# I'm pretty danged smart
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 4, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145 "2018-02-04T02:47:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BuckChongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckChongo)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/1 "2018-02-04T02:47:13Z")
20 years ago a friend of a friend, hearing that I had the flu even though I’d had the shot, told me she took 1 capsule of standardized Echinacea every 3 or 4 days and had not had the flu in years. So I tried it, and haven’t had the flu or a rhinovirus cold since. But everybody I recommend it to tells me it’s a proven fact it doesn’t work. So I say I’m pretty danged smart for having tried it. Though I’ve tried all kinds of crap that doesn’t work, glucosamine, colloidal silver, the stock market, Ashley Madison…
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/2 "2018-02-04T02:52:32Z")
Well, I don’t get a flu shot OR take echinacea, and I’ve never gotten the flu either, so I must be pretty darned… lucky?
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/3 "2018-02-04T05:21:50Z")
I heard that swallowing an echidna gives you immunity to cancer.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/4 "2018-02-04T05:31:24Z")
Yea,no, I heard you can get psychic surgery in the Philippines. I haven’t bought the plane ticket yet. I do believe supplements, vitamins and minerals help if you are lacking, though.
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### Author:  [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/5 "2018-02-04T06:31:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> I heard that swallowing an echidna gives you immunity to cancer.
But the heartburn…oy vey. 😃
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### Author:  [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/6 "2018-02-04T16:40:19Z")
That’s nothing. I’ve been using my carport door exclusively to enter and leave the house for over 30 years, and I’ve never been attacked by a bear the entire time!
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/7 "2018-02-04T19:21:25Z")
My Humours were outta whack a few years ago, a bloodletting adjusted my yellow bile and I haven’t had the plague since!
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/8 "2018-02-04T21:00:05Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> Yea,no, I heard you can get psychic surgery in the Philippines. I haven’t bought the plane ticket yet. I do believe supplements, vitamins and minerals help if you are lacking, though.
Ummm, y’know, many of us choose psychic surgery just so we can can skip the plane ticket.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/9 "2018-02-04T23:24:24Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#):
>
> That’s nothing. I’ve been using my carport door exclusively to enter and leave the house for over 30 years, and I’ve never been attacked by a bear the entire time!
I can confirm that this works. I’ve been using the garage door to enter the house all winter so far, and there have been no bear attacks. The converse is true, too. A little over 30 years ago we went on a camping trip in the wilderness. At that time I didn’t even own a house with a garage. Sure enough, bears invaded our campsite.
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### Author:  [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/10 "2018-02-05T00:51:34Z")
I go to work every day, and so far the Soviets haven’t launched a nuclear attack yet. Even though they re-evolved into the Russians again, they _still_ haven’t attacked us with a nuclear weapon. All that despite colloidal silver, nasal rinses to prevent the flu in my sinuses, and praying to Jobu. Maybe Jobu has saved us. . .
Tripler
Colloidal silver gave me the Clap.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/11 "2018-02-05T01:00:16Z")
I had cancer a few years ago, and it’s totally prevented the flu.
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### Author:  [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/12 "2018-02-05T02:03:59Z")
Sounds like my longitudinal study proving that the faster I drive over railroad tracks the less likely I am to get hit by a train (because I’m spending less time on the tracks, obviously).
I’ve been relentlessly testing my theory since high school, and I’ve never been hit by a train so…
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/13 "2018-02-05T02:32:42Z")
The echidna is still in the lead.
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### Author:  [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/14 "2018-02-05T03:00:26Z")
> [@susan](#):
>
> I had cancer a few years ago, and it’s totally prevented the flu.
I’ve always gotten my flu shot at the beginning of the season. Last year (2016) I waited until the end of November to get one. A week and a day later I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I’m never going put it off again.
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### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/15 "2018-02-05T14:23:57Z")
Every sociopath was raised as a child on milk. Not just one anecdotal sociopath – every one of them.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/16 "2018-02-05T15:06:50Z")
Yes, every murderer I’ve known had parents. This demonstrates that parents are a documented risk factor.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/17 "2018-02-05T15:51:58Z")
Everyone who has ever died has drunk water in their lives. True story.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/18 "2018-02-05T16:32:53Z")
Just FYI, the only evidence related to the flu out there is a single study saying a specific type of Echinacea may somewhat improve response to the flu vaccine. Unfortunately, there are many types of the plant, and they are not equally effective, and studies have not been done that isolate them very well.
There are multiple studies suggesting it can reduce the duration of cold symptoms, but, again, the exact variety matters. And since most sources don’t specify or mix things up, it’s hard to get any real benefit. And, even then, it doesn’t keep you from catching anything in the first place.
Finally, despite what people say, you can have the flu (be infected by some form of the influenza virus) and wind up not getting strongly sick for a long time. Unless you’ve been tested each time, you can’t really say with confidence that you’ve never gotten the flu.
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### Author:  [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/19 "2018-02-05T17:04:39Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> I can confirm that this works. I’ve been using the garage door to enter the house all winter so far, and there have been no bear attacks. The converse is true, too. A little over 30 years ago we went on a camping trip in the wilderness. At that time I didn’t even own a house with a garage. Sure enough, bears invaded our campsite.
But, but . . . I have a detached garage!
I’m doomed.
Does anyone know of another option to deter bear attacks?
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### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-pretty-danged-smart/808145/20 "2018-02-05T17:23:45Z")
> [@Pabitel](#):
>
> But, but . . . I have a detached garage!
>
> I’m doomed.
>
> Does anyone know of another option to deter bear attacks?
The NRA approach: more bears.
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