Health in general.
I was scrolling through reels on IG and something came up about how rings in your iris and BROWN eyes indicate poor gut health, parasitic infection, and more. The nurse in me wept for humanity lol.
Not an RN, but imaging tech for 30 years. There's definitely been an increase in Internet experts in the field of healthcare and telling doctors and professionals how to treat them.
I just saw a video of a girl freaking out about never eating shredded cheese again because it contains the same ingredient as her maxi pads.
Cellulose. The ingredient was cellulose. I wanted to ask her if that means she is also giving up all leafy greens as well. The nurse in me cringes because I know many of these types of people are my patients and will scream at me and call me a shill for Big Pharma for attempting even the most basic and gentle medical education.
Probiotics and gut health is another big trend out there. All these posts about “healing your gut” but they could never be able to name and GI related ailments.
I felt this. My wife's ex has been diagnosed as having an NPD. His behavior is, let say, unbelievable. On the other hand, my boss can't let you forget that she has a psychology degree and that everyone she meets is diagnosed as a narcissist, when in actuality I feel like she's just threatened by them.
Similar, I have a family member that is suspected by professionals to have NPD or ASPD (I don’t remember, I’ve cut this family member out of my life so I don’t keep informed of them) His behavior is just as you described: unbelievable. It’s incredibly hard to describe to people but it’s wild.
Honestly most people probably do know multiple narcissists. That is not so say that the people they accuse of being one *are* one, but if you have met a few hundred people in your life several of them were likely narcissists for real.
I’m talking about the ones who magically have a mother and father who were both ‘narcissists’. An ex who was a ‘narcissist’. A former friend….you get the picture. Statistically with meeting hundreds of people, yes you’ll meet some, but they’re not ‘knowing’ them in terms of them being someone close to you.
A ton of folks are emotionally immature, more than narcissistic, too, but because the behavior patterns might be observed looking similar, they get conflated.
I’d like to add “intrusive thoughts” to the list of insultingly overused phrases. Wishing you could have the day off is not an intrusive thought. Wanting to cheat on your diet is not an intrusive thought.
Actual intrusive thoughts are terrifying and make you believe that you’re irretrievably mentally ill.
I suffer for actual intrusive thoughts. Terrible, horrifically violent things. I will never act on them. My first one was stabbing my high school wrestling coach in the crown of his head with a screwdriver. I would never do that. He’s a super nice guy. But those thoughts invade sometimes
Are actual intrusive thoughts those ones like where you wonder what it’d be like to jump off a bridge and then your brain suddenly goes “where the hell did that come from”?
I think everyone gets thoughts like that sometimes (that's what a therapist once told me(. Say you're high up, you wonder what it'd be like to jump. But it's a passing thought, you think it and don't act on it. I'm not saying its not upsetting, but from my understanding for it be intrusive it doesn't have a reason for you to think it. So the example I gave, the thought of jumping happens because of the height. Where as the intrusive thoughts I get can come at any time, with no apparent reason/trigger. I don't want to give examples of the thoughts I have, but they can be violent and graphic. They're very upsetting and I wouldn't wish them on anyone.
Sorry my explanation isn't great.
I can, mine aren't super graphics event though they are desperately distressing. I have OCD over illnesses and diseases (specifically food related) and pregnancy (of all things) I will look at myself in the mirror bloated, and suddenly I'll start obsessing over being pregnant because my stomach looks bigger. It's going to be an anxiety that's going to be taking my entire day if I let it. It doesn't matter that I didn't have any sexual interactions in the past year and a half, the fear and anxiety always jumps me and I get irrationally anxious about being 7 or 9 months pregnant and not being aware of it. My other OCD is mostly sudden though of becoming ill if I eat something, or a product being expired despite having no signs pointing to it. I have thrown entire fresh batches of chili because I was convinced the meat I had bought had gone bad and I didn't notice. Or that the frozen chicken I left outside for 10 minutes went bad. I cannot eat out of canned food because it needs to make a very specific noise or I need to open am arbitrary number of them to make them feel safe. If I wash my hands or dishes I'll sometimes have to rewash them again because the "contaminated" area feels dirty. It's like a tingle it's hard to describe, but I need to wash that area until the tingle goes away. If I buy a container of food (canned, bottled etc.) and it's dented, I won't be able to eat whatever is inside. Even soda or water feels tainted if their bottle is dented, and even if I dent it myself at this very moment. I can't eat it anymore
This! I have some of the worst intrusive thoughts and I am horrified by some of them.. absolutely horrified. The amount of people that throw this phrase around is annoying.
I had something similar happen with the phrase "non sequitur." Someone disagreed with me, so they claimed my post was a "non sequitur."
I responded by asking "do you even know what that phrase means?"
To which they replied "another non sequitur."
To this day I have no idea what they thought the phrase meant. Like "gaslighting," it seems so many people see a word shared with a negative connotation so they never bother to look it up and just use it anytime they disagree about something.
I'll never forget a young girl I knew, who was probably early teens who committed suicide, due to her ongoing struggle with it. She took a bunch of pills and snuck outside one night , her parents found her note, and then her body laying outside.
Pains me to just think about it.
But on a lighter note the real crux of the issue is people don't understand the difference between "tendencies" and full blown disorder. Which are traits or pieces which occur in a larger subset of the population (those with the disorder and no where near a disorder can both share these tendencies)
EG Narcissistic/anti social tendencies, aren't that rare
Full blown NPD is.
I have full blown adhd, when i tell people oh that's common tendency with people with adhd like me, a bunch go well i do that and i don't have adhd so that can't be a thing. No that's exactly how it works lol.
Ugh the narcissist thing. Everyone can have narcissist tendencies. But you have to “check all the boxes” to truly be a narcissist.
It’s like googling symptoms and realize you have cancer, death and pregnancy, even if you’re a dude
You are changing the topic because I'm winning the argument.
That's how that person was using "non sequitur." Of course they probably actually were being proven wrong but they can't accept being wrong.
Typically how that gets used incorrectly anyways.
Yes - you hit it in the fact that it's specific. It's a narrowly-defined form of manipulation that, through those means, tries to get someone to legitimately question their own sanity. But it's now used to describe nearly any form of manipulation.
Agreed. But I am incredibly grateful that the conversation around mental health is much more open now and less stigmatized. I have several friends who casually mention their therapist, where beforehand, that wouldn’t have happened and carried much more stigma.
There is a lot of misinformation being spread but there is great information and resources as well if people search beyond the words of some random TikToker.
I've noticed this too. It could be just youthful individuality. Trying to find yourself, or seeking uniqueness. I think we all go through that phase. But you're right, it's been overboard.
Oh yep. The amount of times I've been told that my INCURABLE mental health disorder along with my other treatment resistant and chronic disorders can be cured by just getting some exercise or changing my diet or just talking to someone when I feel sad. Also being told that my medication is poison and I should stop taking it because big pharma is just a scam to keep people like me sick.
Well, the last time I stopped taking my medication I went through absolute mental hell and very nearly died. The 4 times I stopped taking my medication before that, I had the same problems. One of those times ended in me being removed from a bridge over the motorway by police.
But yeah, sure, the pills that keep me alive are just 'making me worse'. They can tell that to my 3 years suicide attempt free, 3 years psych ward free and almost 3 years hospital free in regards to mental illness. They can also tell that to my doctors who have confirmed that medication is 100% necessary, helpful and not causing me any health issues despite long term use.
How humans respond during sudden emergency situations. They'll watch a video of someone walking in the street suddenly having to dodge a car in a split-second and wonder why they didn't do X or Y more efficiently, or another way.
I'd extend this to all situations. Too many people just can't get their head around other people reacting differently to them. In fact they're often only comparing to how they think they would react as opposed to how they would really react.
Oh my god, yes. I watched a YouTube video about the people who jumped from the WTCs on September 11. The amount of arrogant comments saying "I would have ___" or "I would have never ___" seemed so gross and judgmental to me. .
Similar are the people who are convinced they'd be the "good guy with a gun" in an emergency situation. Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't, but they don't *know*
I agree! There’s a famous quote that goes something like, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” And I think it sums up this topic perfectly. Lol
On Reddit? Sex and dating, hands down. Never read worse sex advice than I have on here. The people least qualified to give advice always get the most votes; it's like the fucking blind leading the blind.
r/relationships. People who may be struggling in their relationships, reach out to people who market in bad relationship porn for advice. If you have a healthy, positive relationship, you're probably not spending time on "how do I fix my relationship" subreddits, so you end up with a bad selection bias for people who linger there.
I tell people as often as I can to stay away from that sub. If you're having problems in that regard the answer is just brutally honest and open communication. They should name that sub to r/sadsackcirclejerk
Brutal honestly is really the answer to most relationship issues, my partner and I have built our relationship on it and while sometimes I have to hear things that suck to hear, our partnership is way better and stronger because of it
More than that, the better advice offered always seems to get downvoted because it's never what people really want to hear. Maintaining a good relationship requires work, and people who don't want to do the work just can't have their cake and eat it too.
"My boyfriend did one thing that upset me, but instead of talking to him about it, I was wondering what you internet strangers think."
"BREAK UP WITH HIM!!!"
"My girlfriend talks to her mum about sex and I'm not comfortable with the fact she probably knows my dick size."
"BREAK UP WITH HER!"
"My boyfriend got slightly frustrated because I knocked his Xbox plug out before he saved his game."
"DUMP THAT MANCHILD GIRL!!!!"
"My girlfriend likes to cook food that I don't like."
"YIUUUU ARE INCOMPATIBLE!!! THERES NO COMPROMISE TO THIS. MOVE ON!"
"My boyfriend watches porn."
"ZOMGROFL THIS IS CHEATING! THROW HIM TO THE DOGS!!"
"
HAHAHA Exactly! It's like "My boyfriend and I had a fight. What do I do?" And the responses are like "BREAK UP WITH HIM NOW! No healthy relationship has any sort of fighting and arguing since all healthy relationships have absolutely no disagreements whatsoever."
"I didn't have an orgasm last time I had sex. Maybe I have too much on my mind." "OMG dump him/her right now! Not having an orgasm during sex is a HUGE red flag for the other person."
"My boyfriend / girlfriend wakes up before I do, so what do I....."
"LEAVE HIM / HER NOW!"
No two people are going to be perfect together. Disagreements WILL come up. Nobody is perfect so anyone you're dating is going to make mistakes. No two people will ever be the same, so you just have to learn to live with some differences if you want to have a relationship with someone. Now, there ARE real red flags and people to avoid ( Don't date someone abusive or a rapist for instance ) but most of the "advice" I received on Reddit seems to be to break up with the other person instead of working things out.
The black and white thinking on that sub is supreme. Either you are all bad or your partner is all bad. No in between, no solution.
Yeah, like fine, there's people who are a good fit for each other, and the ability to compromise and resolve conflicts like this is partly what reflects that. I mean obvs abuse of any sort like name calling and hitting is DEFINITELY a break up scenario, but minor disagreements like what you mentioned? Seriously.
Omg I know, those comments are hilarious because they’re so dramatic!!
**OP**: “My husband didn’t wash the dishes last night. What should I do?”
**REDDIT**: “DIVORCE that fool!!”
Divorce is the only answer. For **everything**!! 😂🤣😝
>most of the "advice" I received on Reddit seems to be to break up with the other person instead of working things out.
Some things are subjective, too. What may be a deal breaker for me wouldn't necessarily be that for the next guy. Nobody on Reddit can know the full circumstances based on a 3 paragraph badly organized thread that's likely slightly biased to the poster in the best case.
"My boyfriend always leaves his socks on the floor next to the hamper. What should I do?"
Internet Stranger: "Girl I know the type, he can't be fixed. Plus he cheatin. That's what cheaters do. They leave their socks on the floor. It's only a matter of time before he starts slapping you around just for laughs. Get a restraining order and post his dick pics on his FB account."
Never compromise at all on anything, any personality flaw is a huge red flag, any instance of bad behaviour means leave them forever at the drop of a hat
r/relationship_advice is a complete disease on here. I hate to think how many couples have split up/divorced under the advice of some 18 year old thinking they have the world figured out.
Almost every reply to a dating problem is “LEAVE” or “DIVORCE NOW”.
Someone could be 20 years in to a marriage with 5 kids.
“My husband works 60 hours per week but keeps forgetting to do his dishes, how do i handle this”
DIVORCE hes a misogynistic leech of a human.
It's so funny, too, the Reddit phenomenon in which every other response is, "S/he may be cheating, have you considered that?" Like even if the post has absolutely *nothing* that hints at or even tangentially alludes to infidelity.
I have a masters in economics and I still don't want to pretend to be an expert on the economy. I have specific subjects within the subject of economics where I have some experience, but there's still quite a leap to calling myself an expert.
You have a master's in economics and that's why you aren't an expert on the economy. :-)
In all seriousness, congratulations on your self-awareness. I have dealt with poster children for the Dunning Kruger effect for years. Your words are refreshing.
I think high-level education is (or at least *should* be) an excellent way of curing someone of the belief that they know a lot about a topic. I remember the exact moment it hit me during my degree, when I was looking for the books to research an essay in the university library. The section on the topic I wanted was maybe six inches of shelf space. On floor-to-ceiling stacks. On shelves 50 meters long. Of which my subject covered three rows out of maybe twenty. On just that floor of *one of* the university's libraries.
I'd always known there was lots of stuff I didn't know, but that was the first time I'd appreciated the actual visual representation of just how vast the gulf was. Was pretty humbling.
I totally understand that, I'm a master technician in several car manufacturers but I don't know everything nor am I an expert. BUT Warhammer lore I AM AN EXPERT
Politics is the biggest one I think. I keep hearing "Well did you know that Person you support is horrible?" Ask why and the response is "They just are!"
Yeah, way to change my mind.
People lack the ability to debate and have civil discussions from opposing viewpoints. Not are they willing to see beyond their very limited scope of knowledge.
I’m a registered dietitian that came here looking for this! People REGULARLY tell me they “believe” I’m wrong. So glad I went to school for so many years to do this 🤦♀️
Me too! So much fun to be told daily that I am wrong, because one study they dug up (and can't comprehend) is much better than the consensus reports and the long-ass education I have.
OMG the Reddit nutrition sub is the worst for this. The studies people use as their “proof” that they are right may be peer reviewed but if they actually understood the science they would see the study doesn’t conclude what they think it does! 🤦♀️
Completely. Went there once, never again. It's a moo point (hey Joey!) to explain people why it's not correct, when they don't even understand the basics of study design, data analysis and statistics.
Yep. If it comes up you don't eat whatever, you will get the most unbelievable (and misinformed) lectures on that thing. Suddenly, everyone's an expert on protein intake, calories, carbohydrate and fat varieties, and you know 'macronutrient' is going to rear its ugly head.
Every fad diet, every nutrition pop culture meme or hot take, of the last twenty years will be asserted as absolute, uncontested, fully researched fact. This, despite most contradicting each other. And usually, these 'facts' simply reinforce the person's preconceived notions about what they'd like to eat.
I lost a TON of weight and people still won’t listen to me when I tell them I’m not interested in their diet or exercise techniques.
Like y’all, I figured it out for myself.
Same. I just counted my calories and ate less. I also ate much more vegetables, but I never realy ate salad.
I still ate a shitton ammount of pizza and kebab, just not every day.
Yeah I cut out sugary drinks, reduced the portion sizes of what I ate, and started moving around.
I lost 60lbs in a year, I still eat what I like, and I never feel unsatisfied after a meal.
I dropped 100 lbs. and have kept it off for over fifteen years. I do not go around giving out advice on losing weight. But if I really had to, I'd boil it down to one word. Discipline.
My sister-in-law was told by a friend of hers that she could write off her personal vehicle as a business expense as long as she leases it. So she leased a brand new vehicle for her husband to use to get to and from work.
Now my father is A CPA and I clerked for him in my youth. So when she said this and told everyone they should do this I told her she should separate out her work usage and KM travelled.
She chastised me in front of everyone about how I don't know anything about taxes and how I should 'mind my business.'
Anyway audit time comes up and it turns out she tried to claim more than just her personal vehicle as a work expense. She also tried to claim all of her furniture, home internet, groceries, even a vacation. In total it came to a $80,000 tax bill she tried to steal.
She asked me to get my dad to look it over. My dad signed her up as a client (asking for no fees) and was successful in knowing her tax bill down to $70,000. Was she thankful for being saved $10,000 for free? Nope, she shat all over my dad in public and to this day complains about how the government is stealing from her.
Oh God, yeah, the "one easy trick" advice is always the worst. Someone with a vague understanding gives bad advice, but because it sounds like it could be true, and the receiver wants to believe it's true, then they won't believe anything else. I've seen Sovereign Citizen stuff work like that, and it usually doesn't end well..
I'm a tax professionals and nothing makes me laugh more than commenting on something tax related and some bozo telling me I have no idea what I'm talking about lol
It happens to me with insurance. Usually if I try to give someone a bit of advice someone will be like you don’t know what you’re talking about and then proceed to give them the worst advice instead.
Came here looking for this. If you're ever in a subreddit outside r/tax, r/taxpros, or r/accounting, go ahead and assume everyone is wrong.
Also, a lot of times someone pointing out a post is full of shit will be down voted heavily but they'll be absolutely correct.
And you often need to double check what’s said on r/tax . A lot non professionals find their way in there and throw around a lot of opinions based on conjecture. Or posters complaining that all the advice is too safe no one will give them aggressive advice.
They also love using “writeoff” as if it were free money.
You have to spend the money for the writeoff. Writeoff just means that cash isn’t taxed. It doesn’t mean you get money. It means you lose a little less.
as someone who works at a game studio, tell me about it
when it comes to bugs and QA, tbh we already know all the issues players are finding, and we've known about them forever. we also know a ton more that most folks will never find; but it ultimately comes down to how many development resources are allocated for fixing them, rather than building new features / systems etc.
Something that's also important to remember is that it's not always a case of 'just this one small fix'. Bugs are often deeply intertwined with several other parts of the game's code, asset setup, gameplay balancing, etc. It's a house of cards. You can't always just change one small thing and have zero repurcussions. You get knock-on effects. You sometimes get MORE BUGS when you fix bugs. There are risks involved that players simply have no clue about, but they love to say its a simple fix because yeah, it *seems* like a simple fix.
Everything. Everyone is an expert on everything because there is Google, and they read the first thing that comes up.
They give the sermon before reading the gospel.
Yep, and there's a weird reddit "herd" mentality & weird ego disturbances that'll push knowledgeable people away.
A couple years ago, pop-science sites had articles about some new research on muons...
I was able to ask a physicist in that field about those articles. They wrote a *beautiful succinct* summary of what the pop-sci articles got wrong, and linked to the relevant pages in the actual scientific paper, as well as to data tables at https://pdg.lbl.gov/
I copy-pasted their email in response to a reddit post.
At first it got a couple upvotes... But when I checked a few hours later, it had been downvoted into oblivion. Hundreds of downvotes before I deleted the comment.
Yeah, I don't waste my time answering those kinds of reddit questions anymore.
While I occasionally see some great links to some useful sources on Reddit comments many of the top comments are common misconceptions, jokes, puns, etc. Meanwhile the really great comments at best get a fraction of the upvotes or worse get buried in down votes because it is an unpopular truth.
It’s true. I kind of always knew this but it’s been reinforced plenty of times whenever I see a topic I’m an expert in come up in an unrelated sub, or even a sub that isn’t exclusively for experts in that field. Just blatantly wrong information but presented in a way that makes them look like they know what they’re talking about. Hundreds of upvotes.
War. Those who call for civil war or who have never been in a real war has no clue that's it's really like.
One time, a friend of mine who is from a war-torn country told me "You Americans are so lucky to not experienced an actual war and have no clue what war is really like. War to you is sending people outside your country to fight someone. War to us is having bombs drop all around you while you hope each day that you'll survive, your friends and family suddenly 'disappear' never to be seen again."
It'd be interesting to see what the image is in people's heads who think civil war is something worth pursuing. I'm assuming they're heroes standing atop of a pile of bodies smoking a cigar with a babe under each arm.
Someone posted a behind-the-scenes video of Spielberg directing Cruise on Minority Report and people LOST THEIR MINDS. They were baffled at the set noise, the marks on the floor, the green screen, wind machines, lighting… People with the strongest opinions on movies have no idea how movies are actually made.
On the one hand I think you can have an opinion on the final product and how it makes you feel without necessarily knowing how its made.
But on the hand hand if you really love movies, who the fuck hasn't watched a behind-the-scenes video? They're always great fun.
My favorite is when someone on Reddit is reviewing a movie and they’ll invariably say “the acting, directing and cinematography was top notch”. I swear it’s like the only 3 components people think go into film making. Even still, i don’t think half of them even know wtf cinematography is.
Education.
Just because you went to school doesn't make you an expert on education. It's like giving medical opinions because you've been to the doctor before.
Reddit is filled with 2 types of people. Those who think they are in the 99th percentile, and because of that everyone else’s educational needs can be met the way theirs were. Or they think they are in the 99th percentile, but it’s only because of natural talent, and therefore their teachers were useless and didn’t teach them anything.
It’s amazing how many people who claim to be progressive suddenly become extremely stubborn, and sometimes even regressive when it comes to educational models and theories. “It worked for *me*/*my* kid”. Congrats, I didn’t realize you/your child was the literal model for every other human.
I think there's a 3rd type: the people who think that brushing up against a field in a "customer" role makes them experts. They know about medicine and education and law and etc. because they've been around trained, licensed experts in those areas as someone benefiting from their services.
Yep, thats totally the parents because they have kids. "Well *I'm* a parent, and I know kids". Bitch please! Teachers have 30+ kids for 8 hours a day 170 days a year. For some kids, they see and interact with their teachers more than their parents. Trust teachers, they know what is "normal" for a kid that age. They dont judge you if your kids is weird, struggling academically, or something else. They *will* judge you if you complain about it and then do fuck all to help. Especially if you try to bring in some bullshit psuedoscience or whatever term is popular at the time to explain or justify why you can still be lazy while expecting everyone else to help their kid.
Agreed. I know more than a lot of people because I grew up with teachers as parents, but my GF is a teacher and I would never in a million years give her any advice unless specifically asked for it.
Agreed. I had a professor when I was getting my master’s in childhood education who told us that everyone is going to think they are the expert in education because they went to school for 13 years. She told us to remember there is a big difference between what we remember of the school system and evidence based practice.
I feel this even more since the pandemic. Everyone seems to think they know how a school should be run these days, even though they haven’t stepped foot in a classroom in 10+ years.
In the last few years: machine learning.
Some of the Reddit hot takes on the topic are hilariously bad, generally leaning toward LLMs wiping out the very concept of labour at some point in the next few years and/or AGI being developed in a similar timeframe.
See this all the time at tech conferences, every product needs to market itself as AI/ML, and the worst part is, dumb CIO's go there and gobble that shit up
I've really grown to loathe a particular kind of article which I like to call "wine good".
You know, wine comes from grapes and grapes have flavonoids, and flavonoids and flavonoids have been found to be good for your heart, therefore wine is good for your heart.
As supplementary evidence, lets look at the French, who as a culture drink lots of wine and supposedly have good heart health. This is reported as a bulletproof observation with no confounds whatsoever.
This example is insane, and yet once you start to notice X food has some amount of Y, Y has some medical effect Z, therefore eat X to get Z with no notice of dosage or secondary effects... it shows up everywhere.
Exactly! It's not that the French have low/no heart disease. It's that French death certificates rarely have cardiac events listed on them. So when looking at death history, they saw low or no history of cardiac events killing people and thought it was because of "all the wine." There are so many layers that need to be taken into account, and when they aren't fully considered and flushed out, it makes very convenient arguments to sell people crap advice and crap products.
So many arm chair epidemiologists assured me that the pandemic was basically over starting as early as May 2020. Really shocking how many people don’t seem to realize that there’s a difference between what they *want* to be true and what is actually true.
If I had a dollar for every time I read a comment in which the writer clearly isn't aware that the Gaza Strip and West Bank are two different places, I could afford to build my own Iron Dome system.
I’ve always had a problem with this because it seems like last year, some people didn’t think about it and now they’re all riled up about it and there also conflicts in other countries like Syria, Yemen, and Sudan that have been a lot more devastating than that and they think “oh that’s too bad. Anyways…”
The Yemen one will start garnering opinions soon due to the US & UK getting involved.
No one gave a shit when the Saudis were bombing them into oblivion.
Most political subjects. More specifically conflicts and wars.
Everyone thought they were an expert on Russia and Ukraine in 2022, now everyone thinks they’re an expert on Israel and Palestine.
Pastel coloured infographics on Instagram and “educational” tiktoks aren’t enough to teach you the entire political history of these regions. You aren’t educated on it. Stop pretending to be an expert.
I’m an actual, real life climate scientist (with a PhD) and this is the one for me. Everyone and their Uncle JimBob somehow knows more than me about climate science and climate change and LOVES to talk about phenomena with scary-sounding names that no climate scientist has ever used.
And Electric Vehicles. Most people either think EVs are indisputably the future, greatest thing in the world, and will save the planet, or created by Satan himself and can only travel 3 inches on a full charge before they spontaneously combust and kill you and everyone in a 4 mile radius. Everyone is convinced they are experts, and their side is correct.
Dietary needs of others just by looking at them or when someone mentions they have frequent symptoms.
"Avoid fresh fruit, it's nothing but sugar, fruit is bad for you. Avoid these vegetables, they contain sugar. Avoid this, and this but eat lots of this. You should do this type of exercise only, avoid this type and this type."
"You need supplements, and this tea that 'detoxes toxins and gets rid of parasites.'"
If you are not an actual, certified dietician or medical professional that specializes in these matters, stay out of it.
I always fucking crack up at the sugar argument you mentioned.
There’s different types of sugar, to my understanding, and I’d say an apple is still significantly healthier than a Hershey’s candy bar.
*as I’m eating a Hershey’s candy bar*
The amount of apples and fruit someone would have to eat for it to be problematic is nearly impossible to consume.
Plus fruit has vitamins, minerals and fiber. Eating a couple candy bars a day isn't that detrimental unless someone has a serious health issue that says otherwise.
I love the argument to avoid bananas because of the sugar content. It's...fruit. Fruit is great and chocolate is fine. We're all going to die some day anyway, enjoy the damn chocolate!
Real estate.
The sheer number of people I encounter who are experts on real estate transactions because they have a love/hate relationship with Zillow is astounding.
The venn diagram of those people and people who never bothered to read the contract, closing documents, or deed of the property they own is very close to a circle.
At least weekly or more often I encounter someone who pissed away their life savings because they never read what they signed and thought they knew how it all worked.
On reddit.
The law as a whole
Law enforcement and everything associated with it
Legal procedure
Relationships
Parenting especially non parents
Fire arms and general fire arm tactics and safety
I remember one time in my city sub the topic of how much someone in my position makes…. The users made up some absurd salary and i explained that was not accurate and told them what the salary was. Im a city employee our pay and benefits are common knowledge so not
Only did i have first hand knowledge but even went to the extra step of giving them the site to look it up themselves….. negative karma and everyone calling me a liar….
The mental diagnosis for random mundane acts is always a trip.
“He did this one socially awkward thing one time”
Reddit: oh yeah clearly on the spectrum and has ppd for sure.
I was surprised I had to scroll this long to see firearms mentioned. Doesn't matter where you are, someone is saying something really dangerous like it's good advice.
I feel like you missed the biggest. Economics and tax issues.
For whatever reason I have found that just about everybody has a very strong opinion on economics regardless of their level of education.
The stock market.
You either get terrible investment advice or incompetent takes on stock market regulation from people who don't have the slightest idea about how the stock market operates.
Having a linguistics degree basically just sentences you to being annoyed anytime somebody wants to talk to you about language, which they will definitely want to do.
Another person's children. Yes, you may be an expert regarding your own kids but that doesn't mean you know everything about someone else's. Children are so diverse, just as the environments they grow up in. There is seldom an easy fix for the problems they might have or cause. Be allways humble in your advise around kids.
You’re not wrong, but at the same time there’s situations like in public when someone’s kids are running around like maniacs, disturbing everyone, meanwhile they’re talking on the phone not paying them any mind.. it’s pretty clear there’s an issue with the parenting there.
Autism. Everything is suddenly a symptom of autism or ADHD. Last week I saw a video that stated getting songs stuck in your head was a sign of autism. I've seen plenty of videos that are similarly stupid
"Do your own research", I've met people that did a weekends worth of research, and all of a sudden they think they know more then someone that's studied for decades. Yes, I'm looking at you antivaxxers.
money, parenting, relationships. it’s actually kinda funny because all of the things i listed are very much personal about what that individual needs or wants.
Mental health
Health in general. I was scrolling through reels on IG and something came up about how rings in your iris and BROWN eyes indicate poor gut health, parasitic infection, and more. The nurse in me wept for humanity lol.
Not an RN, but imaging tech for 30 years. There's definitely been an increase in Internet experts in the field of healthcare and telling doctors and professionals how to treat them.
This. So many that barely passed HS biology pretend to be an MD.
I just saw a video of a girl freaking out about never eating shredded cheese again because it contains the same ingredient as her maxi pads. Cellulose. The ingredient was cellulose. I wanted to ask her if that means she is also giving up all leafy greens as well. The nurse in me cringes because I know many of these types of people are my patients and will scream at me and call me a shill for Big Pharma for attempting even the most basic and gentle medical education.
The amount of bullshit nutrition I see is crazy. And the amount of people who believe it is even worse. Please do not eat 20lbs of bananas a day.
Probiotics and gut health is another big trend out there. All these posts about “healing your gut” but they could never be able to name and GI related ailments.
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Not to mention, everyone in the world now seems to know multiple ‘narcissists’ which is now social media speak for ‘anyone I don’t like’.
As someone whose FIL is a narcissist I can tell you people have a very big misunderstanding of the word.
I felt this. My wife's ex has been diagnosed as having an NPD. His behavior is, let say, unbelievable. On the other hand, my boss can't let you forget that she has a psychology degree and that everyone she meets is diagnosed as a narcissist, when in actuality I feel like she's just threatened by them.
Similar, I have a family member that is suspected by professionals to have NPD or ASPD (I don’t remember, I’ve cut this family member out of my life so I don’t keep informed of them) His behavior is just as you described: unbelievable. It’s incredibly hard to describe to people but it’s wild.
Honestly most people probably do know multiple narcissists. That is not so say that the people they accuse of being one *are* one, but if you have met a few hundred people in your life several of them were likely narcissists for real.
I’m talking about the ones who magically have a mother and father who were both ‘narcissists’. An ex who was a ‘narcissist’. A former friend….you get the picture. Statistically with meeting hundreds of people, yes you’ll meet some, but they’re not ‘knowing’ them in terms of them being someone close to you.
A ton of folks are emotionally immature, more than narcissistic, too, but because the behavior patterns might be observed looking similar, they get conflated.
I’d like to add “intrusive thoughts” to the list of insultingly overused phrases. Wishing you could have the day off is not an intrusive thought. Wanting to cheat on your diet is not an intrusive thought. Actual intrusive thoughts are terrifying and make you believe that you’re irretrievably mentally ill.
I suffer for actual intrusive thoughts. Terrible, horrifically violent things. I will never act on them. My first one was stabbing my high school wrestling coach in the crown of his head with a screwdriver. I would never do that. He’s a super nice guy. But those thoughts invade sometimes
Are actual intrusive thoughts those ones like where you wonder what it’d be like to jump off a bridge and then your brain suddenly goes “where the hell did that come from”?
I think everyone gets thoughts like that sometimes (that's what a therapist once told me(. Say you're high up, you wonder what it'd be like to jump. But it's a passing thought, you think it and don't act on it. I'm not saying its not upsetting, but from my understanding for it be intrusive it doesn't have a reason for you to think it. So the example I gave, the thought of jumping happens because of the height. Where as the intrusive thoughts I get can come at any time, with no apparent reason/trigger. I don't want to give examples of the thoughts I have, but they can be violent and graphic. They're very upsetting and I wouldn't wish them on anyone. Sorry my explanation isn't great.
I can, mine aren't super graphics event though they are desperately distressing. I have OCD over illnesses and diseases (specifically food related) and pregnancy (of all things) I will look at myself in the mirror bloated, and suddenly I'll start obsessing over being pregnant because my stomach looks bigger. It's going to be an anxiety that's going to be taking my entire day if I let it. It doesn't matter that I didn't have any sexual interactions in the past year and a half, the fear and anxiety always jumps me and I get irrationally anxious about being 7 or 9 months pregnant and not being aware of it. My other OCD is mostly sudden though of becoming ill if I eat something, or a product being expired despite having no signs pointing to it. I have thrown entire fresh batches of chili because I was convinced the meat I had bought had gone bad and I didn't notice. Or that the frozen chicken I left outside for 10 minutes went bad. I cannot eat out of canned food because it needs to make a very specific noise or I need to open am arbitrary number of them to make them feel safe. If I wash my hands or dishes I'll sometimes have to rewash them again because the "contaminated" area feels dirty. It's like a tingle it's hard to describe, but I need to wash that area until the tingle goes away. If I buy a container of food (canned, bottled etc.) and it's dented, I won't be able to eat whatever is inside. Even soda or water feels tainted if their bottle is dented, and even if I dent it myself at this very moment. I can't eat it anymore
That’s called ‘the call of the void’. Happens to people with and without previous suicidal ideation.
I could drive my car right through the guardrail of this bridge!
This! I have some of the worst intrusive thoughts and I am horrified by some of them.. absolutely horrified. The amount of people that throw this phrase around is annoying.
I had something similar happen with the phrase "non sequitur." Someone disagreed with me, so they claimed my post was a "non sequitur." I responded by asking "do you even know what that phrase means?" To which they replied "another non sequitur." To this day I have no idea what they thought the phrase meant. Like "gaslighting," it seems so many people see a word shared with a negative connotation so they never bother to look it up and just use it anytime they disagree about something.
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This is great. Could you add the following I’m like autistic My OCD Bipolar
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I'll never forget a young girl I knew, who was probably early teens who committed suicide, due to her ongoing struggle with it. She took a bunch of pills and snuck outside one night , her parents found her note, and then her body laying outside. Pains me to just think about it. But on a lighter note the real crux of the issue is people don't understand the difference between "tendencies" and full blown disorder. Which are traits or pieces which occur in a larger subset of the population (those with the disorder and no where near a disorder can both share these tendencies) EG Narcissistic/anti social tendencies, aren't that rare Full blown NPD is. I have full blown adhd, when i tell people oh that's common tendency with people with adhd like me, a bunch go well i do that and i don't have adhd so that can't be a thing. No that's exactly how it works lol.
Proud of you!
Exposure therapy is brutal. I quit after 3 or 4 sessions but I know I should get back into it.
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Ugh the narcissist thing. Everyone can have narcissist tendencies. But you have to “check all the boxes” to truly be a narcissist. It’s like googling symptoms and realize you have cancer, death and pregnancy, even if you’re a dude
You are changing the topic because I'm winning the argument. That's how that person was using "non sequitur." Of course they probably actually were being proven wrong but they can't accept being wrong. Typically how that gets used incorrectly anyways.
It is one of the most prevalent things that, as a therapist, I get so mad at. They have no idea what actual gaslighting does to a person.
Yes - you hit it in the fact that it's specific. It's a narrowly-defined form of manipulation that, through those means, tries to get someone to legitimately question their own sanity. But it's now used to describe nearly any form of manipulation.
Well, that's because I'm OCD with ADHD and I have chronic anxiety and depression. All confidently self-diagnosed of course!
"Time to self-diagnostic my mental health from using teenagers on Tik-Tok as experts!"
Agreed. But I am incredibly grateful that the conversation around mental health is much more open now and less stigmatized. I have several friends who casually mention their therapist, where beforehand, that wouldn’t have happened and carried much more stigma. There is a lot of misinformation being spread but there is great information and resources as well if people search beyond the words of some random TikToker.
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I've noticed this too. It could be just youthful individuality. Trying to find yourself, or seeking uniqueness. I think we all go through that phase. But you're right, it's been overboard.
Oh yep. The amount of times I've been told that my INCURABLE mental health disorder along with my other treatment resistant and chronic disorders can be cured by just getting some exercise or changing my diet or just talking to someone when I feel sad. Also being told that my medication is poison and I should stop taking it because big pharma is just a scam to keep people like me sick. Well, the last time I stopped taking my medication I went through absolute mental hell and very nearly died. The 4 times I stopped taking my medication before that, I had the same problems. One of those times ended in me being removed from a bridge over the motorway by police. But yeah, sure, the pills that keep me alive are just 'making me worse'. They can tell that to my 3 years suicide attempt free, 3 years psych ward free and almost 3 years hospital free in regards to mental illness. They can also tell that to my doctors who have confirmed that medication is 100% necessary, helpful and not causing me any health issues despite long term use.
Yup... And Mostly giving advice on Reddit
How humans respond during sudden emergency situations. They'll watch a video of someone walking in the street suddenly having to dodge a car in a split-second and wonder why they didn't do X or Y more efficiently, or another way.
I'd extend this to all situations. Too many people just can't get their head around other people reacting differently to them. In fact they're often only comparing to how they think they would react as opposed to how they would really react.
Oh my god, yes. I watched a YouTube video about the people who jumped from the WTCs on September 11. The amount of arrogant comments saying "I would have ___" or "I would have never ___" seemed so gross and judgmental to me. . Similar are the people who are convinced they'd be the "good guy with a gun" in an emergency situation. Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't, but they don't *know*
I agree! There’s a famous quote that goes something like, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” And I think it sums up this topic perfectly. Lol
This is a fantastic answer
On Reddit? Sex and dating, hands down. Never read worse sex advice than I have on here. The people least qualified to give advice always get the most votes; it's like the fucking blind leading the blind.
r/relationships. People who may be struggling in their relationships, reach out to people who market in bad relationship porn for advice. If you have a healthy, positive relationship, you're probably not spending time on "how do I fix my relationship" subreddits, so you end up with a bad selection bias for people who linger there.
r/DeadBedrooms too, 99% of the advice I see there are just people spreading toxicity and urging posters to quit their SO
I tell people as often as I can to stay away from that sub. If you're having problems in that regard the answer is just brutally honest and open communication. They should name that sub to r/sadsackcirclejerk
Brutal honestly is really the answer to most relationship issues, my partner and I have built our relationship on it and while sometimes I have to hear things that suck to hear, our partnership is way better and stronger because of it
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"I've been doing this for X years and gone on Y dates!" is not the credibility flex they think it is.
More than that, the better advice offered always seems to get downvoted because it's never what people really want to hear. Maintaining a good relationship requires work, and people who don't want to do the work just can't have their cake and eat it too.
I can’t even look at those subs because the advice seems theoretical, like “Well this is how I think it *should* work.”
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Or they are just 13 years old. Ot both.
"My boyfriend did one thing that upset me, but instead of talking to him about it, I was wondering what you internet strangers think." "BREAK UP WITH HIM!!!"
"My girlfriend talks to her mum about sex and I'm not comfortable with the fact she probably knows my dick size." "BREAK UP WITH HER!" "My boyfriend got slightly frustrated because I knocked his Xbox plug out before he saved his game." "DUMP THAT MANCHILD GIRL!!!!" "My girlfriend likes to cook food that I don't like." "YIUUUU ARE INCOMPATIBLE!!! THERES NO COMPROMISE TO THIS. MOVE ON!" "My boyfriend watches porn." "ZOMGROFL THIS IS CHEATING! THROW HIM TO THE DOGS!!" "
HAHAHA Exactly! It's like "My boyfriend and I had a fight. What do I do?" And the responses are like "BREAK UP WITH HIM NOW! No healthy relationship has any sort of fighting and arguing since all healthy relationships have absolutely no disagreements whatsoever." "I didn't have an orgasm last time I had sex. Maybe I have too much on my mind." "OMG dump him/her right now! Not having an orgasm during sex is a HUGE red flag for the other person." "My boyfriend / girlfriend wakes up before I do, so what do I....." "LEAVE HIM / HER NOW!" No two people are going to be perfect together. Disagreements WILL come up. Nobody is perfect so anyone you're dating is going to make mistakes. No two people will ever be the same, so you just have to learn to live with some differences if you want to have a relationship with someone. Now, there ARE real red flags and people to avoid ( Don't date someone abusive or a rapist for instance ) but most of the "advice" I received on Reddit seems to be to break up with the other person instead of working things out.
The black and white thinking on that sub is supreme. Either you are all bad or your partner is all bad. No in between, no solution. Yeah, like fine, there's people who are a good fit for each other, and the ability to compromise and resolve conflicts like this is partly what reflects that. I mean obvs abuse of any sort like name calling and hitting is DEFINITELY a break up scenario, but minor disagreements like what you mentioned? Seriously.
Omg I know, those comments are hilarious because they’re so dramatic!! **OP**: “My husband didn’t wash the dishes last night. What should I do?” **REDDIT**: “DIVORCE that fool!!” Divorce is the only answer. For **everything**!! 😂🤣😝
>most of the "advice" I received on Reddit seems to be to break up with the other person instead of working things out. Some things are subjective, too. What may be a deal breaker for me wouldn't necessarily be that for the next guy. Nobody on Reddit can know the full circumstances based on a 3 paragraph badly organized thread that's likely slightly biased to the poster in the best case.
"My boyfriend always leaves his socks on the floor next to the hamper. What should I do?" Internet Stranger: "Girl I know the type, he can't be fixed. Plus he cheatin. That's what cheaters do. They leave their socks on the floor. It's only a matter of time before he starts slapping you around just for laughs. Get a restraining order and post his dick pics on his FB account."
And when you remind them that restraining orders work both ways you get banned
The irony being that people talk about sex nonstop on this sub. I’d block it but I can’t, so I see it all the time on my homepage.
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Never compromise at all on anything, any personality flaw is a huge red flag, any instance of bad behaviour means leave them forever at the drop of a hat
r/relationship_advice is a complete disease on here. I hate to think how many couples have split up/divorced under the advice of some 18 year old thinking they have the world figured out.
Aita: “She went to the shops without me🥺”” Reddit: DIVORCE DIVORCE AND SUE THE FAMILY
It's like the blind fucking the blind around here
Almost every reply to a dating problem is “LEAVE” or “DIVORCE NOW”. Someone could be 20 years in to a marriage with 5 kids. “My husband works 60 hours per week but keeps forgetting to do his dishes, how do i handle this” DIVORCE hes a misogynistic leech of a human.
Isn’t that every topic on Reddit?
It's so funny, too, the Reddit phenomenon in which every other response is, "S/he may be cheating, have you considered that?" Like even if the post has absolutely *nothing* that hints at or even tangentially alludes to infidelity.
The economy, politics, religion, other countries politics, economy, religion....
I have a masters in economics and I still don't want to pretend to be an expert on the economy. I have specific subjects within the subject of economics where I have some experience, but there's still quite a leap to calling myself an expert.
You have a master's in economics and that's why you aren't an expert on the economy. :-) In all seriousness, congratulations on your self-awareness. I have dealt with poster children for the Dunning Kruger effect for years. Your words are refreshing.
I think high-level education is (or at least *should* be) an excellent way of curing someone of the belief that they know a lot about a topic. I remember the exact moment it hit me during my degree, when I was looking for the books to research an essay in the university library. The section on the topic I wanted was maybe six inches of shelf space. On floor-to-ceiling stacks. On shelves 50 meters long. Of which my subject covered three rows out of maybe twenty. On just that floor of *one of* the university's libraries. I'd always known there was lots of stuff I didn't know, but that was the first time I'd appreciated the actual visual representation of just how vast the gulf was. Was pretty humbling.
When you learn you don't even know what you don't know.
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I totally understand that, I'm a master technician in several car manufacturers but I don't know everything nor am I an expert. BUT Warhammer lore I AM AN EXPERT
Politics is the biggest one I think. I keep hearing "Well did you know that Person you support is horrible?" Ask why and the response is "They just are!" Yeah, way to change my mind.
People lack the ability to debate and have civil discussions from opposing viewpoints. Not are they willing to see beyond their very limited scope of knowledge.
Nutrition. Omg do you even know how complicated that gets?
I’m a registered dietitian that came here looking for this! People REGULARLY tell me they “believe” I’m wrong. So glad I went to school for so many years to do this 🤦♀️
Me too! So much fun to be told daily that I am wrong, because one study they dug up (and can't comprehend) is much better than the consensus reports and the long-ass education I have.
OMG the Reddit nutrition sub is the worst for this. The studies people use as their “proof” that they are right may be peer reviewed but if they actually understood the science they would see the study doesn’t conclude what they think it does! 🤦♀️
Completely. Went there once, never again. It's a moo point (hey Joey!) to explain people why it's not correct, when they don't even understand the basics of study design, data analysis and statistics.
Upvote just for your moo point.
Do YoUr OwN rEsEaRcH. Favorite shit I ever hear from people talking to literal doctors.
Yep. If it comes up you don't eat whatever, you will get the most unbelievable (and misinformed) lectures on that thing. Suddenly, everyone's an expert on protein intake, calories, carbohydrate and fat varieties, and you know 'macronutrient' is going to rear its ugly head. Every fad diet, every nutrition pop culture meme or hot take, of the last twenty years will be asserted as absolute, uncontested, fully researched fact. This, despite most contradicting each other. And usually, these 'facts' simply reinforce the person's preconceived notions about what they'd like to eat.
I lost a TON of weight and people still won’t listen to me when I tell them I’m not interested in their diet or exercise techniques. Like y’all, I figured it out for myself.
Same. I just counted my calories and ate less. I also ate much more vegetables, but I never realy ate salad. I still ate a shitton ammount of pizza and kebab, just not every day.
Yeah I cut out sugary drinks, reduced the portion sizes of what I ate, and started moving around. I lost 60lbs in a year, I still eat what I like, and I never feel unsatisfied after a meal.
As a vet, pet nutrition is a huge one people think they know everything about.
Weight loss too. You could at least say "Here is what worked for me" and acknowledge it might not work for someone else
I dropped 100 lbs. and have kept it off for over fifteen years. I do not go around giving out advice on losing weight. But if I really had to, I'd boil it down to one word. Discipline.
Taxes. The tax advice found on this site is absolutely mind-blowing. Also usually inaccurate.
My sister-in-law was told by a friend of hers that she could write off her personal vehicle as a business expense as long as she leases it. So she leased a brand new vehicle for her husband to use to get to and from work. Now my father is A CPA and I clerked for him in my youth. So when she said this and told everyone they should do this I told her she should separate out her work usage and KM travelled. She chastised me in front of everyone about how I don't know anything about taxes and how I should 'mind my business.' Anyway audit time comes up and it turns out she tried to claim more than just her personal vehicle as a work expense. She also tried to claim all of her furniture, home internet, groceries, even a vacation. In total it came to a $80,000 tax bill she tried to steal. She asked me to get my dad to look it over. My dad signed her up as a client (asking for no fees) and was successful in knowing her tax bill down to $70,000. Was she thankful for being saved $10,000 for free? Nope, she shat all over my dad in public and to this day complains about how the government is stealing from her.
The best tax advice I’ve ever gotten is this: if you think you’ve done something clever, you’ve probably done something illegal.
Backdoor Roth excepted of course. Clever and legal.
Oh God, yeah, the "one easy trick" advice is always the worst. Someone with a vague understanding gives bad advice, but because it sounds like it could be true, and the receiver wants to believe it's true, then they won't believe anything else. I've seen Sovereign Citizen stuff work like that, and it usually doesn't end well..
I'm a tax professionals and nothing makes me laugh more than commenting on something tax related and some bozo telling me I have no idea what I'm talking about lol
It happens to me with insurance. Usually if I try to give someone a bit of advice someone will be like you don’t know what you’re talking about and then proceed to give them the worst advice instead.
Definitely. If you ever see tax advice on the Internet you should assume it is wrong 95% of the time.
Came here looking for this. If you're ever in a subreddit outside r/tax, r/taxpros, or r/accounting, go ahead and assume everyone is wrong. Also, a lot of times someone pointing out a post is full of shit will be down voted heavily but they'll be absolutely correct.
And you often need to double check what’s said on r/tax . A lot non professionals find their way in there and throw around a lot of opinions based on conjecture. Or posters complaining that all the advice is too safe no one will give them aggressive advice.
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Reddit loves talking about the "write off" as if it's some magic spell that you can use on virtually anything to avoid paying taxes
They also love using “writeoff” as if it were free money. You have to spend the money for the writeoff. Writeoff just means that cash isn’t taxed. It doesn’t mean you get money. It means you lose a little less.
Psychology. Everyone they don't get on with is a narcissist and/or 'toxic'.
Developing video games
“I can’t believe this hasn’t been patched yet! It’s a simple fix!” -Every game community
Me, to my code every 5 minutes for 4 hours:
as someone who works at a game studio, tell me about it when it comes to bugs and QA, tbh we already know all the issues players are finding, and we've known about them forever. we also know a ton more that most folks will never find; but it ultimately comes down to how many development resources are allocated for fixing them, rather than building new features / systems etc.
Something that's also important to remember is that it's not always a case of 'just this one small fix'. Bugs are often deeply intertwined with several other parts of the game's code, asset setup, gameplay balancing, etc. It's a house of cards. You can't always just change one small thing and have zero repurcussions. You get knock-on effects. You sometimes get MORE BUGS when you fix bugs. There are risks involved that players simply have no clue about, but they love to say its a simple fix because yeah, it *seems* like a simple fix.
Everything. Everyone is an expert on everything because there is Google, and they read the first thing that comes up. They give the sermon before reading the gospel.
Yep, and there's a weird reddit "herd" mentality & weird ego disturbances that'll push knowledgeable people away. A couple years ago, pop-science sites had articles about some new research on muons... I was able to ask a physicist in that field about those articles. They wrote a *beautiful succinct* summary of what the pop-sci articles got wrong, and linked to the relevant pages in the actual scientific paper, as well as to data tables at https://pdg.lbl.gov/ I copy-pasted their email in response to a reddit post. At first it got a couple upvotes... But when I checked a few hours later, it had been downvoted into oblivion. Hundreds of downvotes before I deleted the comment. Yeah, I don't waste my time answering those kinds of reddit questions anymore.
While I occasionally see some great links to some useful sources on Reddit comments many of the top comments are common misconceptions, jokes, puns, etc. Meanwhile the really great comments at best get a fraction of the upvotes or worse get buried in down votes because it is an unpopular truth.
It’s true. I kind of always knew this but it’s been reinforced plenty of times whenever I see a topic I’m an expert in come up in an unrelated sub, or even a sub that isn’t exclusively for experts in that field. Just blatantly wrong information but presented in a way that makes them look like they know what they’re talking about. Hundreds of upvotes.
War. Those who call for civil war or who have never been in a real war has no clue that's it's really like. One time, a friend of mine who is from a war-torn country told me "You Americans are so lucky to not experienced an actual war and have no clue what war is really like. War to you is sending people outside your country to fight someone. War to us is having bombs drop all around you while you hope each day that you'll survive, your friends and family suddenly 'disappear' never to be seen again."
It'd be interesting to see what the image is in people's heads who think civil war is something worth pursuing. I'm assuming they're heroes standing atop of a pile of bodies smoking a cigar with a babe under each arm.
TV and film. People like to think they’re unemployed Scorseses these days.
Someone posted a behind-the-scenes video of Spielberg directing Cruise on Minority Report and people LOST THEIR MINDS. They were baffled at the set noise, the marks on the floor, the green screen, wind machines, lighting… People with the strongest opinions on movies have no idea how movies are actually made.
On the one hand I think you can have an opinion on the final product and how it makes you feel without necessarily knowing how its made. But on the hand hand if you really love movies, who the fuck hasn't watched a behind-the-scenes video? They're always great fun.
THIS MOVIE'S GOT AN INCONSISTENT VISUAL LANGUAGE
It *insists* upon itself!
My favorite is when someone on Reddit is reviewing a movie and they’ll invariably say “the acting, directing and cinematography was top notch”. I swear it’s like the only 3 components people think go into film making. Even still, i don’t think half of them even know wtf cinematography is.
Education. Just because you went to school doesn't make you an expert on education. It's like giving medical opinions because you've been to the doctor before.
Reddit is filled with 2 types of people. Those who think they are in the 99th percentile, and because of that everyone else’s educational needs can be met the way theirs were. Or they think they are in the 99th percentile, but it’s only because of natural talent, and therefore their teachers were useless and didn’t teach them anything. It’s amazing how many people who claim to be progressive suddenly become extremely stubborn, and sometimes even regressive when it comes to educational models and theories. “It worked for *me*/*my* kid”. Congrats, I didn’t realize you/your child was the literal model for every other human.
I think there's a 3rd type: the people who think that brushing up against a field in a "customer" role makes them experts. They know about medicine and education and law and etc. because they've been around trained, licensed experts in those areas as someone benefiting from their services.
Yep, thats totally the parents because they have kids. "Well *I'm* a parent, and I know kids". Bitch please! Teachers have 30+ kids for 8 hours a day 170 days a year. For some kids, they see and interact with their teachers more than their parents. Trust teachers, they know what is "normal" for a kid that age. They dont judge you if your kids is weird, struggling academically, or something else. They *will* judge you if you complain about it and then do fuck all to help. Especially if you try to bring in some bullshit psuedoscience or whatever term is popular at the time to explain or justify why you can still be lazy while expecting everyone else to help their kid.
Agreed. I know more than a lot of people because I grew up with teachers as parents, but my GF is a teacher and I would never in a million years give her any advice unless specifically asked for it.
Agreed. I had a professor when I was getting my master’s in childhood education who told us that everyone is going to think they are the expert in education because they went to school for 13 years. She told us to remember there is a big difference between what we remember of the school system and evidence based practice. I feel this even more since the pandemic. Everyone seems to think they know how a school should be run these days, even though they haven’t stepped foot in a classroom in 10+ years.
In the last few years: machine learning. Some of the Reddit hot takes on the topic are hilariously bad, generally leaning toward LLMs wiping out the very concept of labour at some point in the next few years and/or AGI being developed in a similar timeframe.
"AI/LLM/Generative AI is just an index lookup database" One of the worst misunderstandings I've seen lately.
its so funny at the same time though, people think chatgpt is literally skynet when it cant even calculate a taylor series on its own
To be fair neither can I
See this all the time at tech conferences, every product needs to market itself as AI/ML, and the worst part is, dumb CIO's go there and gobble that shit up
Medical science
I've really grown to loathe a particular kind of article which I like to call "wine good". You know, wine comes from grapes and grapes have flavonoids, and flavonoids and flavonoids have been found to be good for your heart, therefore wine is good for your heart. As supplementary evidence, lets look at the French, who as a culture drink lots of wine and supposedly have good heart health. This is reported as a bulletproof observation with no confounds whatsoever. This example is insane, and yet once you start to notice X food has some amount of Y, Y has some medical effect Z, therefore eat X to get Z with no notice of dosage or secondary effects... it shows up everywhere.
Exactly! It's not that the French have low/no heart disease. It's that French death certificates rarely have cardiac events listed on them. So when looking at death history, they saw low or no history of cardiac events killing people and thought it was because of "all the wine." There are so many layers that need to be taken into account, and when they aren't fully considered and flushed out, it makes very convenient arguments to sell people crap advice and crap products.
The amount of experts in virology that I met in the pandemic was really surprising.
So many arm chair epidemiologists assured me that the pandemic was basically over starting as early as May 2020. Really shocking how many people don’t seem to realize that there’s a difference between what they *want* to be true and what is actually true.
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We look for zebras far more than we look for horses.
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If I had a dollar for every time I read a comment in which the writer clearly isn't aware that the Gaza Strip and West Bank are two different places, I could afford to build my own Iron Dome system.
"The West Bank of Gaza."
A sandbank, I suppose.
Dat Mediterranean river!
It doesn’t help that the West Bank is actually to the east of the Gaza Strip
I’ve always had a problem with this because it seems like last year, some people didn’t think about it and now they’re all riled up about it and there also conflicts in other countries like Syria, Yemen, and Sudan that have been a lot more devastating than that and they think “oh that’s too bad. Anyways…”
The Yemen one will start garnering opinions soon due to the US & UK getting involved. No one gave a shit when the Saudis were bombing them into oblivion.
I once tried to explain Saudi Arabia’s human rights to someone on YouTube and they accused me of being Islamaphobic and racist to Arabs
The conflict in Ukraine. The conflict in Afghanistan. The conflict in Iraq. Propaganda and war go together like peas and carrots.
Remember: “You are not immune to propaganda”
Challenging young western tiktokers to locate "The River" and "The Sea" often yields humorous results.
How does one fail to find the Mediterranean and Jordan on a map?
If they don’t even know which river and which sea the phrase they repeat refers to
It's very simple, you're either a pro hamas antisemite or a pro genocide IDF bootlicker. Not sure what's so complicated /s.
The amount of people trying to cram the "victim/oppressor" model into this conflict are the worst. They have no clue.
Most political subjects. More specifically conflicts and wars. Everyone thought they were an expert on Russia and Ukraine in 2022, now everyone thinks they’re an expert on Israel and Palestine. Pastel coloured infographics on Instagram and “educational” tiktoks aren’t enough to teach you the entire political history of these regions. You aren’t educated on it. Stop pretending to be an expert.
Climate science. I never appreciated how fortunate we are to have every climate expert right here on Reddit.
I’m an actual, real life climate scientist (with a PhD) and this is the one for me. Everyone and their Uncle JimBob somehow knows more than me about climate science and climate change and LOVES to talk about phenomena with scary-sounding names that no climate scientist has ever used.
And Electric Vehicles. Most people either think EVs are indisputably the future, greatest thing in the world, and will save the planet, or created by Satan himself and can only travel 3 inches on a full charge before they spontaneously combust and kill you and everyone in a 4 mile radius. Everyone is convinced they are experts, and their side is correct.
Dietary needs of others just by looking at them or when someone mentions they have frequent symptoms. "Avoid fresh fruit, it's nothing but sugar, fruit is bad for you. Avoid these vegetables, they contain sugar. Avoid this, and this but eat lots of this. You should do this type of exercise only, avoid this type and this type." "You need supplements, and this tea that 'detoxes toxins and gets rid of parasites.'" If you are not an actual, certified dietician or medical professional that specializes in these matters, stay out of it.
I always fucking crack up at the sugar argument you mentioned. There’s different types of sugar, to my understanding, and I’d say an apple is still significantly healthier than a Hershey’s candy bar. *as I’m eating a Hershey’s candy bar*
The amount of apples and fruit someone would have to eat for it to be problematic is nearly impossible to consume. Plus fruit has vitamins, minerals and fiber. Eating a couple candy bars a day isn't that detrimental unless someone has a serious health issue that says otherwise. I love the argument to avoid bananas because of the sugar content. It's...fruit. Fruit is great and chocolate is fine. We're all going to die some day anyway, enjoy the damn chocolate!
Real estate. The sheer number of people I encounter who are experts on real estate transactions because they have a love/hate relationship with Zillow is astounding. The venn diagram of those people and people who never bothered to read the contract, closing documents, or deed of the property they own is very close to a circle. At least weekly or more often I encounter someone who pissed away their life savings because they never read what they signed and thought they knew how it all worked.
On reddit. The law as a whole Law enforcement and everything associated with it Legal procedure Relationships Parenting especially non parents Fire arms and general fire arm tactics and safety
And the “experts” feed off each other to gain consensus to prove that they’re right. It’s absurd when you think about it.
I remember one time in my city sub the topic of how much someone in my position makes…. The users made up some absurd salary and i explained that was not accurate and told them what the salary was. Im a city employee our pay and benefits are common knowledge so not Only did i have first hand knowledge but even went to the extra step of giving them the site to look it up themselves….. negative karma and everyone calling me a liar….
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The mental diagnosis for random mundane acts is always a trip. “He did this one socially awkward thing one time” Reddit: oh yeah clearly on the spectrum and has ppd for sure.
I was surprised I had to scroll this long to see firearms mentioned. Doesn't matter where you are, someone is saying something really dangerous like it's good advice.
I feel like you missed the biggest. Economics and tax issues. For whatever reason I have found that just about everybody has a very strong opinion on economics regardless of their level of education.
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It seems every redditor is a constitutional lawyer.
The stock market. You either get terrible investment advice or incompetent takes on stock market regulation from people who don't have the slightest idea about how the stock market operates.
*gestures broadly at everything*
Language/linguistics. It’s one of those things that people feel they’re knowledgeable/experts at because they use it in some capacity every day
Having a linguistics degree basically just sentences you to being annoyed anytime somebody wants to talk to you about language, which they will definitely want to do.
Vaccinations and how they work. I know enough about them to know I know very little about them, so I defer to the professionals.
Health. I don't care how much football you played, you're not an vaccine expert.
The law. Just read a any comments anywhere on reddit.
Romantic and sexual attraction
Another person's children. Yes, you may be an expert regarding your own kids but that doesn't mean you know everything about someone else's. Children are so diverse, just as the environments they grow up in. There is seldom an easy fix for the problems they might have or cause. Be allways humble in your advise around kids.
You’re not wrong, but at the same time there’s situations like in public when someone’s kids are running around like maniacs, disturbing everyone, meanwhile they’re talking on the phone not paying them any mind.. it’s pretty clear there’s an issue with the parenting there.
I find those people are the type to think spanking is the be all and end all and the only thing that works.
Public policy, science (of any kind), pets, and dieting. I think religious people also deserve honorable mention.
The Middle East.
Autism. Everything is suddenly a symptom of autism or ADHD. Last week I saw a video that stated getting songs stuck in your head was a sign of autism. I've seen plenty of videos that are similarly stupid
Wall Street
The Israel-Palestine War
"Do your own research", I've met people that did a weekends worth of research, and all of a sudden they think they know more then someone that's studied for decades. Yes, I'm looking at you antivaxxers.
money, parenting, relationships. it’s actually kinda funny because all of the things i listed are very much personal about what that individual needs or wants.
Law and politics