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The Top Five Things People Think They are Good At
I have come up with a list of the top five things I believe people often mistakenly think they are good at.
#5 Driving
How often do you see terrible drivers on the road? Maybe this depends on where you live and what your standards of normal driving habits are, but I see people doing dumb things on the roads constantly. Sure, everyone makes mistakes while driving, but how often? I rarely make a blunder as major as being in a left only turn lane and staying in the lane but going straight instead of turning resulting in almost crashing into the person in the correct lane going straight. Or how about hitting a pedestrian? Are these regular occurrences for people? Am I in the minority here? I see this shit way too often to lead me to believe that the vast majority of people are good drivers who occasionally make a mistake. Oh yeah, and there's the whole driving with someone who is a fucking lunatic behind the wheel and consistently makes poor decisions in various driving situations. People rarely admit they are bad drivers considering how many people actually are.
#4 Sex
Even the most inexperienced intimacy student seems to think they have it all figured out. This is more targeted toward straight men because these are the people I have to hear from about their secret move that causes 873 straight orgasms for their lucky female companion. Hell, even if it's just foreplay, all the guys seem to think they know exactly what a woman wants. They know how to get ANY girl in the mood before they pummel her with their wide variety of sexual maneuvers. By the way, you're not Mystery (see below). If someone really has this shit all figured out it is probably only figured out for one girl. Women tend to not all be the same. At least I can acknowledge the fact that everyone is different and wants/enjoys different things. But if you're a guy who doesn't even know where to stick it in, just stop pretending because I'm not impressed.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/slb5O.jpg)
Mystery. It surely is a mystery how this fuzzy hat wearing asshole gets all the ladies.
#3 Having Good Taste in Music
I'll admit that this one is tough to prove. Everyone has their favorite musicians but that does not mean that other people will like what you like. Have you ever been hanging out with someone who insists you listen to all of their favorite songs? I hope not, because I have and it's fucking torture. I'm not trying to say that everyone else likes shitty music or anything, but far too many people think that other people should like what they do. A puzzled look takes shape on their face when you (as politely as possible) shake your head in dissatisfaction at their latest attempt to make you bob your head and tap your foot to the beat of a boring song.
#2 Having a Good Sense of Humor
Yeah, this one is kind of similar to the music one in the sense that everyone has their own personal preference and nobody's preference is necessarily better than anyone else's. The problem here is not even trying to prove whether or not a person's sense of humor is in alignment with yours, but if they think they know good comedy and you are at fault if you disagree. It's like the music scenario above. The only thing worse than sitting around with someone listening to bad music is sitting around with someone watching dumbass Youtube videos. I've sat through so many horrible, horrible Youtube comedy videos. There is an endless stream of this foul shit spouting out of the internet that turns a normal person into a toddler suffering from a giggle fit. It's so hit or miss and usually if you show someone an obscure video they don't feel like watching in the first place, it's a miss.
#1 Being a Good Judge of Character
I believe honesty is usually the best policy, but it often goes too far. Think of all the times you have heard someone talking about what they think of someone else. Every fucking day, right? Whether it's someone they have known for decades or someone they have just met, people tend to think they always have a good "feel" for someone. This is why first impressions often stick, people think they know other people. This always boggles my mind. A human being is a complex creature that cannot be predictable or fully understood. People do irrational shit all the time. It's hard to understand why people do the things that they do and maybe we should just not try because it usually seems pointless. I just had an idea for an experiment. I should interview all of my coworkers on their impressions and understanding of each other. Most of these people will not know how old each other are but will be able to tell you a shitload about little things they have done that point to whether or not they are a good person. Maybe that one time Jessica told Bill that he needed to match his socks with his shoes prompted Bill to think of Jessica as a cold-hearted, insensitive, nosy, bossy, scum of the earth bitch.
Edit: I called Mystery a fuzzy fat wearing asshole by accident. Sorry Mystery.
 
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i think im good at #3 and #2, though i recognize they are opinion based i just think a lot of people have stupid shitty opinions.
#1 i don't bother thinking about.
#4 and #5 im no good at
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I agree with 1and 2 although + Show Spoiler +you misspelled "hat" as "fat"
Edit: actually I agree with all of them lol.
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The Top Five Things People Think They are Good At
Starcraft.
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United States4053 Posts
I'm good at #5
+ Show Spoiler +but only if you count Mario Kart as driving 
I think I'm a good judge of character, but I know my sense of humor is lacking.
My taste in music is my own business. 
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people who aren't involved/don't know about the pro scene of ssbm/sc/sc2 also seem to think they are really good at the games too.
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In two years of driving I haven't hit a single thing with my car. I figure that means I'm at least ok. Or just lucky. I will maintain that I'm good at 3 because I listen to stuff like Faure.
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The writer of this blog is good at ending sentences with prepositions.
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
you think you're good at judging people that think they're good at things!
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Okay I'm gonna rant here but a huge thing that a shitload of people think they're good at but not is PHOTOGRAPHY.
Taking a close up picture of a piece of grass with a camera that costs more than my leg does not mean you're good at photography. Taking a picture of a random hobo on a street in black and white is not clever social commentary. Fucking pretentious 'photographers'.
Sorry but this is one big peeve I have.
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lol.
I'm a terrible driver (7 accidents in 9 nears), a mediocre lover (on my best days), openly gay in terms of my taste in music (Enya! Fuck yea!), barely ever funny (reference: this post) and an atrocious judge of character... Like that one takes the cake. I get taken advantage of on a routine basis...
Oh well. At least I'm not in denial about any of it. =)
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This thread is heavily missing "Talking about Economics".
Trust me.
People think they are experts on this.
Edit: fail at grammar.
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#6 Writing Blogs
JK! 5/5
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I am of course good at all of these
Except driving, which I absolutely cannot do and don't really want to
Also sex, though limited feedback suggests that I am, in fact, a sex god, frankly, girls will say anything to stop you cutting them up with a chainsaw so I'm waiting for a better cross section of evidence 
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Of course I have a good taste in music and humor... Not my fault most people tend to have shitty tastes, I've learned to deal with it.
For the other things, I really don't know where I rank but Im not too concerned about that
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shoulda used Jay Kay for the weird hat motif.. hes much cooler than whoever that guy is.
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Also, I figured Poker was going to be on this list.. Cant tell how many people, BW elitists especially, who say "Yeh I made $50,000 in online poker last year" or something similar.. How many people actually do from the BW world? not much, and the ones who do, we hear about it.
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I majored in Intimacy with a minor in Comparative Lit.
Unemployable in this economy.
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You are crazy, I am good at every single one of those things.
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On October 09 2010 17:36 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:
You are crazy, I am good at every single one of those things.
I don't believe you, good sir. Please judge my character to prove this, or I will assume you only think you are good at these things.
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On October 09 2010 18:14 Gummy wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 17:36 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:
You are crazy, I am good at every single one of those things. I don't believe you, good sir. Please judge my character to prove this, or I will assume you only think you are good at these things.
Now you are judging my character about my ability to judge your character.
I will not give in to this.
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United States24756 Posts
Ya there's a lot of things that people are overconfident about. Yesterday I was chatting with a guy about this topic and one of the things that we felt people think they are good at is teaching and/or talking about how education should be. It makes sense: everyone spends a good chunk of their life in the classroom... so obviously they are qualified to talk about it... but unfortunately they usually are just ignorant.
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I think you should have put "fighting", at least for males.
People on TL who practice martials arts, share my pain.
Most people tend to underestimate the efficiency of martials arts. It would be like admitting "that guy is a lot stronger than I". I am short and quite skinny but heavily practiced chinese martials arts for many years. I encountered countless retards who can't admit that a guy who's 5 inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter would be the shit out of them. I assume it's a matter of pride, but fighting is like any sport or art, physical difference can't make up years of training.
It's exactly like a guy who never played Brood War (or maybe played the campaign, since we all have at least a casual experience of fighting) saying to someone who played iccup for years "I have a 180 IQ and very fast hands, I must beat you so easily at Brood war".
The worst part is that when you try to argue, the guy takes a Bruce Lee pose, and starts shrieking, and everyone in the group laugh at you...You can't even start getting angry or anything cuz he would just keep going with the bad jokes like "hey grandmaster, where's your legendary self control?". T_T
Too bad you can't send any moron to hospital just because he believes 5 inches height > years of training. Or at least he pretends to believe it.
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This post is so meta on so many levels.
For one, aside from driving (and possibly sex?) all the other components are subjective to the people who think they are good at them, so being "good" at those particular things isn't really defined. But then you writing about what you think people think they are good at is also sort of like another thing you think you are good at and...
Oh my gosh I'm gonna stop. I agree with you though. I think a "good taste in music" is the worst offense. It's called musical "taste" for a reason, and honestly having a "good taste in music" is one of the most laziest accomplishments you can try to affirm.
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United States24756 Posts
On October 09 2010 18:36 endy wrote:
I think you should have put "fighting", at least for males.
People on TL who practice martials arts, share my pain.
Most people tend to underestimate the efficiency of martials arts. It would be like admitting "that guy is a lot stronger than I". I am short and quite skinny but heavily practiced chinese martials arts for many years. I encountered countless retards who can't admit that a guy who's 5 inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter would be the shit out of them. I assume it's a matter of pride, but fighting is like any sport or art, physical difference can't make up years of training.
It's exactly like a guy who never played Brood War (or maybe played the campaign, since we all have at least a casual experience of fighting) saying to someone who played iccup for years "I have a 180 IQ and very fast hands, I must beat you so easily at Brood war".
The worst part is that when you try to argue, the guy takes a Bruce Lee pose, and starts shrieking, and everyone in the group laugh at you...You can't even start getting angry or anything cuz he would just keep going with the bad jokes like "hey grandmaster, where's your legendary self control?". T_T
Too bad you can't send any moron to hospital just because he believes 5 inches height > years of training. Or at least he pretends to believe it.
Your bw example is a great way to demonstrate how frustrating this really is. In the case of martial arts... I'd think your experience would allow you to simply keep a quiet/reserved sense of superiority.
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I think #3 is completely opinion based, no matter what people say about music, it's all about what you like and not what others define what's good taste in music / which type of music you should like. I feel like when people say "this guy has good taste in music" it's more "oh hey this guy likes the same shit I like.
I honestly think I'm good at #2 because I've always made people laugh and I laugh about a lot of things. I also explain why I think certain things are funny too. In the end I think you'd have to meet me and tell me what you feel about my sense of humor. (This has similarities to #2 but it's different to me at the same time. I can't really explain it right now.
#1 is... I don't feel like touching that subject since I'm still pretty young and have some naive thoughts at times more than a person who is older and has more life experience than I do with people. I'm can be very anti-social then there are times when I feel completely comfortable with anyone.
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where is poker? EVERYBODY thinks they are good at poker.
LOL the jay kay comment. that's the immediate person that came to my mind after reading the OP and seeing fuzzy hat guy. JK is all five of those observations rolled into one person.
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On October 09 2010 18:57 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 18:36 endy wrote:
I think you should have put "fighting", at least for males.
People on TL who practice martials arts, share my pain.
Most people tend to underestimate the efficiency of martials arts. It would be like admitting "that guy is a lot stronger than I". I am short and quite skinny but heavily practiced chinese martials arts for many years. I encountered countless retards who can't admit that a guy who's 5 inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter would be the shit out of them. I assume it's a matter of pride, but fighting is like any sport or art, physical difference can't make up years of training.
It's exactly like a guy who never played Brood War (or maybe played the campaign, since we all have at least a casual experience of fighting) saying to someone who played iccup for years "I have a 180 IQ and very fast hands, I must beat you so easily at Brood war".
The worst part is that when you try to argue, the guy takes a Bruce Lee pose, and starts shrieking, and everyone in the group laugh at you...You can't even start getting angry or anything cuz he would just keep going with the bad jokes like "hey grandmaster, where's your legendary self control?". T_T
Too bad you can't send any moron to hospital just because he believes 5 inches height > years of training. Or at least he pretends to believe it. Your bw example is a great way to demonstrate how frustrating this really is. In the case of martial arts... I'd think your experience would allow you to simply keep a quiet/reserved sense of superiority.
Yeah, it's just that I would like to be able to do a "friendly" 1v1 grudge like in BW :D But after I got frustrated so many time, I try to not even start the debate as I already know how it will end up.
I think my post was relevant because people think they are good at fighting for the same reason they think they are good at sex or at driving.
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Most males think they are good at fighting too. It boggles my mind that someone who doesn't regularly train thinks they could hang with a professional fighter in a 'street fight'. It's like thinking you'd beat an NBA player at 'street basketball' because you're better than your 4 friends and things are different 'on the streets'.
edit heh didn't see endy's post. But yeah.
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On October 09 2010 17:10 Comeh wrote:
This thread is heavily missing "Talking about Economics".
Trust me.
People think they are experts on this.
Edit: fail at grammar.
Oh Lord, this. I've had people tell me that the Fed needs to allow massive deflation because then everyone's dollars would be worth more because Ron Paul.
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well where i come from teh current meta game on sex is to hit them hard and hit them again.
then do what you want .
however its also why alot of arrest are happening these days here.
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My #1: Games. If they win you're a noob, if they lose you're a hacker.
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people think they are better than they are in almost everything, you just picked 5 topics that everyone does
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For years, the number 1 answer on this family feud category was super smash bros melee
now its super smash bros brawl.
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Yeah, everyone thinks they are good at ssbm and ssbb. Except brawl sucks so I don't care if someone thinks they are good at brawl.
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On October 09 2010 21:30 Sentenal wrote:
Yeah, everyone thinks they are good at ssbm and ssbb. Except brawl sucks so I don't care if someone thinks they are good at brawl.
it's easy to shutdown someone who thinks they're good at ssbm though. just ask them if they're able to pillar consistently with falco or shffl consistently with marth.
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On October 09 2010 17:25 Skyze wrote:shoulda used Jay Kay for the weird hat motif.. hes much cooler than whoever that guy is.
I have no idea who Jay Kay is, but his hat is pretty awesome.
On October 09 2010 18:34 micronesia wrote:
Ya there's a lot of things that people are overconfident about. Yesterday I was chatting with a guy about this topic and one of the things that we felt people think they are good at is teaching and/or talking about how education should be. It makes sense: everyone spends a good chunk of their life in the classroom... so obviously they are qualified to talk about it... but unfortunately they usually are just ignorant.
I can't agree more with this one. As someone who has spend time in front of the classroom, it is a very easy job to do poorly and very difficult job to do well.
On October 09 2010 21:09 251 wrote:
For years, the number 1 answer on this family feud category was super smash bros melee
now its super smash bros brawl.
I'm actually going to go ahead and say I am good at smash bros melee. I have heard so many people who claim to be great at it who don't even know how to wavedash. That's why it was always fun for me to challenge all those people who told me they were good at it.
Edit: Quotation mistakes.
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I don't think most people think they're good, but average (even though they suck). I remember in high school every kid that was dumb thought they were average. The Asians were the smart ones and everyone else was "average" even if they were <50th percentile in school rank... Same with attractiveness, everyone who doesn't think he's god's gift to women is of "average" attractiveness. When someone is bad at something, they somehow rationalize it into they're actually ok/decent/normal at it.
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The top 3 picks are quite good.
For 2,3 its not so much the "inaccuracy" of their choice that's bothersome (because it's subjective anyway) but how convinced they are that they're 'right'. I dont necessarily believe that all choice in a subjective field are equal and viable, but it surprises me how hard it is for some people to understand subjectivity, and that their arbitrary preferences(and/or what 'everyone' likes) might not be the universally accepted Truth.
#1 is sometimes a necessary evil. It's generally a quieter bias though, so a little less annoying... unless a boss/cop/job interviewer is fucking you over based on their shitty profiling skills.
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On October 09 2010 18:31 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 18:14 Gummy wrote:On October 09 2010 17:36 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:
You are crazy, I am good at every single one of those things. I don't believe you, good sir. Please judge my character to prove this, or I will assume you only think you are good at these things. Now you are judging my character about my ability to judge your character. I will not give in to this.
I find that you are not doing a good job of judging my character by judging that I am judging your character by requesting you to judge my character. My disbelief at your original claim, that you are good at every single one of the things listed in the OP, stands as firm as ever.
@micronesia, re: teaching.
I am not a fan of the education system. I may not have any knowledge, experience, or even properly formed opinions, to back up my disapproval. I do, however maintain that the education system could be improved by an increase in government grants/scholarships for those achieving academic excellence. A few million dollars in awards would go a long way to instill a culture of pride in academics in this nation. As it stands, based on no evidence or statistics, it is much easier to get into college based on athletics or being a minority, than it is to get into college based on rock solid academics.
And how could you ban your father?
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Politics and economics.
Everyone seems to think s/he is an expert, and it really boggles my mind =.=
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United States24756 Posts
On October 10 2010 07:02 Gummy wrote:Show nested quote +On October 09 2010 18:31 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:On October 09 2010 18:14 Gummy wrote:On October 09 2010 17:36 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:
You are crazy, I am good at every single one of those things. I don't believe you, good sir. Please judge my character to prove this, or I will assume you only think you are good at these things. Now you are judging my character about my ability to judge your character. I will not give in to this. I find that you are not doing a good job of judging my character by judging that I am judging your character by requesting you to judge my character. My disbelief at your original claim, that you are good at every single one of the things listed in the OP, stands as firm as ever. @micronesia, re: teaching. I am not a fan of the education system. I may not have any knowledge, experience, or even properly formed opinions, to back up my disapproval. I do, however maintain that the education system could be improved by an increase in government grants/scholarships for those achieving academic excellence. A few million dollars in awards would go a long way to instill a culture of pride in academics in this nation. As it stands, based on no evidence or statistics, it is much easier to get into college based on athletics or being a minority, than it is to get into college based on rock solid academics. And how could you ban your father?
I have no problem with ideas like that, even from someone who isn't a life-long educator, since it's just a reasonable suggestion... not an unreasonable criticism.
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I don't really think about #1 at all. I guess I just judge and if people like my judgments they go along with it. I sorta don't care about what other people think of me.....
But #4 and #5 I don't really think I'm good at....I think I'm a safe driver, but safe =/= good. And as for sex...........lulz
#3 and #2 I think I'm good at though. The only reason why I think so is because people actually agree with my sense of music and my humor. So I guess it's more than just me.
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On October 10 2010 08:08 Cambium wrote:
Politics and economics.
Everyone seems to think s/he is an expert, and it really boggles my mind =.=
But you know better than them, right?
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.mtv.co.uk/files/imagecache/300x225/files/2008/11/11/83281244.jpg)
