What’s the best piece of advice you could give to everyone?

[TrlstanC]

If you had a chance to send a piece of advice to everyone (or at least everyone in your country), what would it be?

A couple ground rules:

• It shouldn’t be too vague (“Be an honest person”)
• It shouldn’t be impossible (“Think twice before doing anything”)
• It shouldn’t be something lots of people are trying to do already (“Eat healthier”)
• It shouldn’t be something be that lots of people actually are doing (“Start a 401k/IRA”)
• It should work for everyone/shouldn’t be contradictory (“always pay for everyone’s dinner when you go out”)

That’s a lot of negatives, but there’s lots of flippant, and useless, advice out there already we need to get past. And here’s a couple positive things it probably should be:

• Short(ish)
• Memorable
• Direct – it’s should be clear what kind of steps/actions are involved.

And please include some reasoning on why you think it’s a good piece of advice. I’ll start off:

“Practice doing nothing, just sitting or standing quietly, until you’re used to and comfortable doing nothing for about an hour every week, on average.”

It admittedly doesn’t seem like it would have a big immediate impact, and it’s not clear what benefit it would have. But, I think that it will have a few small effects on other parts of people’s lives that will add up to a big positive change over time. A few of the benefits:

• People have a lot of bad habits they’d like to stop doing, or at least have lots of habits they’d like to change in to good habits. Doing nothing is good practice at ignoring the little triggers and patterns that set off our habits, which is the first step in changing a habit.
• It gives you time to be mindful, to think about the things you’re doing, or want to do. And instead of just going off and doing them (or doing one thing while wishing it was another), it gives you time to think about why you’re doing all the stuff you do. It might become apparent that we’re doing some things for either bad reasons, or just no good reason at all.
• Doing nothing for a little bit is a great standard for the rest of the things you do in your life. Many people just watch TV, or go on the internet, or play video games, by default when they’ve got nothing else to do, on the assumption that doing something is better than doing nothing. But wasting a lot of time on useless entertainment (or other activities) can actually be worse than doing nothing. Of course, I don’t think we should all do nothing all the time, but it’s a good lower boundary, if the TV show you’re watching is worse than doing nothing, that’s a good motivation to go find something else to do.
• Sometimes we all just need a break, to relieve stress if nothing else. Especially if we’ve started to believe that being busy 100% of the time is normal.

[Tyndmyr]

People say the word "impossible" a lot. They're usually wrong.

[leady]

Learn to regret properly,

only regret bad decisions made on the basis of information you had at the time, not those that are bad in hindsight

makes for a far happier life

[TrlstanC]

People say the word "impossible" a lot. They're usually wrong.

Telling people not to do something everyone does all the time, almost automatically isn't great advice, for people to change would be almost... well you know. Maybe a hint on what to do instead of saying impossible? like "Always say improbable instead of impossible, except for things that are impossible." Which doesn't quite roll off the tongue, but is at least accurate.

only regret bad decisions made on the basis of information you had at the time, not those that are bad in hindsight

This is also probably not under people's conscious control. People don't usually want to or choose to regret things, but they still do. Any advice on how to do this?

[capefeather]

Quite frankly, it's terrible, unhelpful advice because it's too vague and can be interpreted in ignorant and/or destructive ways. What if something actually is impossible, or at least so difficult that it's not worth doing? Technically it's possible for me to walk through a wall. Technically it's possible for someone with a mental illness to "snap out of it". It's also just an incredibly dishonest blanket statement pretending (badly) not to be. If anything concerning possibilities and impossibilities should be advised, it's the serenity prayer.

[morriswalters]

The best advice I ever gave was not to give advice.

[dudiobugtron]

My advice would be:

"Watch out!"

Since when everyone receives the advice, there will undoubtedly be some people who were about to get hurt or die because they weren't watching out.

[webzter_again]

don't stick your dick in crazy

but since this is SB.

"none of us get out alive so find something you love doing that you can make a living at and stop worrying so much"
- my 86 yr old friend Ivan

[boXd]

The problem with giving *good* advice to *everyone* (in your country) is that it's impossible without being vague. Because, if you're not being vague, it is highly unlikely that you could give any good advice that is valuable to everyone in such a large group of people without stating the extremely obvious.

So, and being fully aware that this is SB, here's the best piece of advice I can come up with:

Sleep naked.

Seriously.

There are supposedly numerous health benefits, or so I've heard from some people. But, quite frankly, the only reason I do it is because it feels good, and that should be good enough. There's no harm in trying, and it requires basically zero effort as all you have to do is rip of some more clothing next time you go to bed. So, if you're reading this: try it out.

[TrlstanC]

Sleep naked.

I've actually never heard of the health benefits, but that's something I'm going to go research. But this is the kind of thing I was thinking about, I know it's difficult to make broad statements that would be useful to everyone (or at least most people), but that doesn't mean they don't exist. After discussing this last night, another good suggestion was:

Make more of your meals at home.

It doesn't mean that they'll always be more healthy, but it usually means that you'll be eating less prossesed foods, have a better idea of what you're eating, saving money, and maybe more importantly, probably eating more meals with friends/family instead of just "grabbing something on the go" or eating in the car.

[jules.LT]

That second quote in my sig...

[Yakk]

"Send 1 dollar every year to $Address", where $Address is mine.

* Specific
* Possible (even for people in the third world, 1$ per day is "affordable" to someone living a sub-1$-per-day life of absolute poverty)
* Few people are actually trying to do it
* Few people are actually doing it
* It works for everyone. I can send that dollar to myself as well as you can!

It is:
* Short
* Memorable
* Direct

This is good advice, because with even a moderate uptake of 1 in 1000, this advice would make a significant positive impact on my standard of living. And if it does work out, and you contributed, there would be a story about it in the news, and you'd feel as if you where part of a cultural gestalt. And it isn't as if I'm trying to trick you, so you aren't a sucker.

[dshizzle]

Learn a martial art

Whether its shooting, karate, wrestling, kendo or Krav-Maga, learning how to inflict violence on other human beings is a great thing.
Not convinced? Good then your not crazy.

1. Violence against you or the one you love is improbable if you live in a first world country. That however does not mean its impossible, in the case that you or a loved one is attacked the only thing which will stop such an attack is the actions of yourself or a bystander, why not be prepared?

2. Human beings, especially males, are violent by nature, some obviously more than others. Since violence is rarely required in our society this can lead to a build up of stress for some people. Practicing combat in a controlled environment is a good way to release this tension.

3. Physical and mental fitness, martial arts are physically strenuous and mentally challenging. A few hours of matwork beats going to the weight room any day in my opinion.

[boXd]

1. Violence against you or the one you love is improbable if you live in a first world country. That however does not mean its impossible, in the case that you or a loved one is attacked the only thing which will stop such an attack is the actions of yourself or a bystander, why not be prepared?

Wouldn't you think the time you spent practicing a martial art would be better invested by spending that time making sure you're living in a relatively crime-free neighbourhood? Practicing a martial art costs both time and money, both of which could be used in more efficient ways to dramatically reduce your chances of getting into a dangerous situation. Of course, none of these are guarantees, but neither is practicing a martial art. It appears to me that practicing a martial art is one of the less efficient ways to achieve this goal.

2. Human beings, especially males, are violent by nature, some obviously more than others. Since violence is rarely required in our society this can lead to a build up of stress for some people. Practicing combat in a controlled environment is a good way to release this tension.

I'm not too sure if people really are as violent by nature as you appear to think, but I'll let that pass for a moment. I would still argue that there are better ways to reduce stress, especially if one doesn't actually *like* practicing a martial art.

3. Physical and mental fitness, martial arts are physically strenuous and mentally challenging. A few hours of matwork beats going to the weight room any day in my opinion.

*shrugs* That's just a personal opinion, not something that applies to everyone. There are probably many other sports and activities that are just as strenuous and mentally challenging, and more enjoyable for different people.

All in all, I doubt your advice would be useful for *everyone*. It certainly isn't for me. I hate the martial arts.

[Tyndmyr]

3. Physical and mental fitness, martial arts are physically strenuous and mentally challenging. A few hours of matwork beats going to the weight room any day in my opinion.

*shrugs* That's just a personal opinion, not something that applies to everyone. There are probably many other sports and activities that are just as strenuous and mentally challenging, and more enjoyable for different people.

All in all, I doubt your advice would be useful for *everyone*. It certainly isn't for me. I hate the martial arts.

There actually aren't many sorts like this at all. I believe that only swimming and cross country skiing are in it's weight class for calories burned, and both of those have higher requirements in terms of location/gear/etc. A weight room is probably not going to touch martial arts for cardio workout, and both build strength. Its an excellent workout, regardless of if you enjoy it or not.

[dshizzle]

Wouldn't you think the time you spent practicing a martial art would be better invested by spending that time making sure you're living in a relatively crime-free neighbourhood? Practicing a martial art costs both time and money, both of which could be used in more efficient ways to dramatically reduce your chances of getting into a dangerous situation. Of course, none of these are guarantees, but neither is practicing a martial art. It appears to me that practicing a martial art is one of the less efficient ways to achieve this goal.

Practicing a martial art such as karate, or kendo sure. Knowing how to use and carrying a handgun on the other hand is quite cost effective, but I'm not going to argue with someone who's already given up on the idea of it.

Other than that your argument appears to be I tried the martial arts and didn't like it, so it must not be good advice for everyone. I would claim this is a non-sequitor. Advice can still be good advice for everyone, even if there are those that it doesn't help, or even negatively effects. As long as we are concerned with the benefit of everyone we need only provide a greater utility than we cost, I think that my advice does that.

[TrlstanC]

From my experience knowing a few people who were/are seriously in to martial arts, and having studied a couple at different times, I would say that the health and self defense arguments as benefits of martial arts aren't great, or at the very least aren't consisitent. There are only one or two people I know who I think would be able to actually use their training if something happened, the vast majority of people I know are so used to only doing martial arts in a certain environment, under certain conditions, that their training isn't usefull "in the real world". And for similiar reasons, the health benefits don't seem like a great argument, it takes a lot of things to do martial arts well and regularly, most of them being mental. People can run or do push ups or weights just about anywhere, but most people will only do their training at their dojo.

However, I do think that the training has a lot of benefits, but just that they're not as obvious. One of the biggest is that a well-run martial arts school (although my opinion of a lot of them isn't great), is that it doesn't just teach you physical skills, but mental ones, the most important being learning how to learn. One area where martial arts seems to be really good is recognizing that effort is the most important factor in positive results, not natural ability. And learning how to train well is much more important than being good quickly. Those are two lessons that are useful to learn.

[dshizzle]

From my experience knowing a few people who were/are seriously in to martial arts, and having studied a couple at different times, I would say that the health and self defense arguments as benefits of martial arts aren't great, or at the very least aren't consisitent. There are only one or two people I know who I think would be able to actually use their training if something happened, the vast majority of people I know are so used to only doing martial arts in a certain environment, under certain conditions, that their training isn't usefull "in the real world". And for similiar reasons, the health benefits don't seem like a great argument, it takes a lot of things to do martial arts well and regularly, most of them being mental. People can run or do push ups or weights just about anywhere, but most people will only do their training at their dojo.

However, I do think that the training has a lot of benefits, but just that they're not as obvious. One of the biggest is that a well-run martial arts school (although my opinion of a lot of them isn't great), is that it doesn't just teach you physical skills, but mental ones, the most important being learning how to learn. One area where martial arts seems to be really good is recognizing that effort is the most important factor in positive results, not natural ability. And learning how to train well is much more important than being good quickly. Those are two lessons that are useful to learn.

Gonna have to say that my experience was completely counter to yours. Granted my only experience is with BJJ and Shooting, but I have put those skills to use in real life, and my impression of the guys and gals that I've trained with is that they could and would do the same.

It could be that other martial arts just aren't the same.

[cphite]

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

[krogoth]

Taste a meal, before salting it.

[somebody already took it]

Constraints can help you be creative.

By using constraint constraints you can come up with more creative constraints that will in turn help you be more creative:

• Constraint constraints must be reflexive and consistent, i.e. they must apply to themselves (since they are constraints).
• They should also be paradoxical. If constraint constraints are not paradoxical, then they are not consistent, so they must be paradoxical. But if they are paradoxical, there must be a paradox. If there is no paradox, then that contradiction leads to a paradox. But if it leads to a paradox, there is no contradiction that leads to the paradox. So, in fact, these constraint constraints are paradoxically paradoxical.

[boXd]

Taste a meal, before salting it.

No no no, you have it all wrong, buddy. (I do actually agree with the premise of that comic.)

[fifiste]

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

All righty then. I'll start running around giving people handjobs on the streets.

The Do unto .. is somewhat of an epitome of useless, nice sounding advice. Probably runs rather contrary to many of the OP-s ground rules.
Something a lot of people a trying to do/are doing already - as it is hammered into the heads of every single sunday schooler then either they are trying to do it already or it is such a bad advice that it won't actually stick. Lose-lose anyhow then.
It should work for everyone/shouldn’t be contradictory - If there is even a single person thinking in a manner like this. "A what miserable useless piece of **** I am. I would really like if someone would already kill me without any consideration to my thoughts or well-being", then It would be rather bad advice to suggest he-d do to others .. (Also see handjobs example)
Also it might just be impossible - if the things you would others like to do to you are totally impossible for you to do.

The intentions of this advice are of course noble - just it would require much better wording. I'm no word-smith but I'd say something like :" Practice mindfulness of your actions, try to give thought how would they affect not only you but others. Spend an hour every week contemplating that etc."

[cphite]

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

All righty then. I'll start running around giving people handjobs on the streets.

If that's what you're into...

The Do unto .. is somewhat of an epitome of useless, nice sounding advice. Probably runs rather contrary to many of the OP-s ground rules.

That's your opinion, and you're entitled to it... For me, it works. Basically, the point is treat others the way you'd want to be treated. Or, avoid treating others as you'd dislike being treated. Or maybe just don't be an asshole.

Something a lot of people a trying to do/are doing already - as it is hammered into the heads of every single sunday schooler then either they are trying to do it already or it is such a bad advice that it won't actually stick. Lose-lose anyhow then.

So I guess we could follow it with a "No, really" or something? Your objection applies to any advice. Obviously there are going to be people who don't follow it, or try to follow it and fail... or even people who immediately fantasize about handjobs. But in and of itself, the advice is solid.

It should work for everyone/shouldn’t be contradictory - If there is even a single person thinking in a manner like this. "A what miserable useless piece of **** I am. I would really like if someone would already kill me without any consideration to my thoughts or well-being", then It would be rather bad advice to suggest he-d do to others .. (Also see handjobs example)

I don't believe any advice will work for everyone, for no other reason than that the person receiving the advice has to be willing to accept it. I would argue that people who actually think they'd like to be murdered - or people who immediately jump to a handjob when considering ways they'd like to be treated - are far less likely to make good use of any advice that someone gives them. It would of course be nice to be able to identify those people, so that they could be given more appropriate advice... something like "Get some help" or "Talk to someone" or, "Please pull your pants up, you're in public."

Also it might just be impossible - if the things you would others like to do to you are totally impossible for you to do.

See, part of the problem I think is that you're being far too literal. It's more about how you treat people in a general sense than about literally doing things that you'd want someone else to do to you.

The intentions of this advice are of course noble - just it would require much better wording. I'm no word-smith but I'd say something like :" Practice mindfulness of your actions, try to give thought how would they affect not only you but others. Spend an hour every week contemplating that etc."

But the guy who wants to be murdered could still want to be murdered, and might not care how it affects others. And the guy running down the street with his pants around his ankles might really believe that others would appreciate a handjob. Your version isn't any better, it's just wordier.

[webzter_again]

That's your opinion, and you're entitled to it... For me, it works. Basically, the point is treat others the way you'd want to be treated. Or, avoid treating others as you'd dislike being treated. Or maybe just don't be an asshole.

[...]

The intentions of this advice are of course noble - just it would require much better wording. I'm no word-smith but I'd say something like :" Practice mindfulness of your actions, try to give thought how would they affect not only you but others. Spend an hour every week contemplating that etc."

Your version isn't any better, it's just wordier.

I really like "Don't be an asshole"; it's less vague than "do unto others..." and I believe it fairly well matches the ground rules in the OP.

[TrlstanC]

I really like "Don't be an asshole"; it's less vague than "do unto others..." and I believe it fairly well matches the ground rules in the OP.

People very rarely intend to be an ass, and most of the time when they are, they don't realize it. The few times that that is their intention, a little advice isn't going to change their mind.

Some advice that might get at the heart of the problem could be: "hug at least 4 people every day." I'm not sure where I first heard that, but it was from someone who had studied the physical and neurological responces and effects of empathy. Apparently feeling empathic is good for mind and body, and that just hugging someone increases empathy (in general) by quite a lot. If there's anything that will keep people from being assholes quite so often, it's an increase in empathy.

[webzter_again]

People very rarely intend to be an ass, and most of the time when they are, they don't realize it. The few times that that is their intention, a little advice isn't going to change their mind.

Hmm, and then there's the fact that interpretations of assholishness differ from person to person as well. I guess that's a problem with "do unto others" as well (absent other guidelines).

A specific example. I'm a dog owner. I let my dog defecate all over my yard and I rarely, if ever, pick it up (notably, when there's a chance people will be walking in the yard). It breaks down, eventually. So, from a simplistic view, if I didn't view dog poop in a yard as a problem then I likely wouldn't view my dog defecating in someone else's yard as a problem either. However, my neighbor would probably view me as a giant, raging asshole who refuses to pick up after my dog.

[fifiste]

I think it comes back to my badly worded attempt up there. I think people should practice thinking about others peoples feeling and reactions etc.
This can be "good" both in altruistic and selfish ways. On the altruistic side they might emphasise more with them and so try to do more nice things to others, or if they already try to be nice to others it makes it more likely that it actually is something the other guy/girl would consider nice. On the selfish side if they want to succeed in their life then it is actually pretty good idea to know how others react think feel etc.
These sides may sometimes conflict, sometimes work together.
Anyway it can sometimes be rather hard for people to actually imagine hows the mile in someone else shoes. It seems to me that it can be quite common to think oneself as a centre of the world. I know I kinda did. I like to think that I have since made some steps away from it. (Who knows.)
I'm still a selfish bugger, but I must say that even this being the case - it will also help you immensely when you can push away the notion that you are special and hat other people and the world owe you something. Also to try to grasp that sometimes other people are really other - they might not at all think or feel like you. (So don't go running around giving hand-jobs without making sure they're welcome )

[krogoth]

Taste a meal, before salting it.

No no no, you have it all wrong, buddy. (I do actually agree with the premise of that comic.)

I should have explained it as the op suggested.
The reason is not just about food, but also about anything in life, try something before you change it, as it may work perfectly well as is.

In work especially, changing process's before finding out how they work is foolish.

[Sanjuricus]

I'm quite a fan of the "speak softly and carry a big stick" school of thought. (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick.html)
Be kind, genial and considerate when dealing with others but be prepared to be a hard-ass if the situation calls for it (Not break out the cans of whoop-ass as the definition linked to above would suggest but in the same ballpark.)

[TemporaryLife]

Before doing anything, don't ask yourself, "Why?" Ask yourself, "Why not?"

This is my first rule when it comes to getting tattoos, but it works just as well in everyday life. It doesn't work for every situation, obviously. But, if you're looking to live a life less reserved, you might do well to find a compelling argument as to why you shouldn't do that thing.

[Trebla]

This kind of goes along with "Make more of your meals at home"

Produce some of your own food

Whether that means you grow a tomato plant, start a garden, buy chickens, or just make your own jam. Many (most?) people will get some level of satisfaction from the self-sufficiency aspect, save a little money (maybe, gardens can be expensive) and probably eat a little bit healthier. I know it sounds kind of "hippy" or whatever the condescending term for "natural" is these days, but there are occasionally good ideas that come from people we ideologically disagree with.

[Hedonic Treader]

Don't inflict suffering on those who can't opt-out.

[sam_i_am]

This post had objectionable content.

No.

- Az

[Izawwlgood]

"Move on"

[Radical_Initiator]

Challenge yourself daily. Almost nothing worth doing is easy.

[maydayp]

never think you have the right to dictate to some one what they can or cannot do/be.
or
never think you have the right to expect some one to change for you, just because you think their behavior is wrong.

Just because you think somethings wrong, or it's wrong in your culture, doesn't make it so.

Not everyone is like you, experiences things the same way as you, nor wants to.

just because I'm still alive doesn't mean bullying didn't make me stronger or that the damage has scared over. It doesn't mean that those who aren't alive are weaker then me, or anything like that. Bullying, teasing, etc. is wrong no matter what, even if it doesn't seem to do any "lasting" damage.

Don't tell some one to watch what they say or think before they speak, 'cause when you do, they are thinking "be glad I watch it as much as I do, you wouldn't like what I'd say if I didn't"
I know these sound vague, but I can't really make them less so. The best advice has to be, because otherwise people won't think about it.

[el matematico]

Question yourself about your beliefs. If you don't know why you believe something, maybe you shouldn't believe it.

It could be a good countermeasure to adoctrination.

[FierceContinent]

If only it was that easy el mat. Most beliefs spiritual or otherwise emphasise "doubt =bad" very strongly.

Anyway here is my attempt to narrow down the combined world philosophies into one easy practical sentence:

Always try to have a empty cardboard box, some fresh fruit and a recent copy of the local paper.

[Nem]

The problem with giving this sort of advice is there's a lot of stuff you can say that's really good advice. Like maintain good cardio vascular fitness, (It's one of the simplest fixes for a lot of ailments. It helps with depression. It seems to make people smarter. It makes you live longer. It, to a certain extent, seems to smooth out aggression.) and make a study of how to actually live in a capitalist economy (because most schools don't teach you how to do well in a world of give and take.)

Really you need a bit of advice that's going to lead people to discover other bits of advice, or create them for themselves. I'm tempted to say 'learn a new thing every day' but that's going to be a very inefficient search pattern, and thing isn't well-defined to begin with.

Instead I will say: playing at least one different type of game a month, play as wide a variety of games as you can. Games are one of the ways we seem to learn well. There's gambling, there's shooters, there's economy simulators, there's things like chess and Go, there are puzzles, there are role playing games. You seem to be able to search through and acquire skills very efficiently using a game system. Most of the stuff I know, the skills that led into knowing it, or the research directly, can be traced back to games I used to play as a teenager.