this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
69 points (90.6% liked)

Ask

696 readers
108 users here now

Rules

  1. Be nice
  2. Posts must be legitimate questions (no rage bait or sea lioning)
  3. No spam
  4. NSFW allowed if tagged
  5. No politics
  6. For support questions, please go to !newtolemmy@lemmy.ca

Icon by Hilmy Abiyyu A.

founded 2 months ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 67 points 1 month ago (18 children)

The difference between "your" and "you're."

[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (17 replies)
[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 49 points 1 month ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] essell@lemmy.world 40 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Listening to understand, rather than listening to respond.

[–] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yep and just waiting for their turn to speak

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 32 points 1 month ago

The difference between your and you're.

[–] wieson@feddit.org 29 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Imagining the potential of a prototype.

"So with this prototype I want to explore aspect A"

"I don't like it. I don't want this as a final product."

"Ok. Do you like aspect A? Imagine all other things were finished as you like it."

"No, I don't like this product."

[–] austinfloyd@ttrpg.network 12 points 1 month ago

Same for apps and sites. Having to explain to someone multiple times that I'm not trying to force their users to be bilingual just because there is "lorem ipsum" text on the page is rough.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 27 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Math, and I mean basic math: adding, subtracting, multiplication, division. Basic understanding of fractions, basic understanding of percentages.

I'm not amazing at math but I consider this basic and with relatively regular day to day application. I'm not saying people should be able to make these operations without a calculator on the fly, I certainly couldn't in many cases. But I would expect people to know what math you need to apply to, say, calculate a 20% discount. I would expect people to know if, say, two thirds is more or less than three quarters. But no. Nope

[–] bizarroland@fedia.io 6 points 1 month ago

I frequently do blatantly inaccurate math just to spitball, and when I say the numbers that I'm computing out loud, people get amazed that I can keep track of so many numbers when I'm only tracking the result of the previous calculation and the operator that I'm about to perform.

I'm like, dude, if you accounted for the rounding errors, you would realize how fucking wrong I am, but this math is not precision-important, and so I'm just trying to get an idea of the scope of the numbers that I need to address whatever problem I'm working on.

For instance, if you asked me to spitball how far it is from Los Angeles, California to Atlanta, Georgia, and how long it would take you to drive that, I would assume you would average about 50 miles an hour after breaks and whatnot that you would be able to drive approximately 12 hours a day, which means you could clear 600 miles, and off the top of my head I would guess it's about 3,200 miles between Los Angeles and Atlanta, assuming that you stay on the 40 as much as you can once you get to Amarillo, TX, so I would assume that the average driver would take five days and approximately four hours to drive that distance.

This is very off the cuff, off the top of my head, I could be 600 miles off on the distance in either directions, I could be 10, 12 miles an hour in drive time off in either direction, and I could be off 4 or 5 hours or not even account for a co-driver on the trip.

You can do the trip in like 2ish days. I have done the trip in like twoish days.

But, reality and guesstimation are two separate things, and there's no reason to be amazed by somebody's guesstimation capabilities. It's very basic math that doesn't require any skill greater than your multiplication tables.

I don't know why more people aren't good at it.

[–] Landless2029@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

People being bad at math isn't a new thing but it is getting worse now with everyone having a calculator (phone) in their pocket.

Also. Great time to dust off this old gem.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 24 points 1 month ago (2 children)

very basic sewing repair, like reattaching a button or sewing back down a popped seam

but then again fast fashion makes these skills seem worthless to many people

[–] Shellbeach@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Honest question: what is there to learn? You've got a thread, a needle, you put the thread in the needle and then you stab the things that need to fit together with it. The only thing that i was told during such stabbing to a button once was that i should wrap the thread around the button when done, but it hasn't prevented me to attached them so far?

[–] Mesophar@pawb.social 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

You would be surprised how many people are unable to do that, who are physically capable of doing it.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Agreed, fast fashion and it's equivalents have pretty much killed off basic repair in general. My great grandmother taught me how to rewire a lamp, and I think I'm the only person in my friend group that can do it. Most people just toss them when they stop working.

Nana was in her early 20s when the great depression hit, and her influence is probably why I'm so in favor of right-to-repair.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Knowing the absolute basics of using a computer

[–] filcuk@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Eh, it depends. I don't know how to sew, except to fix a hole in my sock. Couldn't make a coat, never needed or wanted to.
My mother can't use a computer besides checking her emails and finding a movie to watch, which is all she needs and wants to know.
Now, if it's your job to use one effectively and haven't got a clue? I expect you'd end up in management in no time.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] 0ops@lemm.ee 22 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Taking feedback constructively

[–] Not2Dopey@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

How dare you. Well I never. You kids these days. Think that you know everything

[–] Ashenlux@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

To be fair, many people don't know how to give constructive feedback very well either.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

Cooking & self reflection

[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (4 children)

How to cook? Or even follow a recipe. Not like hard stuff either, a simple casserole recipe or cookie recipe. Not even find a good recipe, that's actually very hard online these days what with bullshit generators and stuff. I hand you a recipe.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] ambitious_bones@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago (7 children)

To do very basic home repair and DIY. I keep wondering how people get through life without being able to drill a hole, fix a clogged drain or even change a light bulp. Do they get some sort of service technican for all these things?

[–] borokov@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Yep... Some people pay electrician to come and change a lightbulb...

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 month ago (14 children)

your shocked

It'd be spelling.

load more comments (13 replies)
[–] tired_n_bored@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The ability to use the correct words

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Knowing how to swim or ride a bike. It's not too common, but when someone tells me they can't, I'm quietly kinda shocked.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

socioeconomics plays a large part here. I learned to swim at the ymca, but schlepping my silly ass to and from swim practice meant parental involvement.

bikes? learning to ride a bike in the suburbs is natural; learning to ride a bike when you live in an apartment building - hell keeping a bike from getting stolen is difficult when you don't have a garage.

imho, these are both easy to understand when you view through a larger socioeconomic starting point: we don't all have the same opportunities and resources.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Nasan@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Swimming, had to help fish a dude out of the lake because he swam far into the deep end and started panicking when he realized he didn't have the steam to swim back. His only swimming experience was water parks and kiddie pools.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] canis11@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago

The difference between your and you're

[–] AcidicBasicGlitch@lemm.ee 9 points 1 month ago

How to reason through solving a problem or fixing something. Not necessarily being successful, but just the process of thinking about possible things to try or steps to take.

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Critical thinking skills.

It just astounds me when people who should know what this is and how to practice it, don't.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] mts711@lemm.ee 7 points 1 month ago

Looking up the information online (beyond just googling it in your native language).

i.e. Trying out the results in other search engines, when looking for the information about something in a foreign land, or something the specific nation is very good at; try using the local language (and use the online translators to search it and read it).

[–] Ludilemming@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Good communication skills. Being able to tell someone else what you mean so they or anyone else could understand. My boss is beyond awful at it makes getting anything done a struggle at times.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] GeeDubHayduke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Why is it called "common" sense, if don't nobody have it anymore..?!

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Cooking your own food. No, it's not hard. No, it's not unaffordable. And no, it won't rob you of all your free time.

load more comments
view more: next ›