Asklemmy

A lot of outdoor survival "common sense" can get you killed:

Moss doesn't exclusively grow on the north side of trees. Local conditions are too chaotic and affect what side is most conducive to moss. Don't use moss for navigation.

Don't drink alcohol to warm yourself up. It feels warm but actually does the opposite: alcohol opens up your capillaries and allows more heat to escape through your skin, which means you lose body heat a lot faster.

Don't eat snow to rehydrate yourself. It will only make you freeze to death faster. Melt the snow outside of your body first.

Don't assume a berry is safe to eat just because you see birds eating them. You're not a bird. Your digestive system is very different from a bird's digestive system.

If you've been starving for a long time, don't gorge yourself at the first opportunity when you get back to civilization. You can get refeeding syndrome which can kill you. It's best to go to the hospital where you can be monitored and have nutrients slowly reintroduced in a way that won't upset the precarious balance your body has found itself in.

Folk idioms that contradict each other are my favourite. For example, "the cream rises to the top" vs. "it's not what you know, it's who you know".

Police are there to help you.

“Survival of the fittest”

bitch, explain cows

That budgets for households, businesses, and goverments have much to do with each other

Edit: fixed typo. 'nd' to 'and'.

Less tax is better.

No saying that taxation as it currently exists it optimal, but any decent assessment of how to improve things requires a lot of nuance that is nearly never considered by most people.

Common sense itself.

Pretty much anything related to statistics and probability. People have gut feelings because our minds are really good at finding patterns, but we're also really good at making up patterns that don't exist.

The one people probably have most experience with is the gambler's fallacy. After losing more than expected, people think they'll now be more likely to win.

I also like the Monty Hall problem and the birthday problem.

The immune system is strong and defends your body against germs.

The immune system works 100% of 50% of the time. Immunology is the best way to convince someone that it's a miracle that they're still alive. Anyways, get vaccinated. Don't rely on your immune system to figure things out

• that putting the thermostat up higher will heat the house up quicker (edit: I have in mind a bog standard UK home thermostat)

• that sugary sweets make kids act "hyper"

• that the moon's apparent size is due to how close it is to earth (same for seasons and the sun)

• that your base metabolic rate slows as you age and is primarily responsible for you putting weight on in middle age

we need more working powers to keep our wealth and our standard of living up. obviously, as things are crumbling around us, this means we don't put in enough effort to maintain things, and more hands would help.

that is a false thought. The labor market is regulated by supply and demand. That means, fewer workers lead to higher wages and a higher quality of life. It might seem paradoxical, but having a smaller workforce means people in the country will be able to afford more stuff.

That is especially important as people discuss the birth-rate, and immigration, in all countries, also in the US and in Europe. People say things such as "women have 1.6 children on average, which means our population is declining, and obviously that is the reason why our quality-of-life seems to be going down as well". However, the opposite is true. As automation takes over and well-paying (and meaningful) jobs are eroded, having fewer people around doing all the work actually drives wages up, and leads to an improved quality-of-life.