Genius often lies in simplicity. Even if it sounds off. So, to figure out the true capacity of human ingenuity, one person recently turned to the place that holds all the secrets to our collective intelligence - Reddit. Now, it's not important whether or not you caught my sarcasm; 1 month ago, redditor NecessaryPrudence posted a question on the platform asking, "What is so stupid but it actually really works?" and it immediately went viral, generating nearly 12,000 upvotes and 4,478 comments. From soothing bug bites with hand sanitizer to putting ice cubes in the dryer with a garment that needs ironing, here are some of the best replies, proving that if something looks stupid but does the job -- it isn't stupid!
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Stay at least a year behind in technology and gaming. Better, yet, two. You'll save a s**t-ton of money.
NecessaryPrudence told Bored Panda that they have had quite a few random conversations with friends and family that sometimes produced silly but somewhat interesting thoughts and questions, and it was what inspired this post, too.
"It's not something I intentionally came up with," NecessaryPrudence said. "Not even a serious conversation, but rather just chitchat."
The original poster has done things they would consider "really stupid" that actually worked out well. It made NecessaryPrudence relate to a lot of the answers, they said.
I work in a hospital and when I'm doing something scary I tell kids that whatever they do they must not laugh.
Reading the replies, they also realized that people have varying perceptions of what "stupid" is. "Is it really that stupid if it actually works? Maybe they see things as stupid because they don't see themselves doing these things until they find themselves actually doing it and get favorable results. The thought after the 'stupid' deed is what's funny," NecessaryPrudence summarized the post.
But what really defines an act as "stupid"? To find the answer to this question, Balazs Aczel and Bence Palfi of Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary teamed up with Baylor University's Zoltan Kekecs and analyzed various real-life examples. They first built a formidable assortment of 180 stories describing stupid actions, collected via the internet and from daily reports provided by a group of 26 college students. Then, a group of seven raters reviewed all of the stories to ensure that they described a "stupid" action, were comprehensible, and were relatively brief.
If you want someone you don't know well to like you, ask them for a small favor.
When I get new coworkers I go out of my way to ask them for something little, like borrowing a stapler or giving an opinion on something I'm working on.
Then they feel like they can ask me for something next time they need help, and soon I've tricked them into thinking I'm a nice person.
I don't know why it works but it does.
Can't remember where I read it, but there actually is a scientific study that found out that people who DID YOU a favour are thinking better of you and are more likely to give you another favour, than people that YOU DID a favour. Seems strange. Feels like it should be the other way. But it's true
From the data, the researchers distilled three key categories that make an action stupid. "The first situation in which people call an action stupid is when the actor takes high risks while lacking the necessary skills to perform the risky action," they explained. "A typical story for this is when burglars wanted to steal cell phones, but instead stole GPS navigation devices. They didn't switch them off so the police were able to track them easily. We named this category 'Confident ignorance.'"
I've worked in mental health for years. I can't tell you how many people tell me what a good listener I am..because I just shut up and let people talk.
It's not rocket science, but the large majority of people just want to feel like their voices are being heard. Too many therapists and providers don't know how to be quiet and stop loving the sound of their own voices.
Thinking loud can help you in many situations not only in mental health. This loud thinking works best if there is someone to listen to you.
The second cluster consisted of cases of "Absentmindedness—Lack of practicality." "A typical story here is when someone inflates more air in the car tires than allowed. Here the person either forgot to pay attention to the action or he or she doesn't know something essential about tire inflation."
Finally, the third category is "Lack of control." "Cases here are thought to be the result of obsessive, compulsive, or addictive behavior. For example, one of the stories in this category described a person who canceled a meeting with a good friend to instead continue playing video games at home," the researchers explained.
There you have it. Now, the next time your friend falls on their face while attempting to ride a shopping cart, you can tell them exactly why they were acting stupid.
Exercising once per day
cutting down on caffeine after noon
keeping your phone out of your bed
reading light fiction at bedtime
keeping a notepad and pencil next to your bed
Then you will fall asleep on time.
My aunt puts her expensive jewelry in a zip lock bag, and her cheap jewelry in the jewelry boxes. She apparently had a lot of her jewelry stolen in the past by family. She now only has the cheap stuff stolen.
Feeling tired, headache, muscle cramps? Drink water. It is amazing how many people walk around in a state of dehydration. Water is an amazing fluid that solves a lot of problems.
I don’t even know what made them think of it, but some researchers filled iPods for their elderly, confused clients with their favorite music. When they listen to the music, they are calm, recognize people better and are generally more cognizant.
Music has a calming effect and when your're calm everything works better.
Putting a piece a duct tape on your bike seat so people won't steal it.
Who wants to try and sell a potentially ripped bike seat, let alone buy one.
For me personally, I make a to-do list but put like 3 or 4 things that are just mind-numbingly simple. I knock them out, cross them off, feel productive, and feel motivated to hammer out the tougher pieces.
This is my forever habit. And I should say not only it makes your life more simple, it keeps you productive and aware. One tip... if you started noticing that you have sooo many things on a list, AND by the time you accomplished them and crossed out... even more thing you had to add, AND it's like never ending story of piling up even though you are utilizing all your daylight hours. AND this piling up is stressing you, AND you need to highlight or put exclamation mark next to those with higher priority.... ...then your workload is too big, time to stop, take a breath and do something about your load. Health of your body and mind is of highest priority.
My anti-clothing static device. I think I learned about this on reddit.
I live in a dry climate and static cling was always a problem. I really dislike fabric softeners for multiple reasons, but this trick solved the problem.
Take an old cloth (mine is a cloth napkin) and pin 7-10 big safety pins to it. Just toss it in the dryer with your clothes. The safety pins hit the sides of the dryer, continually grounding your laundry.
If you think someone is following you, literally act as crazy and stupid as you can. It is so stupid but the other person is usually so freaked out they leave you alone
Taking a shower to remedy any ailment. Prescribed by my mother. Headache? Take a shower. Anxious? Go take a shower with lavender. Have a cold? Get in the shower with Vix vapor rub. It's not a cure all, but I guarantee it always makes me feel less bad than before.
"The Superhero Stance"
Stand up straight. Chest out, shoulder back, hands on hips, chin slightly elevated.
It's so f**king stupid. But damned if you don't start to believe your own fake superhero hype.
Telling your little kids to clean their room is a guaranteed way to get them to spend the day playing with their toys.
Putting hand sanitizer on bug bites. It's the most glorious feeling and it works better than any itch spray!
Long story short: A boorish guy was bullying my grandfather at a movie theater. My grandpa turned around and literally blew air on his face. The man was so weirded out that he left the theater.
I would NOT do that during this pandemic, it would be construed as a physical attack and could get you hurt or in deep trouble!
My depression makes it hard for me to do chores on command, but I figured out that if I set a timer or give myself some time to psych myself up, then I do it. It doesn’t always work, but 85% of the time I end up succeeding, and it’s a huge leap from a few months ago when I just shut down over chores.
If you think someone is watching you in a crowd, yawn. If they yawn too, they are watching you. Yawning is contagious!
Except for psychopaths. Psychopaths are not affected by someone else yawning
Smile when you talk on the phone and you sound much happier than you really are.
Eating off a smaller plate. That trick helped me lose 80lbs.
Dressing well at work. You can be an amazing worker but people really do judge you by how you look. And by well I mean looking put together and professional. This applies for trades/blue collar work as well as white collar. I’ve worked both.
This works almost everywhere, not only at work. If you wear formal clothes at work and go to a supermarket before going home you might see the difference.
If you always forget if you have locked the door/closed the oven/charged your smartphone/... do something stupid after you did the thing you're about to forget. You won't remember the actual locking, but you'll remember the stupid thing, and then you'll know you did the thing. Stupid things include doing a little dance or pirouette, singing a small song (rickroll yourself!) or saying something really stupid like "I'd like to eat a towel right now!".
Wash your hands in shaving cream to remove fish/onion/nasty smells.
Watching movies you've already seen to help you fall asleep
Facial expressions affect your mood. Just faking a smile can help boost a meh or bad mood. Just squinting in the sunlight can bring your mood down. So spend time smiling and wear sunglasses.
I did this when I was in a low place and it helped a lot! I wish we were wearing masks then, would have made it easier.
People resent being emotionally manipulated, so don't do it. Ever.
You might get something in the short term when you try to 'butter up' or trick a person, but if you instead are civil and clear about what you want they will not spend days plotting revenge.
Don't spend days plotting revenge! If you got manipulated by someone address this problem and, if necessary, avoid that person in future, but do not waste your time, your energy, and your mental health with plotting revenge.
Yell “strength of a bear!” before lifting something heavy
Wearing two pairs of socks, one thin pair under a thick pair. Sounds stupid. it helps wick the sweat away from your feet reducing stinky feet and crusty socks.
Allowing that random relentless dude following me to catch up just a wee bit before letting out a LOUD fart. Told you I ain't interested in a date, that is what you get for trying to persuade me when I've already said no. Effective and they turn around in absolute disgust LOL
I have trouble with motivation and procrastination but I am learning that I routinely fall for some pretty dumb tricks...
giving myself a countdown. If I need to do something I don’t want to do, I do it on the count of three and for some reason it really helps
setting insanely easy goals to trick myself into starting a task (e.g. spend 1 minute practicing). Once I’ve started I usually keep going.
You know the Flintstones method of repair of "hit it repeatedly"? The technical term is percussive maintenance and it is often effective.
A lot of machines that rely on moving parts can have something get stuck. The solution? Bang on it until whatever it was dislodges and falls back into place.
If you feel you need to sneeze but it won't happen, look directly into a bright light. I don't know why but it always works.
tossing a coin for making decisions, it kind of tells you what you're actually hoping for.
in my case, i flip a coin whenever i am inclined towards calling my ex, if the answers no it helps me stick to my self esteem as "universe is against this" and if yes. . . well it never comes out like that i dont know why?! haha lol.
it's stupid but works fine for me
It also shows you what you really want. For example if I say Heads for X and it comes up heads and I'm disappointed, then I know I really want Y.
Putting in ear buds but not listening to anything & instead listen to the people around you.
Also, was having a hard time being on time, so set the clock in my bathroom ahead 15 minutes. I mean, I KNOW it’s fast, but I’m not late anymore.
My fiancé will stand on top of the couch and vacuum it like it’s a floor. He does the same for all the removable cushions. I thought he was a fu**ing heathen the first time I saw him do it. Then I realized how much faster it is than using the damn hose attachment. It’s more lifting and maneuvering but it’s a ton faster and pulls up the dog hair better due to the rolling brush in it.
On hot days, our neighbor turns on his lawn sprinkler and sits next to it in a lawn chair in his bathing suit.
I am not sure your neighbour would be happy if I'd sit next to him in bathing suit.
Putting a few ice cubes in the dryer with a garment that needs ironing. 15 minutes later you have a wrinkle free item of clothing with extra time free to spend on other things
If you have trouble locking your car or opening your gate via remote control because you are far away. Hold it to your head and you improve your remote's antenna. Some people are scared of it but it is because your head is a Faraday cage that it simply conducts the signal around your scalp giving you a giant antenna. So next time you forget where you parked your car and you press the button and nothing happens, hold it to your head and push the button. Your car will probably unlock and make a noise so you can find it.
Placebo effect. Not just the placebo effect, but knowing it's a placebo and it still works.
When I can't sleep, I tell myself that I've taken a sleeping pill. Within 15 minutes or so, it absolutely works!
Sometimes after using the restroom I get worried that I forgot to flush so I go and check. 99.99% I did but my brain broken so I am constantly anxious about it. I now sing a little six word song straight after flushing. The song sticks with me so I may chill in peace without worry that I left something for the next person to use the toilet.
Telling yourself you look good in the mirror will make you think that you look better
Convincing someone that it was their idea to finally get them to agree to it. It works at an incredible success rate.
Drinking pickle juice for a leg cramp. Works within seconds on the most excruciating Charlie horse.
When you try to stand on one foot (for stretching, let's say) and people tell you to hold onto an imaginary rail for balance.
Sucking your thumb on the roof of your mouth to ease brain freeze
Telling yourself you’re warm when you are cold or telling yourself you are cold when you are warm. You may think I’m bulls**tting, but you can seemingly focus your energy on one and it seems to help slightly. I saw something about this one guy who calls himself “The Iceman” and goes shirtless into the wilderness of any given tundra. He said that it’s all in the mind, and he’s obviously never died of hypothermia up to this point. It gave me the idea to try it and occasionally I’ll try it in a real scenario and it will sort of actually make a difference.
Don’t get me wrong; could be compete wishful thinking and some circumstantial evidence that it works, but it has helped in the past. Give it a try.
That iceman has a skin condition that allows him to not be as cold as an average person
Plan your own birthday party. Choose a few good friends and do something you really want to do. No stress, it's just contacting friends and cuing them that you like to spend time with them on the most important day of the year.
Who else would plan your birthday party ? Why is this considered stupid? This one is so weird.
Tie up some plastic bags outside to mimic a wasp nest. Other wasps won't make a new nest thinking there is already one there.
cleaning airpods with a toothbrush, not even putting toothpaste on it, just using the bristles to clear out the earwax
Eating sunflower seeds to stay awake while driving long distances. It's so simple and works so well.
Ok so I have a cure for hiccups that everyone thinks is bs until they try it. I get hiccups whenever I drink alcohol, yes like the tom and jerry mouse. Its annoying and when I'm drunk they get painful. So one day I had them and this drunk dude with like 3 teeth at a bar showed me this trick.
Get a glass of water, no ice, put a paper towel on top and drink the water through the paper towel. Just tilt the glass like normal and suck the water through the paper towel. No more hiccups, it's worked every time for me.
I have a theory about methods like this. Doing anything unusual that you have to focus concentration on will generally get your brain to 'forget' to hiccup, and the pattern is broken. I used to cure my kid's hiccups by saying a random silly sentence to them and it worked.
If your kid sharpies your wall? Use mayonnaise to clean it off
Hand sanitizer works surprisingly well on Sharpie. I used to take the bus and I'd often spend time cleaning off the graffiti with Purell & a tissue. It just wiped right off.
Giving someone a compliment before asking them to do something
Flattery. Every time I do it I think, this person is going to call me out and do the opposite of what I want but nope. They share their donuts every time I tell them they're, pretty/handsome/smart.
Flattery works but there is a thin line between flattery and dishonest manipulation.
When you're young children need to start taking pills, go out and buy some mini M&M's and a bag of regular M&M's. Give them a few of the mini's to eat, then give them one, and challenge them to swallow it without chewing it. Do that two or three times, then give them the regular M&M's to eat. After they've eaten a few, challenge them to swallow one without chewing. Do that two or three times. Then show them a pill next to an M&M and tell them that they just learned how to swallow a pill without chewing. The M&M's are fun and non-threatening, so they are immediately up for the challenge. And when they see the pill is really no different, it's not so scary anymore. Worked like a charm for my three kids.
as a kid who hated swallowing pills.... I reckon this would've worked!
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I am always late to appointments. I started putting them in my calendar 15 to 30 minutes earlier, but sometimes I put in the real time. Of course, I immediately forget which ones are which. I have to get to all my appointments on time because I can never be sure if I gave myself extra time or not.
When you're young children need to start taking pills, go out and buy some mini M&M's and a bag of regular M&M's. Give them a few of the mini's to eat, then give them one, and challenge them to swallow it without chewing it. Do that two or three times, then give them the regular M&M's to eat. After they've eaten a few, challenge them to swallow one without chewing. Do that two or three times. Then show them a pill next to an M&M and tell them that they just learned how to swallow a pill without chewing. The M&M's are fun and non-threatening, so they are immediately up for the challenge. And when they see the pill is really no different, it's not so scary anymore. Worked like a charm for my three kids.
as a kid who hated swallowing pills.... I reckon this would've worked!
Load More Replies... I am always late to appointments. I started putting them in my calendar 15 to 30 minutes earlier, but sometimes I put in the real time. Of course, I immediately forget which ones are which. I have to get to all my appointments on time because I can never be sure if I gave myself extra time or not.
