What advice have you heard or tried that was just flat-out wrong?
What advice have you heard or tried that was just flat-out wrong?
Subjective situations welcome
"Just push through the pain." Yeah, great way to turn your minor injury into a major one.
24Just ignore the bullies and they'll stop.
Nope, they just hit you harder
35I once got this advice and got so offended by it that I tried rerouting the bullies to target him instead.
It worked and never did I have so much fun proving someone wrong.
6In defense of this, there are situations where it's good advice. Bullies that only use insults and social pressure are easily dealt with this way. Find a friend group with no connection to them, then ignore them to get rid of anything they can use against you. This is basically how I dealt with the people bullying me at school.
But I agree, if they do anything beyond insults and social pressure, you need some way of confronting them or leaving them entirely.
2In my case ignoring insults lead to violent escallation. They wanted the reactions badly.
3
Ah what a nice advice.
Worked unsurprisingly bad from grade 1½ to 4 and could only get rid of them by advancing to the secondary school.
We are offered to choose with whom we'd would like to be in class and my request was who I'd like to net get together with.
Apparently this was a very exotic request but thwy made it possible.4
Some old redneck man who was a friend of a family member, who was in a failing marriage with a woman 10-15 years older than him told me "Don't treat a woman like gold, treat her like shit and she'll never leave you" or something to that effect. That sounded horrible even to 13 year old me.
10Unfortunately it isn't wrong it is just horrible and abusive advice. Destroying the self worth and confidence of a person can trap them in a relationship because they feel they can do no better so they stay. I feel bad for that person's wife, I hope she ended up dumping his ass
8It was my understanding they separated. In any case, dude died of cancer a few years later. Not sure about much beyond that.
2
Pretty much everything I was told about employment when I entered the work force (2005ish). New workers seem to have wised up a bit, seeing us go through the hoops with nothing to show for it, but all the absolute bullshit about hard work paying off, take care of your employer and your employer will take care of you, etc.
...and it's hard to shake off that programming when you hear it your entire childhood from older folks who apparently actually did benefit from that advice.
Hearing Gen Z'ers and such say things like "act your wage" or complain about the rug being pulled out from under them without needing to stand on it for 20 years first is fucking awesome! The younger workers aren't just bending over and taking it in the hopes things will get better someday like we did. Gen Z is going to go down as a major contributor to workers' rights.
80The flip side is that workers are getting treated worse.
I hear about people having to go through three or four rounds of job interviews, and having their social media scoured. There are fewer and fewer non-corporate jobs, and forget about a boss who pays you off the books.
Not even going to start on the fact that money is pretty worthless
31and having their social media scoured
Any advice on how to google myself?
I use separate emails but sometimes I mix my username and real name so theres no 100% separation.
I couldnt find anything besides the obvious but I am interested but a bit of sleuthing can do if you are determinded enough.
The things I have tried in various combinations: Paranthesis around words/names, combinations of search terms which shouldnt be known (e.g. nickname + city or general living area) and some platforms I have used or activities/events I would probably be mentioned in by name.2
I was advised by a group therapist, when having "cold feet" about commitment in a relationship, to just think about how bad the alternative might be. She had a friend who had reservations about getting married, and then thought not getting married would be stressful too, so she went ahead with the marriage. It was terrible advice, especially from a therapist providing guidance for some very troubled people. The only good reason to commit to a relationship is because you really want it, not because you're afraid of what will happen otherwise!
50That's shockingly bad, wow
18
No pain, no gain.
Got rhabdomyolysis from working out too hard, that saying is crap.
58Looked it up and it sounds horrendous. Thank you for new knowledge and good luck with that thing
13I'm sorry this happened to you! Yes, I think workouts need not be painful. It's best to ease into it and ramp up according to what's comfortable until you hit your goal, rather than trying to make drastic changes real fast. It would be good if more people were aware of this. I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way!
7Thanks
5
Meditation instruction.
Even if you are noticing no results at all, just keep on doing it.
No, that's dumb, expect results. If you aren't getting results after a dozen times, try a different meditation technique.
10When I was about to graduate high school a uncle in law told me to make sure I pick a college with a football team I'm comfortable rooting for for the rest of my life.
20Being told to tip your head back if your nose is bleeding.
36How to drown with your own blood. Whomever came up with that one definitely knew and was just pulling a prank or something
10
When a trailer starts oscillating because it was loaded rear-heavy, "going full throttle will straighten it out". It didn't, car spun, load flew in a ditch.
The trailer did feel restless after turns, so I assumed it'll be fine if I steer smoothly. The first 10km went okay, but then there was a downhill, and that somehow increased the instability and it went mad. Speed was constant 80km/h.
Trailer weight distribution demonstration:
https://imgur.com/gallery/trailer-weight-distribution-3PQFK7Y
or
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoRVing/comments/6xfe7x/everybody_who_tows_an_rv_should_check_out_this/
(same video clip)5Basically everything i ever heard from job advisor.
15When I was younger, I told my therapist that I kept accidentally saying insulting things and offending my friends without realizing it. She didn't ask for any examples and I didn't think to give any.
She told me that my friends should understand that being homeschooled and autistic, I'm going to miss some social norms, and if I explain what I meant and ask a nicer way to put it, they'll be able to explain.
Yeah this just made my friends really mad because I wasn't saying anything rude, they were just picking fights. Real "I like pancakes", "so you hate waffles?!" type conversations. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out why it wasn't working.
ETA I think my sister convincing me not to go to college was worse advice, but that's not much of a story. Spoiler I didn't go to college.
22Half of everything my mom ever told/did for whatever ailment I had.
Also that it was easy to get a job in Brazilian IT in the early 2010s. Out of some 40 companies I've sent my resume to, zero called me for an interview.
10many items listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions are often presented as advice
29Lemmings do not engage in mass suicidal dives off cliffs when migrating. The scenes of lemming suicides in the 1958 Disney documentary film White Wilderness, which popularized this idea, were completely fabricated. The lemmings in the film were actually purchased from Inuit children, transported to the filming location in Canada and repeatedly shoved off a nearby cliff by the filmmakers to create the illusion of a mass suicide.[448][449] The misconception itself is much older, dating back to at least the late 19th century, though its exact origins are uncertain.[450][448]
Hmm, humanity sure has great ideas!
27That was def a consideration in deciding the name of this platform. I was playing a lot of lemmings at the time, and learned that them being mindless suicidal drones is just ridiculously false. SO why not just own it and let the redditors think that they're the unique brain-geniuses, and have them call us something that is easily disproven.
15
I used to drive a 1999 Nissan Sentra, it looked like a wreck but it got me everywhere I needed to go and was quick and cheap to repair. Everyone told me “you need to get rid of that car.” At the time I wasn’t making tons of money, but I did gain $5K in stocks suddenly during COVID-19.
I searched for “best cars for $5,000” and one of the recommendations was an Audi A3. I didn’t really know shit about cars so I went for it, and boy did I end up spending a lot more than $5K in repairs in the first few years (though luckily I started earning a lot more).
I still love the car to death, but it’s a 10 year old luxury vehicle. I still don’t trust it to get me to the next state but I don’t commute to work so it’s cheaper at this point to keep it and maintain it well rather than buy another used car (with an entirely new set of problems) or take out a huge, huge loan for an updated equivalent (the car is completely optioned out).
I also learned that with German vehicles you must, must find a highly knowledgeable mechanic that you can trust. A few times I took it to a cheaper mechanic closer to home but found out 1-2 years later he didn’t actually fix the problems.
Had I simply waited another few years I probably wouldn’t have had to spend a fortune fixing the damn thing, and I’d probably be financially stable enough to actually get a better car. But I live in Los Angeles where the people I know will feel shame on my behalf due to the car I drive. 🙄
24But I live in Los Angeles where the people I know will feel shame on my behalf due to the car I drive.
Maybe your people should pitch in for a new ride on your behalf then, instead of yourself.
German cars are deliberately over-engineered to increase repairing costs. They fail less often than cheaper cars, but when they do, it's time to check your covering on your bank account, because that's gonna cost you.
11Yeah, I guess I didn’t care but everyone on my back about it had me thinking “maybe they’re right.”
Typically when people give me advice it’s not good, but if I stand my ground people lose their minds. The people here are like a cult where everyone has the same opinions about everything and if you don’t conform they feel the need to nag you incessantly — if you just mention “hey I’m doing it because X” then they’ll get huffy and say “you don’t need to explain yourself.”
I hate to generalize but this has happened to me too many times to count since I moved here ~10 years ago. I would love to leave but it’s too late, now I’m stuck here.
2
I had a VW Passat which is the same thing as your Audi, just non luxury version. That thing broke down all the time. I got rid of it after 5 years because I had to. I just couldn't afford to always be fixing it.
I've historically stuck with Honda's which are very reliable. My last civic was 20 years old when I moved on from it. It still works, just not reliably for long distances. My son drives it now.
People would always ask me when I was going to get a new car. I would say I'm always looking but I won't buy a new car until I need to buy a new car. I'm thankful for not having the monthly payment.
People would just nod their head and understand where I was coming from even though they wouldn't make that same decision themselves.
During that time I made a monthly "car payment" into savings so I built up enough money to buy the car I wanted. Since it wasn't a real car payment the money was a good emergency fund, which I ended up needing.
7My old Honda just won't die. I get an oil change every once in a while. And the battery has crapped out a few times in the last decade but that's it. I hear safety features have come a long way so maybe I should upgrade just for that. I get the feeling that I'll certainly miss the old Honda so I'm dragging my feet.
2
A3 TDI? I have one of those and so many breakdowns in the first year. Luckily the warranty they were forced to add from having cheated on emissions covered all repairs. Haven't had any major issues for two years now on it thankfully, I'm not sure I'd recommend it generally but realistically with what you save on fuel cost the extra long term repair cost balances it out a bit.
7Those old Datsun Sentras were goat.
A tiny notch under the ek Civic, but just as rugged.
7
Anything that is founded on karma or divine retribution. That shit is just diffusing accountability.
22Good karma? Yeah sure whatever.
Bad karma? No thanks, we cannot take the chance that they get away with it. We make them find out right now after they fuck around.
2
Got one that happened just now. Bought some frozen pickle chips from Costco. Cooking instructions for air fryer said 96°C for 7-10 minutes from frozen. Completely wrong. Had to do them at 195°C for 15 minutes for them to be even remotely edible.
18Maybe not advice but people who condescendingly say “you don’t have to explain yourself” are exactly the people who want you to explain yourself.
Same goes with “I hate drama” folks.
15When you start investing, just put your money in and just don’t worry about it. It’ll grow. Just keep adding to it. You’ll get there.
Probably some of the dumber advice i’ve received.
You have to look at your Stocks. You have to look at your 401(k). You have to look at your investments.
Unless you like to wake up one day and discover you don’t have enough money. Then go ahead and follow that advice of just set and forget it.
The only one that might make sense with is if you’re putting your money into the S&P.
Even then, I still would pay attention to what it’s doing.
11To be fair that advice does work for Index Funds which are low risk and meant to be gathering interest over many many years. For stock trading yeah, you have to be on top of things
37Most people aren’t talking about investing with stocks. They’re talking about mutual funds and 401ks, which will grow if you just leave them be. If you try mucking around with them you’re going to be much worse off.
5That is true only to a point. If I look at the funds (401k) and realize it is consistently performing poorly why would I not dump it and find something that is consistently performing better?
1
Why do you look at your investments? What do you do with the information? I don't want to predict the market and I can't. Looking at it is more likely to make you panic buy/sell than make you do anything useful. But I'm curious why you don't agree with the advice.
2It's a conscious effort to not panic. But once that investment goes up as far as i think it will. (I set that point before I even buy) then I sell and buy something those that is low and ride that up. If I don't watch them, that stock could go WAY down before I realize I've lost anything.
If it's gone down I have to figure out if I think it's coming back. Then decide, cut my losses or hold out until it comes back
1