Sleeping on my stomach. I'm pretty sure it makes my back/neck pain worse, but I'm just unable to change this habit.
Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
161–170 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#162Pasta and sauce are not meant to be separate. Once you cook the pasta, drain it, and immediately toss with the sauce. This is part of the reason it was meant to be al dente, to absorb and deliver the flavor of the sauce better. Unlike rice, it's fine to "soak" pasta in the sauce; it expands when freshly cooked but not when cool. Also most sauce recipes are probably overcomplicated. Most need less than 5 ingredients.…
I agree that people need to learn to combine them (add a little butter, too!). I like both variations, honestly. With most things, it's not either or, and there are different taste profiles. It's like variations on pizza where the sauce is added last.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#163Wearing modern shoes. As a society, we have somehow led everyone down the path that feet must be wrapped in socks that constrict the feet, then placed in shoes that are designed for looks and not anatomy. It's led to generations of people that have weak feet, and unnecessary pain all throughout their body because the base of what they stand on has been weakened.
Wearing toe socks and minimalist shoes, combined with going barefoot as much as possible, has rescued my feet, ankles, and knees from pain.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#164Staying warm. In the winter, I used to stay warm by turning up the thermostat. Then I discovered (via HN) the Low-Tech Magazine article, "Insulation: first the body, then the home." [0] The article argued that it's much more efficient to focus on heating yourself rather than your whole living space. I invested in high-quality wool clothes that I wear in layers and warm slippers. Now, I keep my home about 5 degrees F…
Add moisture to the air also as it conducts heat better and the same temperature will "feel" warmer. (especially important in some climates more than others)
Sorry this is backwards isn't it? In air temperature of lets say 60*F the conduction would be away from your body into the air, wouldn't you want to reduce the conduction? I can say that we used to humidify our winter air throughout the house but it made it feel so much colder. Now we humidify our sleeping air only.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#165Pasta and sauce are not meant to be separate. Once you cook the pasta, drain it, and immediately toss with the sauce. This is part of the reason it was meant to be al dente, to absorb and deliver the flavor of the sauce better. Unlike rice, it's fine to "soak" pasta in the sauce; it expands when freshly cooked but not when cool. Also most sauce recipes are probably overcomplicated. Most need less than 5 ingredients.…
I learned this from the sopranos: https://youtu.be/J2TkCgLooRU
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#166Not using an electric toothbrush. First time I used one it felt like I'd had a proper dental cleaning. An extremely half-assed effort with that kind of brush beats a thorough one with a manual brush. I thought they were a gimmick, but no, they're amazing.
Yup! Also the Phillips ones are just based on vibration (as opposed to some rotation in oral-b) which is also much better for your teeth and gums.
Or the Oral-B equivalent, the Pulsonic. I found it to be a great upgrade from my old electric toothrush(and it seems a lot more higenic too, because there are no spaces between the bristles in the head to allow movement, since the entire head is vibrating).
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#167Staying warm. In the winter, I used to stay warm by turning up the thermostat. Then I discovered (via HN) the Low-Tech Magazine article, "Insulation: first the body, then the home." [0] The article argued that it's much more efficient to focus on heating yourself rather than your whole living space. I invested in high-quality wool clothes that I wear in layers and warm slippers. Now, I keep my home about 5 degrees F…
I don't like wearing big layers of clothing. I like being in a very light t-shirt. I'm happy to pay the extra cost to heat the room I'm in with a space heater in the winter time.
I like going outside. I must go outside to walk my dog, get my mail and go to church — all of which are outside. I like shopping for groceries and eating out, which means that I must move from my car to the building. Given that I am going to be outdoors, it sure as heck makes sense to dress for the season and the weather.
Plus, y’know, winter clothes are the best clothes. Tweeds, woolens, gloves, coats, scarves, hats: all these are great!
I was amazed to find out that even in this air conditioned age we spend far more heating buildings than air conditioning them (four times as much, according to the first Google hit I just found). That means that it makes a lot more sense to dress warmly in the winter than lightly in the summer.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#168Pronouncing "February" with an r after the b.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#169I used to assume the religious people were missing something and missing out on the latest and greatest. Now I am seeing that often it's us the non-religious that have lost something of value and are trying to replace it with things that don't work as well.
I was raised in a Christian community and went to a private Christian school all the way until graduation, though really stopped believing all the stuff by 11th grade or so. And it's wild the parallels I see between the modern political climate and religion. It really seems that in the process of masses leaving the church, they've gone on to adopt the exact same behaviors but worshipping other things - government, ad…
Tribalism is at the core of our species i think. With metaphysical "explanations" or scientific ones.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#170I used to assume the religious people were missing something and missing out on the latest and greatest. Now I am seeing that often it's us the non-religious that have lost something of value and are trying to replace it with things that don't work as well.
I was born into a Muslim family and have remained a Muslim my entire life, but I have had ups and downs in how observant I have been. I’ve had periods where I was less enthusiastic than my parents. On the flip side, I’ve flirted with extremism a few times and even started alienating my immediate family members. Now, over 40 years old, I feel like I’ve found the right balance: a strong relationship with God, without being seen as obnoxious or dangerous. It feels amazing both personally and when subtly sharing what I believe is the most important factor in having a happy, fulfilling life.
Interestingly, Muslims believe most messengers began their missions at or around 40, so maybe everything before is “formative years”. The one known exception is Jesus Christ, whom we believe was raised to God at 33 but still has a huge role to play in shaping the world.