The most valuable thing I ever read on a SD posting was...

[Ronald C. Semone]

Earlier today I read an SD posting which explained the function of an automobile's ESC (Electronic Stability Control System) and when it should be shut off. I had never known any of this and I consider this information to be the most valuable thing I have ever read on an SD posting. What about you? What is the most valuable thing you ever read on an SD posting?

[Zsofia]

I'm sure I've learned a lot of more important things here, but right now I'm really digging my henna-ed hair.

[Serenata67]

That when I have a cold and I stand up, the clearing in my nasal passages isn't due to there being less mucus then, but to the change in blood pressure in my head.

(I have some allergy issues right now. My stuffy head can only come up with that answer!)

[Carol the Impaler]

Many years ago I was in a tough place about a decision I had made and posted a thread about it. Why was I feeling so bad if the choice I'd made was good for me? Giraffe pointed out to me that with every decision there are gains and losses. That making a decision to change means grieving for what you're going to have to lose. I'd never had it put that way before, and had never even realized that of course there is ambivalence in every act, even good ones that move us forward.

I've never forgotten it. It really changed my thinking on the subject.

[KneadToKnow]

I believe it was here on the Dope that I first heard the phrase "Don't stick your dick in the crazy."

That is some seriously sound advice, right there.

[capybara]

I was happy to learn that other people had sleep paralysis (didn't know what it was called then) and that changing my sleeping position would help.

[Magiver]

I can't think of one off the top of my head but I've learned all kinds of stuff from auto mechanics, and computer software experts.

[SylverOne]

Originally Posted by KneadToKnow

I believe it was here on the Dope that I first heard the phrase "Don't stick your dick in the crazy."

That is some seriously sound advice, right there.

This is what I was going include as well...

I'm female, and being able to offer up this piece of advice to male friends having problems with their women has been priceless.

[FloatyGimpy]

The most valuable thing I've ever read here was about same-sex couples. It was because of what I read here that I changed my opinion to become a staunch supporter of GLBT rights.

[Kyla]

I don't think it was actually here, but a Doper once told me something that gave me a new perspective on things. I had decided I wanted to make some changes in my life, go back to school to get a masters degree, but I was worried that I had waited too long to do so, that I had passed my window of opportunity.

She told me "You're going to get old anyway. Do you want to be doing something you want to do, or something you hate?"

She was right. True, I'm a little older than most of my classmates in my grad program, but I'm much happier than had I not made those changes.

ETA: OH and speaking of grad school, Dopers were super, super helpful when I was trying to decide what grad program to go to. I really appreciate the help some people gave in assessing my priorities.

[koeeoaddi]

Easy one. It would be all 6 pages of blinkie's thread, by a mile.

[astro]

How to set up a network printer with a mystery IP address

How use the F11 hey on an HP netbook to recover the OS installation

Some threads made me realize that people who I thought led fabulous lives (like some gay guys) led pretty much the same mundane workaday life I did, except they liked cock.

Some of the horror stories about involuntary institutionalization some dopers have told, opened my eyes to how delicate freedom is and how much we take it for granted.

Doper links helped me find some electronic parts.

[Rysdad]

It was something ChiefScott said a long time ago about pubic hair:

"Trimmed or shaven: good. Yeti: bad."

[Smeghead]

"WOO HOO! I AM MASTURBATING LIKE A MOTHER FUCK!"

I dunno.

[Autolycus]

I learned some great recipes here, especially for pan-frying.

[Little Nemo]

I don't know if it was the most valuable thing I've ever learned here but I found the advice of clearing malware out of my PC very useful a few weeks ago. It worked better than any of the advice I got elsewhere.

[The Second Stone]

Pie is always welcomed. Even by diabetics.

[toofs]

The neti pot. Learned it here.

[Campion]

Only one thing? How to cold brew iced coffee. I had to switch to decaf because that stuff was so good I'd drink it like water.

[Autolycus]

I'm seriously trying to think what's the biggest thing I learned here. It was more of an un-learning thing, but I shed a lot of victimish, drama-llama, emo, 'nice guy' parts of my personality here over time, so I'm sure y'all get part of the credit for that.

[Indistinguishable]

Originally Posted by Kyla

She told me "You're going to get old anyway. Do you want to be doing something you want to do, or something you hate?"

Wow, even I'm impressed with how incisively well-put that is.

[Picard Kills Kirk]

I read something on here about the Marianas trench. In 1960. For 20 minutes.

[Nefarious Chipmunk]

I learned how to chop an onion, the easy way, and that if you refrigerate it before you chop it, it doesn't make you cry.

[AClockworkMelon]

I learned that pineapples don't grow on trees. That was the day I lost my innocence.

[pbbth]

When I first moved to NYC I found that few of the apartments come with locks. You are supposed to buy a deadbolt to put on the door. I bought one and opened the package to be faced with no instructions and about 10 separate pieces with no idea how to assemble them. I searched and googled to no avail so I came here and asked how to put it together and someone gave me excellent step-by-step advice that I was able to use and have my lock on my door in about 20 minutes. I think that was the most useful thing I've ever gotten here.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by Autolycus

I'm seriously trying to think what's the biggest thing I learned here. It was more of an un-learning thing, but I shed a lot of victimish, drama-llama, emo, 'nice guy' parts of my personality here over time, so I'm sure y'all get part of the credit for that.

That's awesome. I unlearned the same stuff at probably the same time as you, but I didn't get it all from here.

I've learned that winning an argument at all costs usually costs way more than it's worth.

[Balthisar]

Two things:

A lot of information about lenses and focal lengths on P&S digital cameras when I was ignorant about them, which has since spurned a pretty passionate hobby in DSLR photography.

That my wife wasn't trying to kill me by leaving the meatballs in the pot all night. That's lead me to have lower disregard for non-commercial food safety concepts, which has increased my enjoyment of eating and spurned a pretty passionate hobby in cooking. (Note: food safety is still of extreme importance, but there's a huge difference between home and commercial environments. I could go off on a huge tangent, but trust me, I'm safe, clean, methodical, and scientific in how I go about the kitchen; just no longer paranoid.)

[even sven]

I learned about the DivaCup. Changed my life.

[tdn]

Originally Posted by even sven

I learned about the DivaCup. Changed my life.

I still can't look at that word without thinking that it's a prize bestowed on the best soprano in the league.

[Serenata67]

Originally Posted by tdn

I still can't look at that word without thinking that it's a prize bestowed on the best soprano in the league.

I'm with you on that. I don't know if I could put a "Diva Cup" in my vag. Sounds like some thing I should display...

[Annie-Xmas]

If you have a nosebleed and can feel a clot forming. blow it out. I've been doing this for decades without knowing why.

It seems if the clot is forming by the blood vessel and not on the blood vessel, it will just keep getting bigger anf bigger (and I've blown out clots that look like a raw chickin liver).

[bup]

I'm having a hard time measuring 'valuable.' I don't know how to rank these.

I was made aware of a book called "Before the Dawn" (thanks, John Mace). I read it, and increased my knowledge of the prehistory of humans (from 50000 years ago until the dawn of recorded history) tenfold.

I've been made aware of good fiction books I enjoyed.

I've learned a lot about legal stuff from Bricker.

I learned that if I bought 2 cans of Pepsi in the northern Ohio area on the way, on a road trip to Cedar Point, that I'd save $20 admission ($10 each for me and my son).

I've examined a lot of my own political beliefs a lot more because of posts here.

There is, it turns out, a weekly column that comes out, that I think was inspired by the Straight Dope Message Board or something, where I've learned a lot of valuable stuff.

[Thudlow Boink]

I think (I hope) I understand people, and the world in general, better thanks to the different personal experiences and points of view I've been exposed to here. And I've been made aware of some good books, music, etc. And I've laughed a lot, which is indeed valuable. But the single most valuable practical thing I've learned from the SDMB might be the right (and wrong) way of dealing with fleas on cats (i.e. vet-approved flea drops—Advantage or Frontline).

[Zsofia]

Originally Posted by toofs

The neti pot. Learned it here.

Oh yeah! That too. Changed my life.

Seriously, you get an apartment in NYC and it doesn't have a LOCK?

[Surly Chick]

I learned that coffee grounds absorb odor which came in very handy when I came home from work one day to find a doggy poop explosion all over my floor.

[AuntiePam]

Lots of things but the most recent was from the beauty tips thread, about filing your nails in one direction, not back and forth. It works!

ETA: I've also learned that I'm not nearly as smart as I thought I was, about grammar in particular, and lots of things in general.

[mudkicker]

Originally Posted by SylverOne

This is what I was going include as well...

I'm female, and being able to offer up this piece of advice to male friends having problems with their women has been priceless.

Me too! Also, one I use mainly with women having problems with men was one I read when in a relationship with a NPD-er: 'Getting into a messy relationship is like going into a forest with lots of red flags. Every single one of those red flags will hit you on the way out.'

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

Oh yeah! That too. Changed my life.

Seriously, you get an apartment in NYC and it doesn't have a LOCK?

Apartments here don't come with much. You don't get a dishwasher, washer, dryer, lock, air conditioning, etc. Sometimes you will luck out and get an apartment that has some or all of these things but it is rare. The lock thing is to your benefit though because you want to make certian that no one else has a key to your place ever otherwise you open yourself to robberies and squatters and such.

[interface2x]

Another vote for the neti pot.

Also, how to properly tie your shoes so they don't come untied every 15 minutes.

Both of these affect my every day life.

[Yllaria]

The most valuable thing to Amazon has been all of the book recommendations that I keep running across. They've made a ton off of the side orders.

You folks know some seriously good books.

[Man With a Cat]

The very first thing I paid attention to was a link from the main SD page in Threadspotting - something to do with some very deep place in the ocean and men being there for some brief period of time way back when.

I decided then and there to hang out some more in this place.

[freckafree]

Another vote for the neti pot and for the Diva Cup. (There's a curious symmetry in that pairing.)

But the other thing I found extremely valuable is that the weird, disturbed sleep I've experienced for years is hypnagogic hallucinations.

[panache45]

I was amazed that some women believe they pee out of their vagina. How do they think they pee when they're having their period, and something is stuffed up there?

[Autolycus]

Originally Posted by panache45

I was amazed that some women believe they pee out of their vagina. How do they think they pee when they're having their period, and something is stuffed up there?

It's one of the lesser known functions of the Diva Cup, clearly.

[HazelNutCoffee]

Another vote for the DivaCup. That thing has changed my life!

[EvilTOJ]

Originally Posted by Balthisar

A lot of information about lenses and focal lengths on P&S digital cameras when I was ignorant about them, which has since spurned a pretty passionate hobby in DSLR photography.

So after you learned about all this, P&S ensued?

[Dragwyr]

I can't point to one specific thing I've learned from one posting here, but the Teeming Millions here have taught me to become a better critical thinker.


So thanks, everyone!

[Sister Vigilante]

The terror of blimps.

[Lips_Obsession]

I learned how dangerous it had been that I had been taking large doses of Tylenol for an extended period of time.... didn't really think it was a problem until I asked a question here one day and a helpful doper informed me on the danger to my liver....

I might be dead now if I hadn't participated in that thread.

[ZipperJJ]

This one is sort of embarrassing and extremely recent...but I have never been told and it never occurred to me that if my car is accelerating out of my control, I should flip it in to neutral.

The way everyone talks about it makes me think that's something any idiot should know, but I honestly had no idea. Of course, I don't drive Toyotas but still I feel safer knowing it.