The video discusses various aspects of disappearing and the implications of it. It starts with a story about a teenager who was flagged by Target's internal algorithms as potentially pregnant based on her purchasing behavior. The store was wrong, but the incident highlights how digital tracking can sometimes lead to incorrect assumptions.
The video then delves into the concept of disappearing in the digital age, where people can be tracked and followed 24/7. It mentions the alarming statistic that in the United States alone, more than 2,000 people disappear every year. The reasons for disappearing can be as varied as escaping old life or being victims of unsolved crimes. It also mentions the concept of "missing missing" people, those who are missing but no one knows they are missing.
The video then discusses the phenomenon of premature obituaries, where people are declared dead or missing even when they are alive. It mentions instances of famous people having premature obituaries filed away, waiting for the actual event to fill in the dates and circumstances of their deaths. It also mentions the case of Alfred Nobel, who was so horrified by the premature obituaries for him that he left all his money to the cause of celebrating humanity upon his death.
The video then explores the concept of a person being missing but not knowing it, such as the case of a 35-year-old woman in the Canary Islands who was mistaken for her long-lost twin. The video also mentions cases of people disappearing without anyone knowing, such as people in a country illegally or children of homeless mothers.
The video concludes with a discussion on the concept of disappearing under one's own volition. It mentions that it is not against the law to go missing, and if you are an adult, the act of disappearing is not illegal in and of itself.
Finally, the video shares a thought from David Wong about the concept of jokes. If you are under the age of 38, the funniest joke you will ever hear is a joke you haven't even heard yet. If you are over the age of 38, the odds are you already know a joke that might be the funniest joke to more people than you could ever possibly meet.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Target, a retail store, had an internal algorithm that tracked and processed purchases of customers to predict their behavior.
2. In Minneapolis, a high school girl's purchases were flagged by Target's algorithm, suggesting she might be pregnant, and she was sent coupons for baby items.
3. The girl's father was initially angry, but later apologized after finding out his daughter was indeed pregnant.
4. Over 2,000 people disappear in the United States each year and are never found.
5. In many cases, missing persons are victims of unsolved or unknown crimes, or may have taken their own lives and their bodies were never found.
6. Some people may escape their old lives and start new ones, possibly with new identities.
7. After 5-7 years of not being heard from, a person can be declared dead in absentia.
8. Guillaume Le Gentil, a French astronomer, was declared dead in 1772 after he went missing, but he was actually alive and returned 11 years later.
9. Large portions of Janet Veal's body were eaten by her pet cats before she was discovered weeks after her death.
10. Joyce Carol Vincent was found dead on her sofa, but no one had checked on her for at least three years.
11. A severed leg was found in the rubble of the Oklahoma City bombing, but it did not belong to any of the known victims.
12. DNA analysis showed that the leg belonged to a woman named Lakesha Levy, but she had already been buried with both her legs.
13. It was later discovered that Lakesha Levy had been buried with someone else's left leg.
14. Alfred Nobel read his own obituary, which was critical of his legacy, and was so ashamed that he created the Nobel Prize to celebrate humanity.
15. Premature obituaries are common, and many living people already have one on file.
16. Five Taylor University students died in a car accident, but one student, Laura van Ryn, was mistaken for another student, Whitney Cerak, who was pronounced dead.
17. Whitney Cerak was later found to be alive and well, while Laura van Ryn had been buried in her place.
18. It is not known how often hospitals accidentally switch babies at birth, but it does happen.
19. The FBI's National Crime Information Database contains approximately 50,000 reported missing children, but Outpost For Hope reports that there are over a million children in America who are missing, without anyone knowing they're missing.
20. It is not against the law to go missing under your own volition, but statistics suggest that someone will likely miss you.