Asklemmy

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.

Cold Air will make you sick.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Slightly off topic, sorry.

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.

“Survival of the fittest”

bitch, explain cows