Asklemmy

If "common sense is not very common", why is it called common sense?

Slightly off topic, sorry.

Cold Air will make you sick.

There are plenty of studies debunking it, and yet I still hear about it all the time.

"There's a first time for everything."

No, not if I don't do that thing. I will not have a first time for murder. Getting murdered might be out of my control, but I won't commit one.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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".

Police are there to help you.

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

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

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

• that putting the thermostat up higher will heat the house up quicker (edit: I have in mind a bog standard UK home thermostat)

• that sugary sweets make kids act "hyper"

• that the moon's apparent size is due to how close it is to earth (same for seasons and the sun)

• that your base metabolic rate slows as you age and is primarily responsible for you putting weight on in middle age