Critical Thinking Skills
Media literacy and reading comprehension. Specifically, the ability to infer an intended target audience for a particular piece of work. A large part of media literacy is being able to view a piece of media, and infer the intended audience. Maybe you see an ad for pink razors, and can infer that it is aimed at women who shave. But that’s just a simple example. It should also extend to things like internet comments.
People have become so accustomed to laser-focused algorithms determining our media consumption. Before, people would see a video or comment they didn’t resonate with, infer that it wasn’t aimed at them, and move the fuck on. But now, people are so used to their algorithm being dialed in. It is to the point that encountering things you don’t vibe with is outright jarring. People don’t just move on anymore. They get aggressive.
Maybe I make a reel about the proper way to throw a baseball. I’ll inevitably get at least one or two “but what about me? I’m in a wheelchair, on crutches, have a bad shoulder, have bad eyesight and can’t aim, etc… Before, those people would have gone “this clearly isn’t aimed at me” and moved the fuck on. But now they make a point of going “but you didn’t make this specifically for me.
It has gotten so bad that content creators have started adding disclaimers to their videos, news articles, opinion pieces, etc… It’s fairly common to see quick “and before I get started, this video is just for [target demographic]” as if it’s a cutesy little thing. But the reality is that if they don’t add that disclaimer, they’ll be inundated with “but what about [outlier that the content clearly wasn’t directed at]” types of responses.
literacy, and essay writing. they almost neve rpush it MS or HS anymore.
Communication. So many issues could be resolved by just talking to the person clearly and calmly instead of assuming they can read your mind and getting upset when they don’t respond the way you played out in your mind.
De-escalation. Even if you’re right, there’s a time and place where you need to let it go and revisit it at a more appropriate moment.
If people were rational, 90% of movie plots wouldn’t exist
I should have just read one comment down! I literally just replied to them with a complaint about this exact thing lol
I get so mad with so many “romantic problems” in movies (I know it’s just a movie so the need to do it) it’s like just say the damn thing and there won’t be an issue! Lol
I agree. The world could be much more peaceful if people used their words and ears more intently.
Map reading/Orienteering - Most people are literally lost without GPS
Having a basic idea of how a car/engine works. Most people waste so much money on basic repairs they could just do themselves. Feels like majority of folks couldn’t even put on their spare tire. Plus, mechanic is job that less and less people are willing to do over time so the cost of their labour will only keep getting worse
I mean, this isn’t helped by the odd proprietary bolt patterns and specialty OBD communications required by some brands.
My wifes car has a bad pcv system, turns out it’s built into the valve cover and intake manifold so instead of unbolting a part and putting the new one on I have to take apart a heafty amount of the engine to fix what should be a basic repair.
I drive a golf and can’t even change my battery without updating my ecu to readapt to the new battery. If I don’t it starts frying sensors and the alternator because of voltage irregularities. Have to have the $80 dongle with the yearly subscription to access the necessary code input.
Car companies over the past decade have built cars that are harder and harder to maintain yourself. I don’t blame people for not knowing how to do some of the basic stuff when that basic stuff has become more complex, expensive, and unreasonably difficult for the layman to parse.
My dad has ran an auto repair shop for 40 years and it stopped being any sort of fun like 15 years ago.
That’s not even the biggest problem though. It’s customers and their entitlement. Worse every year.
Parts took longer to ship than promised? Mechanics fault
Car needs to go to the dealer? Mechanics fault
Something plastic piece broke on your car during disassembly because it was designed to break? Mechanics fault
Job supposed to be 10 hours labour but took you 15 because it’s not easy? Guess you just lost money helping someone cuz you have to eat the cost of those 5 hours
Some of this just isn’t worth the time or effort. Time is money, and sometimes it’s cheaper and easier to pay for warrantied work rather than do it yourself.
I can pay someone to change the oil and the oil filter and it takes them 15 minutes. I don’t enjoy doing it and it’s worth the money for me to pay someone else to do it. I don’t have to crawl under the car, or gather all the parts, or get filthy, or worry about disposing of the used oil properly.
I’m like a few year older the driving age and I don’t even have a driver’s license 💀
I feel like I’m being called out 🥲
This only applies if having a car is a requirement in your city/country tho. Nothing could be more useless for me than car knowledge.
Patience.
I’ve taken up several hobbies (game dev, gardening, woodworking, etc) where results aren’t always well seen until weeks, months or even years after starting a project.
Everyone seems too interested in getting results fast and now, and the world seems all too keen to sell you something to try and make that happen.
media literacy
Driving. Most people know how to operate a vehicle, but a lot don’t know how to actually drive properly.
And yet the state gives them a license to drive. And doesn’t bother enforcing traffic laws. To me that’s the real problem.
Basic math. I don’t talk about solving differential equation. But if you don’t want to get scammed you need to understand what’s a 10% discount, how do interest work, price per kg, or price per m^2
Cooking. I don’t mean heating up prepared food. I mean taking raw produce, spices, herbs, and starches to make your own food. Doesn’t need to be extravagant. Start with an omelette or maybe properly made scrambled eggs. Move on to other “easy” dishes like grilled cheese sandwiches and spaghetti. I am constantly amazed when I hear fully grown adults saying shit like, “I could never make anything like Beef Wellington.” Yes you can, just try and fail a few times!
It’s great to learn because after a while you can start experimenting and making things you don’t have a recipe for. I kinda have a “memory” for tastes so I can just think about how things might go together so I just kinda make up dishes now. I mean I’m sure I’m not making something unique, but it’s all without a recipe. Or if you are lazy and are craving something you can just make it instead of having to go out lol I’ve made many “cakes” because I was craving something sweet but didn’t have anything around just by knowing how it’s done having done it before.
I always keep some easy prep boxed meals or whatever on hand for when I’m feeling really lazy.
Use those as a base and spruce them up with spices, veggies, meats, or even just swapping out one thing on the instructions for another to give some added richness or texture.
Half from scratch can be just as good as from scratch, especially when you’re tired and hungry AF and you’ll still have the satisfaction of making the dish “your own”.
The issue is I don’t want to
I feel that if people knew how much effort it takes to create their food products, they might be more hesitant to waste them. Even with things as simple as making bread! It’s not just something that appears on a shelf, it’s the result of whole process and should be valued as such.
I agree, but bread and noodles were damn near the first stable foodstuffs we discovered. I suppose beer would be the next stable food we discovered worldwide. I only have an issue because you’re talking about a food that literally every single civilization discovered independently, so bread as we know it, isn’t bread as an all encompassing concept.
Changing tires or oil on a car.
A lot of cars don’t include a spare tire anymore.
Last couple times I looked, it was more expensive to buy the oil and filter than to go to my local mechanic to get an oil change.
I appreciate that it’s good to know how to do these things, but it really seems like there’s no reason most people need to actually do them with a current model year vehicle.
Basic troubleshooting and repair knowledge. Like just how to use a multimeter and the basics of how electricity works and how to repair something.
Honestly just basic knowledge of everything in our daily lives would be useful. People should understand how their phone works and how it gets internet access, how their car works, and stuff like that.
How to build a usable nuclear fusion power plant. Zero is way too many for such a difficult task.
Basic it skills
