this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2025
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Wikipedia defines common sense as "knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument"

Try to avoid using this topic to express niche or unpopular opinions (they're a dime a dozen) but instead consider provable intuitive facts.

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[–] ace_garp@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

To tilt your head back if you have a blood nose.

This is no longer recommended advice, because you end up drinking the blood which causes vomiting.

  • Probably initially said by someone concerned about their carpet.

Way to stop them is put ice over the back of neck, plug nose with tissue and clear clots each 2 mins.

[–] semperverus@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Common sense isn't just "not so common," it is a fundamentally broken concept at its core and a crutch that people use to hoist themselves above others they feel they are better than.

[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 6 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

The most vulnerable will be hit the hardest.

  1. Countries are rich because they have free markets.
  2. Tariffs are a good thing and competition is for losers.
  1. No one deserves a handout, as money should be earned.
  2. Large companies deserve a giant economic stimilus, because if we don't, our economy will crash.
  1. Being spied upon by your government or foreign governments whom I worship is okay, because I've got nothing to hide.
  2. Outsiders that sells goods that can be used to spy obviously and should be barred from all markets forever because they'll definitely spy on you and spying is wrong.
  1. If you feel threatened by another country, a pre-emptive strike should be allowed.
  2. You don't mess with the sovereignty of a nation. It's sacred and should be left intact.
  1. Police should always be allowed to use overwhelming force and their actions should be lauded
  2. You should have the right to protect yourself using firearms against tyranny as governments in general are never to be trusted.
[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 10 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Is common sense just an earlier, naive label for confirmation bias?

[–] comfy@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 hours ago

A key aspect is that it doesn't even require confirmation.

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 43 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

A lot of outdoor survival "common sense" can get you killed:

Moss doesn't exclusively grow on the north side of trees. Local conditions are too chaotic and affect what side is most conducive to moss. Don't use moss for navigation.

Don't drink alcohol to warm yourself up. It feels warm but actually does the opposite: alcohol opens up your capillaries and allows more heat to escape through your skin, which means you lose body heat a lot faster.

Don't eat snow to rehydrate yourself. It will only make you freeze to death faster. Melt the snow outside of your body first.

Don't assume a berry is safe to eat just because you see birds eating them. You're not a bird. Your digestive system is very different from a bird's digestive system.

If you've been starving for a long time, don't gorge yourself at the first opportunity when you get back to civilization. You can get refeeding syndrome which can kill you. It's best to go to the hospital where you can be monitored and have nutrients slowly reintroduced in a way that won't upset the precarious balance your body has found itself in.

[–] keepcarrot@hexbear.net 5 points 13 hours ago

Moss doesn't exclusively grow on the north side of trees.

My brain was like "why do people so desperately need to find moss that it not being on the north side would mean death?" Before remembering many people don't know which way they are facing (or left and right) usually. (Also, I'm sure I'd do worse in an unfamiliar area)

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 30 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

Folk idioms that contradict each other are my favourite. For example, "the cream rises to the top" vs. "it's not what you know, it's who you know".

[–] Nemoder@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 hours ago

I like to try and combine these to see what kind of reactions I get.
The cream rises to who you know.
The squeaky wheel gets hammered down.
He who laughs last, comes around.
Great minds killed the cat!

[–] comfy@lemmy.ml 4 points 11 hours ago

Good call, I'll start looking out for these!

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 20 points 16 hours ago

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 46 points 19 hours ago (3 children)

'Building more lanes will reduce traffic' is a classic.

[–] MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml 13 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I think it's just missing a bit of specificity.

Building more bike lanes will reduce traffic. Building more bus lanes will reduce traffic. Building more tram lines will reduce traffic. Building more car lanes will ~~reduce~~ induce traffic.

Not perfect, but solid logic within reason (Building 100 more bus lanes will reduce traffic).

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[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 5 points 12 hours ago

I view it as a thought terminating clichΓ© people use when they're too lazy ti fully explain themselves. It can be useful for things that are truly obvious, like if you try touching something fresh out of the stove without protection you'll get burned, it doesn't really add anything to bother explaining it.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 33 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Police are there to help you.

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 hours ago

They can help you for the rest of your life

[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 51 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (9 children)

That budgets for households, businesses, and goverments have much to do with each other

Edit: fixed typo. 'nd' to 'and'.

[–] callouscomic@lemm.ee 36 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Hurr durr but the national debt is like a credit card and all debt is bad. China can just say pay up and we're fucked.

And other stupid shit my parents used to say.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

China can just say pay up and we’re fucked.

Yeah, them and what army? (Well, the PLA, but going into MAD and great power military strategy would be too much of a digression)

A classical example of Westerners thinking human laws are laws of physics somehow. I assume, anyway. It'd be weird to hear this from anyone recently imported.

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[–] naught101@lemmy.world 61 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

Less tax is better.

No saying that taxation as it currently exists it optimal, but any decent assessment of how to improve things requires a lot of nuance that is nearly never considered by most people.

[–] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 18 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not mad at the huge amount I pay in taxes. I'm mad about what I get in return.

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

Yeah, that's fair, for sure, to some degree. For instance large fractions of policing funding should be redirected into various social services, and military spending can get fuck off all together.

But also, wealthier people paying more than an equal share of tax is a good thing too, and provides lots of intangible benefits (e.g. better education systems and fewer people in extreme poverty and desperation leads to lower crime rates)

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[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 73 points 23 hours ago (10 children)

Pretty much anything related to statistics and probability. People have gut feelings because our minds are really good at finding patterns, but we're also really good at making up patterns that don't exist.

The one people probably have most experience with is the gambler's fallacy. After losing more than expected, people think they'll now be more likely to win.

I also like the Monty Hall problem and the birthday problem.

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[–] Contramuffin@lemmy.world 75 points 23 hours ago (10 children)

The immune system is strong and defends your body against germs.

The immune system works 100% of 50% of the time. Immunology is the best way to convince someone that it's a miracle that they're still alive. Anyways, get vaccinated. Don't rely on your immune system to figure things out

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 8 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

The immune system is strong and defends your body against germs.

Which is why you should get vaccinated.

Vaccination primes your immune system so it can mount a coordinated response the first time it actually encounters the pathogen.

[–] Kingofthezyx@lemm.ee 5 points 14 hours ago

Yup, vaccination isn't reinforcements, it's training. It's having the other team's playbook before they even step foot on the field.

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[–] BmeBenji@lemm.ee 7 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (6 children)

β€œSurvival of the fittest”

bitch, explain cows

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 9 points 12 hours ago

Fittest for the purpose of being chosen by farmers to participate in breeding.

[–] Kingofthezyx@lemm.ee 11 points 14 hours ago

In all of my ecology classes they were super specific about re-framing that concept as "survival of the fit enough"

You don't actually have to be the best example of something to have your traits carried along, just good enough to consistently make it to reproductive age and then procreate.

It helps explain a lot of weird survival mechanisms - it doesn't have to be the best way to do things but if it consistently works, then it's good enough. Like the old saying "if it's stupid, but it works, then it's not stupid"

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 13 points 16 hours ago

Cows are the most fit for their environment. Their environment being a useful and sustainable food source for humans to cultivate.

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