Some old redneck man who was a friend of a family member, who was in a failing marriage with a woman 10-15 years older than him told me "Don't treat a woman like gold, treat her like shit and she'll never leave you" or something to that effect. That sounded horrible even to 13 year old me.

"Just push through the pain." Yeah, great way to turn your minor injury into a major one.

Just ignore the bullies and they'll stop.

Nope, they just hit you harder

When a trailer starts oscillating because it was loaded rear-heavy, "going full throttle will straighten it out". It didn't, car spun, load flew in a ditch.

The trailer did feel restless after turns, so I assumed it'll be fine if I steer smoothly. The first 10km went okay, but then there was a downhill, and that somehow increased the instability and it went mad. Speed was constant 80km/h.

Trailer weight distribution demonstration:
https://imgur.com/gallery/trailer-weight-distribution-3PQFK7Y
or
https://www.reddit.com/r/GoRVing/comments/6xfe7x/everybody_who_tows_an_rv_should_check_out_this/
(same video clip)

Meditation instruction.

Even if you are noticing no results at all, just keep on doing it.

No, that's dumb, expect results. If you aren't getting results after a dozen times, try a different meditation technique.

Half of everything my mom ever told/did for whatever ailment I had.

Also that it was easy to get a job in Brazilian IT in the early 2010s. Out of some 40 companies I've sent my resume to, zero called me for an interview.

I was advised by a group therapist, when having "cold feet" about commitment in a relationship, to just think about how bad the alternative might be. She had a friend who had reservations about getting married, and then thought not getting married would be stressful too, so she went ahead with the marriage. It was terrible advice, especially from a therapist providing guidance for some very troubled people. The only good reason to commit to a relationship is because you really want it, not because you're afraid of what will happen otherwise!

Pretty much everything I was told about employment when I entered the work force (2005ish). New workers seem to have wised up a bit, seeing us go through the hoops with nothing to show for it, but all the absolute bullshit about hard work paying off, take care of your employer and your employer will take care of you, etc.

...and it's hard to shake off that programming when you hear it your entire childhood from older folks who apparently actually did benefit from that advice.

Hearing Gen Z'ers and such say things like "act your wage" or complain about the rug being pulled out from under them without needing to stand on it for 20 years first is fucking awesome! The younger workers aren't just bending over and taking it in the hopes things will get better someday like we did. Gen Z is going to go down as a major contributor to workers' rights.

When I was about to graduate high school a uncle in law told me to make sure I pick a college with a football team I'm comfortable rooting for for the rest of my life.

Basically everything i ever heard from job advisor.

No pain, no gain.

Got rhabdomyolysis from working out too hard, that saying is crap.

When I was younger, I told my therapist that I kept accidentally saying insulting things and offending my friends without realizing it. She didn't ask for any examples and I didn't think to give any.

She told me that my friends should understand that being homeschooled and autistic, I'm going to miss some social norms, and if I explain what I meant and ask a nicer way to put it, they'll be able to explain.

Yeah this just made my friends really mad because I wasn't saying anything rude, they were just picking fights. Real "I like pancakes", "so you hate waffles?!" type conversations. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out why it wasn't working.

ETA I think my sister convincing me not to go to college was worse advice, but that's not much of a story. Spoiler I didn't go to college.

Being told to tip your head back if your nose is bleeding.

I used to drive a 1999 Nissan Sentra, it looked like a wreck but it got me everywhere I needed to go and was quick and cheap to repair. Everyone told me “you need to get rid of that car.” At the time I wasn’t making tons of money, but I did gain $5K in stocks suddenly during COVID-19.

I searched for “best cars for $5,000” and one of the recommendations was an Audi A3. I didn’t really know shit about cars so I went for it, and boy did I end up spending a lot more than $5K in repairs in the first few years (though luckily I started earning a lot more).

I still love the car to death, but it’s a 10 year old luxury vehicle. I still don’t trust it to get me to the next state but I don’t commute to work so it’s cheaper at this point to keep it and maintain it well rather than buy another used car (with an entirely new set of problems) or take out a huge, huge loan for an updated equivalent (the car is completely optioned out).

I also learned that with German vehicles you must, must find a highly knowledgeable mechanic that you can trust. A few times I took it to a cheaper mechanic closer to home but found out 1-2 years later he didn’t actually fix the problems.

Had I simply waited another few years I probably wouldn’t have had to spend a fortune fixing the damn thing, and I’d probably be financially stable enough to actually get a better car. But I live in Los Angeles where the people I know will feel shame on my behalf due to the car I drive. 🙄

many items listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions are often presented as advice

Anything that is founded on karma or divine retribution. That shit is just diffusing accountability.

Got one that happened just now. Bought some frozen pickle chips from Costco. Cooking instructions for air fryer said 96°C for 7-10 minutes from frozen. Completely wrong. Had to do them at 195°C for 15 minutes for them to be even remotely edible.

Maybe not advice but people who condescendingly say “you don’t have to explain yourself” are exactly the people who want you to explain yourself.

Same goes with “I hate drama” folks.

When you start investing, just put your money in and just don’t worry about it. It’ll grow. Just keep adding to it. You’ll get there.

Probably some of the dumber advice i’ve received.

You have to look at your Stocks. You have to look at your 401(k). You have to look at your investments.

Unless you like to wake up one day and discover you don’t have enough money. Then go ahead and follow that advice of just set and forget it.

The only one that might make sense with is if you’re putting your money into the S&P.

Even then, I still would pay attention to what it’s doing.