Things everybody should know but for some reason, most don't.

[Alcamonic]

Personal hygiene. It does become my problem when you smell like ass on the bus.

 

[Mordekaien]

Words of wisdom:
You CAN'T catch a swinging blade in your arms with a clapping motion, no matter what Ninja movies taught you. (you would be surprised at how many people ask me if this is really possible)

 

[Edward_Bear]

The internet is dangerous.

People have forgotten who Stalin was. And simply do not care.

Hirohito was responsible for more than 40,000,000 deaths. Yes, I got that number right. Nobody cares.

The Atomic Bombs killed less than the firebombing of Tokyo.

Bombing Dresden served no strategic benefit.

Ok, ok, Most of that was about WW2. Which I think is incredibly important. So I guess I remember a lot about it. But still. I think all of that should be general knowledge.

1) I really, really, really wish that people understood science better. How it's performed, when it's good, when it's bad, and what you can conclude from the findings. Very few things piss me off more than going onto a fluff article on CNN or something about "Eggplant may cure cancer!" and seeing a bunch of "It totally worked for ME..." in the comments. The plural of personal experience is not data! Also, correlation is not causation!

2) Global Climate Change is real, it's happening, and humans are causing it (we 'tipped the scales' with fossil fuels). The dissenting scientific community makes up about 2% of all scientists, and most don't have a related degree. You don't go to an MBA for your goiter, you don't ask a Historian about climate. We're not going to stop it or slow it in time, either. The only reason we're not noticing quite yet is because of our location and wealth. Prepare to move, people. I'm thinking Northeast or Northwest.

3) I'm also aghast at how short too many peoples' political memories are.

I am in broad agreement with everything you have said. Although what saddens me the most (As a Brit) is number three.

"There is no such thing as society" - Margret Thatcher, Conservative Party.

And yet who is currently leading us? A Conservative tosspot who is trying to fuck Britain into the dark ages (And I can justify that statement)

Oh, Heres one, Specific to Britain.

As of next year, at the same time as a universal funding decrease, postgraduate (Masters, PhD) courses in the UK are rising in line with undergrad courses. And there are no loans in place for postgraduate courses. So, the general knowledge I wish people had?

IF THIS GOES THROUGH ACADEMIA ENDS WITHIN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND WE WILL BE LOSING THE FINEST MINDS OUR COUNTRY HAS TO OFFER.

And one specific to the western world.

Poverty exists in our major cities. Its not just about living in slums or being homeless. You can have running water and a computer and still be living in poverty. The government does very little to alleviate this.

A bit off topic but it's not just the UK where the education system is getting crushed by the current right wing government.
* less money to the schools
* Special needs school getting closed and blind, deaf and highly autistic children will have to go to regular schools with out extra money to prepare the schools or teachers
* no more student scholarships for master students
* Teachers salaries will be frozen but they can earn a bonus depending on how there students grade them as a teacher. (starting from the 11 year olds)
* to compensate the teachers for this they get an extra unpayed work week a year. This is considered a reward by the current government because, now teacher will have an extra week a year for there lessons, so you don't have to teach the children as much in one lesson because now you can spread it out more.

Ironically one of there spear points is supposed to be giving the Netherlands a strong knowledge economy

 

[WoW Killer]

why should everyone know that? surely thats only of religious importance?

Someone should explain it to the BNP. Last election they opened their campain by marching a bunch of twits dressed up as crusaders through the streets. Full chainmail and flags and shit. They're a far right group based around kicking out foreigners if you don't know. So yeah... him not being English and having no relation to England is kinda funny.

Ok here's one I'm surprised many people don't know/remember: the first king of Britain was a Scotsman.

 

[krazykidd]

Quebec is a province not a country . It is also the only french province of canada tht is officially french .

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

Absolutely no one else in my school knows what Animaniacs and Freakazoid are...

What sort of blasphemy is this? I'm not too big an Animaniacs fan, but I loved Freakazoid back in the day. One of the best 90s cartoons in existence.

How are people supposed to fap to flat-chested reptile chicks?

Believe me, someone in this world does. There are seven billion of us, after all.

 

[Professor Idle]

Entertainment's only purpose in our lives is to distract us from realizing one day we will die, kicking and screaming, into a deep dark black abyss, and we won't want to go but we won't have a choice...

Yeah man, life is meaningless and all that D: brb slitting wrists

*resumes tvtropes for three hours straight

You may have a point.

 

[illas]

Correlation is not causation.

 

[Quaxar]

The Atomic Bombs killed less than the firebombing of Tokyo.

Bombing Dresden served no strategic benefit.

Is that immediate deaths or factoring in deaths due to radiation and related after-affects?

And I really don't agree with your second statement.
First of all, Dresden was mostly unharmed [EDIT: until late 1944, my bad for missing that part out] due to its location so the bombing was a reminder of the advancement of allied troops not to mention it was, after all, the seventh biggest city.
Plus the Dresden junction was the main route for everything on rails in the wider area, considered one of the most important industrial centres of the Reich and the last garrison town on the eatern front.
I'm not saying carpet bombing it to ashes was a great decision but no strategic benefit goes a bit too far, don't you think?

 

[GoodOmens]

Basic first aid: not necessarily enough to set a bone or something like that, but enough to treat minor cuts, burns, shock, things like that.

Basic self-defense, and the knowledge that real fights aren't like in Bruce Lee movies.

Simple cooking, enough to prepare a meal from scratch. You don't need to be able to make a bechamel sauce, but you should be able to grill a chicken breast, cook pasta decently, things like that.

Number sense and estimation.

 

[Harpalyce]

How to fold a fitted bedsheet.

/still have not mastered this
//they're made of non-euclidean geometry and black magic, dammit

 

[Big_McLargehuge]

I think the worst is teenagers who think that getting pregnant and getting a puppy are the same thing. You do it for "unconditional love" and don't understand the responsibility and money and time that SHOULD go into your child.

My fiancee works at a high school and comes home with horrid stories of girls wanting to, or actually getting, pregnant because they feel unloved...

I mean really, children love you for about ten-twelve years, then HATE you for about eight or nine more, then they start to like you again, but they're adults and so it's a completely different relationship.

Put on a condom and go buy a puppy. They'll love you forever and you'll never have to pay to send them to college. Also, they're adorable. Babies are kinda like... tiny Winston Churchills.

 

[spartan231490]

Pi is 22 divided by 7, just in case you have a calculator without a Pi button and urgently have to calculate the circumference of a circle.

No, it's not. 22/7 is close to pi, but it is not pi. pi=3.14159 . . . 22/7 = 3.14285 . . . a non-repeating, non-terminating decimal can't be a fraction.

OT:
1) Climate change is real.
2) 20/20 is not perfect vision
3) caffeine is actually one of the worst drugs in existence.

 

[spartan231490]

The Atomic Bombs killed less than the firebombing of Tokyo.

Bombing Dresden served no strategic benefit.

Is that immediate deaths or factoring in deaths due to radiation and related after-affects?

And I really don't agree with your second statement.
First of all, Dresden was mostly unharmed due to its location so the bombing was a reminder of the advancement of allied troops not to mention it was, after all, the seventh biggest city.
Plus the Dresden junction was the main route for everything on rails in the wider area, considered one of the most important industrial centres of the Reich and the last garrison town on the eatern front.
I'm not saying carpet bombing it to ashes was a great decision but no strategic benefit goes a bit too far, don't you think?

Dresden was not mostly unharmed. 25,000 people died and 15 square miles of the city were destroyed. As for it's strategic value, yes dresden had value in relation to the rails, but the parts of the city that were targeted weren't the most important parts of the city for the rail system. Bridges, communication centers, and the majority of industrial centers(those that weren't in the heart of the city) were ignored.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

Internet explorer browser suck's, using really anything else.

Chiropractor's are doctors and won't break your neck.

Christmas isn't Jesus Christ's Birthday.

 

[Quaxar]

Basic first aid: not necessarily enough to set a bone or something like that, but enough to treat minor cuts, burns, shock, things like that.

Basic self-defense, and the knowledge that real fights aren't like in Bruce Lee movies.

Simple cooking, enough to prepare a meal from scratch. You don't need to be able to make a bechamel sauce, but you should be able to grill a chicken breast, cook pasta decently, things like that.

Number sense and estimation.

Can we expand the first one with "knowledge when it may be good to call an ambulance compared to being ridiculously incompetent"?
I swear, there are people who call because they slipped while cutting toenails and now don't even bleed, or the good old "I've got a headache since yesterday and now I thought I'd better call an ambulance to make sure it's not a tumor. I hope I didn't wake you." at 3 in the morning and it's always the first call after getting some sleep.

The Atomic Bombs killed less than the firebombing of Tokyo.

Bombing Dresden served no strategic benefit.

Is that immediate deaths or factoring in deaths due to radiation and related after-affects?

And I really don't agree with your second statement.
First of all, Dresden was mostly unharmed due to its location so the bombing was a reminder of the advancement of allied troops not to mention it was, after all, the seventh biggest city.
Plus the Dresden junction was the main route for everything on rails in the wider area, considered one of the most important industrial centres of the Reich and the last garrison town on the eatern front.
I'm not saying carpet bombing it to ashes was a great decision but no strategic benefit goes a bit too far, don't you think?

Dresden was not mostly unharmed. 25,000 people died and 15 square miles of the city were destroyed. As for it's strategic value, yes dresden had value in relation to the rails, but the parts of the city that were targeted weren't the most important parts of the city for the rail system. Bridges, communication centers, and the majority of industrial centers(those that weren't in the heart of the city) were ignored.

Whoops, my bad. Mostly unharmed until 1944. Don't know how I missed that part in my sentence.
I was just pointing out that it did have some strategic values and not to forget the huge moral value, I don't mean to say it was a great plan.