It can be strangely satisfying to see or feel something that’s just perfect. These photos of symmetry and order are appealing to humans and animals alike. Both in society and in the wild, organisms that are “more symmetrical” have a better chance at finding a mate than those who don’t. Some speculate that this is one way of identifying a healthy partner.
In this perfectly imperfect world, we all crave order, symmetry, and evenness. Luckily, the r/OddlySatisfying subreddit is doing every perfectionist a public service by supplying some of the most oddly satisfying sightings that give us a fix of flawlessness. From a perfect stack of pancakes to cats lying like yin and yang, this is something I live for.
These photos are guaranteed to satisfy every perfectionist’s soul. So check them out below!
#1 Before & After Paint Job
#2 My Neighbors Tree Has The Perfect Fall Gradient
#3 Droplets On A Car Windshield During Sunset
Oddly satisfying refers to any kind of sighting, either picture or video, that’s incredibly satisfying to look at. The concept has gained quite a cult following on the internet thanks to the r/OddlySatisfying subreddit, which has a whopping 5 million members. The group was created back in 2013, and it celebrates all the “little things that are inexplicably satisfying.”
According to Know Your Meme, “oddly satisfying” and similar phrases had been used online even earlier than that. It first occurred as early as June 4th, 2011 when a post was published on Jezebel titled “An Oddly Satisfying Montage Of ‘You Just Don’t Get It, Do You?’ Moments.”
Moreover, r/OddlySatisfying was inspired by another hugely popular subreddit community, r/mildlyinteresting, “which was born out of a discussion in r/WTF about the need for a clearer categorical distinction between images that are evocative of WTF and those that would be more aptly described as ‘mildly interesting.’”
#4 Tree’s Shadow
#5 Perfectly Cozy, Curled Up Cats
#6 Perfect Snowflake That Fell On My Coat Yesterday
Fast forward to today, when oddly satisfying and mildly interesting videos are ruling the internet like never before. “We don’t need to be able to explain why we like something in order for it to exist,” Kevin Allocca, head of trends and culture at YouTube, told Wired.
The phenomenon of oddly satisfying pictures and videos, according to Kevin, has to do with the fact that we’ve never had a descriptor for this kind of stuff. “I think we’ve always had a desire to watch these types of things, but we just didn’t have the language for it. Now we do.”