizes, but there is also the glaringly obvious difference. Why did the layout change for season 7?


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Reddit
31. Seems… weird
Hey, I’m all for interior design and color coordination. But this looks wrong. It looks like a charred roll of toilet paper.


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Reddit
32. Wow
Depending on the level of this brick, that could be dangerous. Forget about how wrong it looks—how wrong it is, period.


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Imgur
33. No support there
Clearly, this is a fake column. But couldn’t they have raised it to the point where it met the ceiling? Wouldn’t that look better?


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Reddit
34. Ask for a discount
If I were buying these—and I would—I would ask for a discount. Because I’m supposed to be getting x amount of wintergreen and that’s not what’s in the package.


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Imgur
35. Just imagine
Imagine seeing that every time you turned on the lights. Make sure your bulbs are all the same color temperature, people!


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Imgur
36. Deep breaths!
I could probably live with the staggered knobs. If they were done properly. And let’s not miss the fact that the bottom drawer is also upside down. And that sink? The whole thing is a catastrophe.


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Reddit
37. A mystery!
Look at that lone window on the side of the building. And it’s so small. What could it be for?


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Reddit
38. Incomprehensible
Who is their electrician and why on earth would they do this? I bet this is the work of some DIYer who really didn’t have a clue.


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Reddit
39. It might take a moment…
But once you see it it’s all you see. One of those bricks is upside down. Can you see it?


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Reddit
40. Why?
The center point is there. Making an X around it really should have been easy.


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Reddit
41. That’s not how you spell coffee
Must of us know our letters and numbers before we start school. It looks like some people never learn them—at least the difference between an O and a 0.


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Reddit
42. I’m confused
Okay, I’d say that was a 2-story building. Besides the fact that there are windows all over the place, wouldn’t those center windows be between floors? This is just messed up.


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Reddit
43. Lawsuit
That’s what I think when I look at this. Why would you create some kind of optical illusion where it looks like there’s a real bottom step when there isn’t? I wonder how many people fall here.


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Reddit
44. What’s up is down
Who would do this and why? Had they never ridden in an elevator before? Never begged to push the buttons when they were a kid.


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Reddit
45. How?
How could anyone look at that all the time and not be bothered by it? That makes me feel shaky. And besides, it looks gross and dirty too.


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Reddit
46. Someone is cruel
Imagine giving this as a gift to your OCD friend. I doubt they would use it much. Or they would just fold the cover under and never look at it.


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Reddit
47. Was someone messing around?
See that tile near the middle? The one that’s not centered properly in the grout? Did someone get cross-eyed while laying this tile and miss it, or did they do it on purpose?


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Reddit
48. That’s horrifying
How many people that cross here have to stop themselves from trying to lift that cover up and fix it. I know I would be trying.


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Imgur
49. I can hear it now
“How many times have I told you to fill the salt and pepper shakers?” And the reply. “Fine! I did it. There is salt and pepper in the shakers.”


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Reddit
50. What to do?
This is stressful. How would you display these in a way that didn’t make you crazy? I think I would have to forgo the alphabetical order and put the big one first.


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Imgur
51. That’s unbelievable
Imagine you live somewhere where you have historic sidewalks or buildings. I know in my city they are properly preserved and repaired. I don’t even know what this mess is.


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Reddit
52. Definitely horrifying
I wouldn’t even like members of my own sex doing this while I try to pee. But apparently, studies show guys pay more attention to what they’re doing when these types of pictures are on the wall. So, whatever works, I guess.


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Imgur
53. The missing brick
When a brick is missing, you realize just how important each brick is. It’s not just another brick in the wall. It’s all you can see when it’s not there.


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Reddit
54. One of these things…
How does that make it past quality control? And the colors of the bristles make no sense to me either.


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Imgur
55. What a moron
One has to assume the driver of this car isn’t blind, right? So how on earth could someone get out of their car and fell that it’s good to leave it like that?


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Reddit
56. Here’s the plan
There is a 4 square spot for planting trees. Around those 4 squares, we’ll lay some different pavers. Um, no. Not like that.


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Reddit
57. I see what’s going on
Okay, to my left I would like all the rigidly organized A types. On my right, everyone else.


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Reddit
58. Disturbing
This is the light placement in a physical therapy office. If I had to look at that for any length of time, I would need actual therapy.


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Reddit
59. Yeah, whatever
Can we stack one more on top of there? Oh, right. We’ve already hit the ceiling stacking these not to be stacked boxes.


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Reddit
60. Frustrating
All the don’t rules are bad enough. What’s up with the strike-through lines being at different angles? Is there a message there?


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Reddit
61. This is pure evil
Look at the poor sockets. Even they look like a shocked emoji face. They are appalled that someone could be capable of this abomination.


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Bored Panda
62. I would cry
You know you’ll need to break out a second baking sheet, but what if you don’t have one? What are you going to do with that last piece that didn’t fit?


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Reddit
63. Off-center
Not only is that hard on the eyes, you know what will happen after a few moments. The outer edges will begin to melt and that will end up in your lap.


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Bored Panda
64. Let’s add some cabinets
It doesn’t matter that they’re a different color. It doesn’t matter that they are a different design. Maybe the handles match, and that will be enough. Nope.


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Reddit
65. Wow
That’s just… incredible. Did someone actually think this was a finished job? Baseboards can be installed on curved walls, and this is not the way to do it!


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Reddit
66. Did they pay for these?
Seriously, I wouldn’t have purchased those in the first place. And they would have been sent back if I bought them online. They never would have made it to the point where I had to see them all day on my feet.


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Instagram
67. What a horror show
Can you believe this? I think I would fall down those stairs because I was so distracted by the horror in front of me. The crooked wall and the uneven doors.


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Reddit
68. More quality control issues
Look at this Oreo cookie. The bottom is facing the wrong way. This probably wouldn’t bother me too much. I just eat the inside. I’m sure others are traumatized.


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Reddit
69. OMG!
And the very next one! Two layers of icing and one wafer. This would be the best Oreo over.


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Imgur
70. Our privacy policy
We don’t have one! Our bathrooms are put together in such a way anyone can see you while you do your business.


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Reddit
71. How can you not realize?
So, the story is she wore these for a week without realizing they were different heights. I’m sorry, but how can you be that oblivious?


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Reddit
72. I wouldn’t eat there
If they are okay with having that off-center sign on their building, what other horror are they capable of? Will the cutlery be backward?


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Reddit
73. Shifty eyes
Have you ever talked to someone who has a lazy eye? You really can’t look away. You know you shouldn’t stare, but you just can’t help yourself. This is just as bad.


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Bored Panda
74. Top of the line
So you pay extra for your top of the line kitchen appliances. If this is an example of their quality control, I would walk away. And who could have that on their counter? I’d be afraid to enter my kitchen.


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Reddit
75. Build it right!
Who likes their sandwiches built in a specific order? Who thinks that whoever added the cheese to burger number three should be locked away for this crime?


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Reddit
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