Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#491

Post by softfalcon » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:29 PM UTC

prometheus76 wrote: post #43

Chef knives are designed to be held by pinching the blade between the forefinger and the thumb, and wrapping the rest of your fingers around the handle. I used to wrap all my fingers around the handle, until Jacques Pepin showed me how to do it properly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMA2SqaDgG8

This only applies to Western style knives.

I was taught to choke up on the blade by a Western chef as well.

Then I went to Japan and was told to only hold the handle for their style of knives. Apparently, they balance the weight of the blade and handle differently there.

I tried to choke up on the blade at a very professional knife store in a market and was immediately corrected by one of the Japanese chefs there.

Then, the following evening, we went to a Michelin star rated kaiseki, all of the chefs were holding the knives by only the handle, no choking.

I realized I probably looked very foreign choking up on the blade in that store earlier. Humbling moment!

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#492

Post by high_byte » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:29 PM UTC

Zecc wrote: post #372

micheljansen wrote: post #307

I think I was in my late twenties when I found out I had been tying my shoes wrong all my life. There is a correct and an incorrect way to do it. This affects not just how the knot looks (straight vs crooked), but also how easily it becomes untied: https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/theres-a-better-way-to-tie-...

Since someone is going to point this out, it might as well be me: Ian's Knot [1] not only is super-fast (once you've learned it properly), it also ensures you are tying a strong knot. Also, a heel lock [2] is a independent thing which is also good to learn. [1] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBbc6TackDQ

I LOVE IT

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#493

Post by tetraca » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:30 PM UTC

ce4 wrote: post #208

Binding your shoe laces wrong with an easily loosening granny knot instead of a proper square knot. Not answering strictly according to "you've done your whole life", but I see this often when deliberately looking at other's shoe laces. I just recently tried to correct someone's 40yr old habit :) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_knot

I've been using this one ever since a discovered it, like ten years ago: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#494

Post by glacials » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:30 PM UTC

yodsanklai wrote: post #161

Sleeping on my stomach. I'm pretty sure it makes my back/neck pain worse, but I'm just unable to change this habit.

Depends on your back. I’m a back sleeper with back pain and my physical therapist told me to start stomach sleeping. It helps a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#495

Post by worthless-trash » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:31 PM UTC

sergiosgc wrote: post #459

yamtaddle wrote: post #79

Not 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.

This, but for water jet flossing. Why did I muck around for decades with strings in my mouth? A water jet is a lot less effort and much much more efficient/effective. P.S. If you never tried these gizmos, get a portable, battery powered one, so you can use it over the bathtub (or in the bathtub). They tend to soak everything around you.

I saw these, but they felt a bit scammy, what model are you using ?

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#496

Post by lucb1e » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:31 PM UTC

yamtaddle wrote: post #479

Oh! Another! Car side mirrors. I spent more than a decade of driving adjusting them wrong. You want them so you don't see cars behind you at all in your side mirrors until they're transitioning off the edge of your center rear-view mirror. This gives you far more coverage of your sides, and every car is still visible in at least one mirror at all times. For me, where I put my seat, this usually means setting them as…

That's not what I was taught. It sounds logical but before I take an internet stranger's word on changing one of the likeliest things in life to kill you or those around you, did you read somewhere that this is a good idea based on research xyz or is this something you came up with?

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#497

Post by c120 » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:31 PM UTC

leet_thow wrote: post #68

Taking a number two without the use of a footstool to get into a more natural squatting position. I look forward to the ritual every morning and usually achieve 'poophoria'.

If you need more convincing, you can buy the stool! This video ad explains it in detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbYWhdLO43Q

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#498

Post by aendruk » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:33 PM UTC

I used to regularly feel bad but didn’t recognize the feeling as thirst. Turns out humans are supposed to drink water.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#499

Post by yboris » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:33 PM UTC

hbn wrote: post #22

Not really "wrong" but at some point in the last couple years I was using my microwave, putting something in for a minute, and for that I've always input 1:00 but suddenly I realized how obvious it was that I can just be inputting 60. As long as you can easily modulo the time, this works for the range 1 minute (60) to 1 minute 39 seconds (99). Technically you could also do this for times like 2:65 instead of 3:05 but…

Microwaves are getting better UX these days. The cheap one I bought from Walmart about a year ago lets me press `1` and it auto-starts a one-minute heating process.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#500

Post by gpderetta » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 4:33 PM UTC

scotty79 wrote: post #344

rjmill wrote: post #152

When my then-gf/now-wife and I first moved in together, I got really mad at her because she kept "hiding" my stuff when I left it out for more than a day. I couldn't find anything! At some point, I yelled, "It's like you don't even want to see any of my things when I'm not using them!" Then I stopped for a second. For the first time in my life, it made sense. The whole point of putting things away is to hide them! No…

I have no idea why some people have this urge to hide all things. When I hide things I just forget that I have half of them almost immediately. Let alone remembering where I have them.

There is "putting things back where they belong so you they don't clutter and you know where they are next time you need them" and "put things out of the way in a random place so that they are effectively lost".

Then there is me looking for something for half an hour or more then finally finding it exactly where it was supposed to be.