# Things everyone should know about but probably don't. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150 "2012-05-17T00:02:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/61 "2012-05-19T04:00:12Z")
Americans need to know how the stock and bond markets work, at least at some functional level. Unless you believe an employer-sponsored pension plan + social security will cover 100% of your expenses in retirement (and this is a super rare situation unless you’re a well paid government employee or someone who is lucky enough to have a high paying job in one of the few private companies that still operate pensions) then that means you’re most likely making contributions to a 401k or an individual IRA account. For most middle class Americans these investment vehicles are supposed to be how you’re going to pay for your retirement. Yet many Americans make some paltry contribution to their workplace savings plan and never even properly allocate their balances, some even just let all of it accrue in company stock even when they could change their investment elections or rebalance them. These same people who get to age 55-60 and start thinking about retirement, and are hit by a sudden market downturn will wish dearly they know about equities vs bonds and how your asset allocation at that age needs to be different than it was at 25. I think 401ks and such are mostly a failed experiment, people have shown they cannot handle them. Either they are improperly diversified, lack the discipline to contribute the amounts they need throughout their career, or think nothing of taking loans out or even big withdrawals and paying the penalty whenever it suits them. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/62 "2012-05-19T04:56:10Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Barack Obama is an American. True. He is an American. In fact he is the highest American in the land. Is he a “Real American”? He will have to fight Hulk Hogan in some sort of ridiculous battle in order to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/63 "2012-05-19T05:16:19Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > True. He is an American. In fact he is the highest American in the land. > > Is he a “Real American”? He will have to fight Hulk Hogan in some sort of ridiculous battle in order to find out. And he’ll never be a “Real American Hero” until he gets an MOS and a goofy nickname related to it. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/64 "2012-05-19T05:19:23Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Can you expound on this? I use Excel every day, but I never get deep into complicated formulas or any of the other super-user features. I’m pleased enough when I can truncate a number, or use a keyboard shortcut to insert today’s date. People I’ve worked with occasionally found VLOOKUP confusing, and sometimes any function beyond SUM and arithmetic. VLOOKUP allows you to skip a lot of manual searching, provided your list has a decent identifier, which can often be a combination of two different columns. OFFSET and MATCH have handy uses of their own, but can be combined to look up data not only to the right of the identifier column, which is a limitation of VLOOKUP, but lets you look at different column and row combinations-- ranges-- based on variables. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/65 "2012-05-19T08:46:52Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Gray does \*not \*go with beige. I don’t care if they are both “neutrals.” The other day I had beige trousers on and then I put on a medium gray sweater, looked in the mirror and said to myself “why does this look so bad?” Oh, yeah, its because I now look like a piece of naval lint! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/66 "2012-05-19T09:08:37Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > The other day I had beige trousers on and then I put on a medium gray sweater, looked in the mirror and said to myself “why does this look so bad?” Oh, yeah, its because I now look like a piece of naval lint! 😛 USN or RN? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/67 "2012-05-19T13:45:29Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > What a standard deviation from the mean is, and what “statistically significant” means. Well, a lot of other stats stuff too, but we can start there. I work with engineers, and am amazed at how so few of them have heard of the **Student’s t-distribution**. I have to explain to them that they should be using it when they have small sample sizes. Also, it would seem quite a few researchers have never heard of the **Null Hypothesis**. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/68 "2012-05-19T13:47:06Z")
Everyone should know how to use **Excel**. Am amazed so many people still crunch numbers using a handheld calculator. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/69 "2012-05-19T13:54:19Z")
Red Cross First Aid & CPR. How to use a map & compass Basic firearms safety/use. Elementary critical thinking. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/70 "2012-05-20T03:06:39Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Why should everyone know about atlatls? How many people use spears or darts these days? Now, if someone is interested in primitive weapons, either as a hobby or as part of his/her profession, yes, knowledge of those things is essential. Otherwise, well, it’s interesting to think about at times, but really, when was the last time you NEEDED to know about them? > > I think it’s more important to know about compound interest, myself. Two contestants on this season’s Top Shot competed in the elimination challenge with atlatls. It was actually a very interesting competition. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/71 "2012-05-20T03:17:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Two contestants on this season’s Top Shot competed in the elimination challenge with atlatls. It was actually a very interesting competition. Thanks for explaining that word! I kept thinking it was a typo for “atlas”. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/72 "2012-05-20T03:21:02Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Two contestants on this season’s Top Shot competed in the elimination challenge with atlatls. It was actually a very interesting competition. Yes, the knowledge came in handy for them, in a specific circumstance. However, in my 54 years on this planet, I’ve never NEEDED to know about atlatls, other than reading about them in one of Jean Auel’s books. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/73 "2012-05-20T07:48:58Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Oh, and your box of aluminum foil or parchment paper or whatnot has little tabs you can fold in to keep the roll in place when you pull out the end. If you have trouble opening a jar, the trick is to break the seal, not to strain yourself trying to twist ever harder. You can buy a special tool for this (the most popular brand name is JarKey), but a knife will do the trick just fine, too. In US measurements, four tablespoons is exactly the same as a quarter cup. (And if you’re converting American recipes to metric, a quarter cup of butter is very close to 50g. But I suspect this tip has a more limited audience.) If you scald milk by accident, you can clean the pan by gently heating water with a tiny bit of dish soap in the pan, while you scrape the bottom with a metal spoon or spatula. Of course, if you scald the milk in a non-stick or cast iron pan, you’ve got a problem… ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/74 "2012-05-20T08:33:56Z")
Parents should be required by law to tell their children about the term “muscle memory” if they go into sports. ---
**Author:** ![Nymiir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@Nymiir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nymiir)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/75 "2012-05-20T11:16:18Z")
What the ‘on/off’ symbol on computers and almost every other electrical device looks like. How to get out of a rip (ocean, river, whatever). How to float (it’s really not that hard…) How to read. How to pay attention to your surroundings. I know this one sounds obvious, but I work in a department store that has a fitting room, and the sheer number of people who walk straight in, ignoring me at my counter (why is there a counter, or an attendant, if you aren’t supposed to stop? Is the company really going to pay me when they don’t need me?) and walk down the wrong corridor. There are signs, saying the way for womens and the way for mens, but they always go the wrong way. It drives me absolutely mad. I nearly hit a woman once. How do these people cross a road without being flattened by a car? They obviously don’t look where they’re going. Basic common sense, people. Please. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/76 "2012-05-20T12:00:15Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > One does not always end up in the water on purpose. Tell me about it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/77 "2012-05-20T14:48:44Z")
How to cook basic, simple food from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/78 "2012-05-20T19:12:21Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Who their real father is. Luke?? ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/79 "2012-05-20T19:36:26Z")
I think everyone should understand the basic US Income tax forms. They are not that complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150/80 "2012-05-20T19:38:43Z")
I would think remembering you started a thread woud be up there.:smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-everyone-should-know-about-but-probably-dont/622150.md?page=5)