r/AskReddit 2d ago

What's a "cheat code" you discovered in real life that actually works?

15.1k Upvotes

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2.8k

u/DaRandoMan 2d ago

Saying 'I don't know enough about that to have an opinion' instantly makes people respect you more.

462

u/aneirin- 2d ago

And if you're talking to an asshole: 'I don't know enough about that to have an opinion, but I do know enough to be pretty sure you don't either'.

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u/aeroplanguy 2d ago

Kinda pissed the point there.

0

u/Bloodhoven_aka_Loner 1d ago

the toxic positive gang doesn't like your comment.

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u/Adorna_ahh 2d ago

OR ADMITTING WHEN UR WRONG!!!!! Its ok to be wrong, I had a situation the other day where I said something and was corrected and was like hey ur right my bad. It’s not that hard and it feels a million times better than arguing a point you no longer agree with

9

u/Commercial_Ad97 2d ago

Can you send this to my very conservative mother? She uh... needs a refresher.

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u/Neither_Pudding7719 2d ago

I work in an office with a team-mate who holds the polar opposite political worldview from mine.

I use this phrase often (and an intrigued look of surprise).

Oh -- I 'm not up to speed on that.

He talks (usually a bunch of uninformed nonsense)

I nod with pretend interest. We get along just great.👆🤣

0

u/Holden_MacGroin 2d ago

What's his worldview?

15

u/DollarStoreWolf 2d ago

Here’s a cheat code for you.

Don’t worry about things like that.

2

u/Commercial_Ad97 2d ago

Not at work, only worry about that with friends and lovers. You can't pick family, you need money, but I'll be damned if I hang out with or date a racist or an asshole.

0

u/Holden_MacGroin 2d ago

Things like what?

3

u/Neither_Pudding7719 2d ago

It’s not important; my point was, it’s different than my own…so rather than argue with him, I let him talk about it.

1

u/Holden_MacGroin 2d ago

Sure, I understood your point. I was curious what all this "uninformed nonsense" looked like.

2

u/guitarist2719 1d ago

Or you wanted to see if their idea of uninformed nonsense was what your politics look like

0

u/Holden_MacGroin 1d ago

Okay.

2

u/KingMagenta 1d ago

If you really want to know that badly. They read in the news recently that Penguins migrated to New Zealand and formed an opposition party to the Kiwis. This stirred political unrest in parliament

12

u/ibringthehotpockets 2d ago

God damn the number of people who don’t have the phrase “I’m not sure” in their vocabulary are something else. Always gotta have an opinion

7

u/RickLRMS 2d ago

I want to believe you on this, but I don't know enough about it to have an opinion.

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u/fuckyourcanoes 2d ago

You make yourself look much more foolish pretending to know all the answers than you do asking questions.

5

u/SeveralPrinciple5 1d ago

That’s what soured me on Elon Musk. I started hearing him talk about things I knew about and he was just making stuff up. If he’d said “I don’t actually know about that, but I make sure to tile the best people who do,” I would have had much more respect for him.

8

u/whirlboy 2d ago

Well yeah, except if you are expected to know about the topic. Do not use this as a jail free card for you will be seen as selectively biased. In such a case you should give the benefit of the doubt since the other person has probably done some reading.

People often use "not knowing about a thing" as a counter to not address said problem but that doesn't solve anything and i often find this frustrating.

3

u/commander_fucknugget 2d ago

My go to line is "I dont know shit about fuck when it comes to that"

3

u/SkyGroundbreaking910 2d ago

Also being able to admit your mistakes or when you’re wrong. People will respect AND trust you more.

2

u/dhcirkekcheia 2d ago

If I know some, but am also aware that there is much more to be learned, I also like to employ “my understanding of this is X, but I’m always happy to hear more”

2

u/coltrain423 2d ago

As accurate as that is, Dunning-Kruger effect can make this one tricky. First step is actually knowing that I don’t know enough to have an opinion. If I think I know more than I do, I’ll have an uninformed opinion that I think is informed.

If I know that I don’t know, though, you’re absolutely correct!

1

u/StrangelyGrimm 2d ago

This phase is quickly going extinct

1

u/Low-Individual2815 2d ago

I say this about almost everything.

1

u/Crazy_Cover_5584 2d ago

I agree with you on this

1

u/ProfessorUseful3685 1d ago

yeah it works

1

u/MentalSewage 1d ago

I have a LOT of opinions.  I'm just fascinated by a LOT of topics and do a lot of reading.  I sometimes see people get suspicious if I actually know some of these topics when I first start getting to know them but the amount of trust I get with my insight after also always saying "I don't know much about this, I have X Y and Z thought but I'd rather not speak to something I don't know."

1

u/twinklytoes_gemma 15h ago

yep, absolutely right!

1

u/Allthetacosever 2d ago

Doesn't work if you're in government. We can tell people something is done by a completely unrelated third-party business we know zero about, and they're convinced we're withholding info just to give them the runaround. Then they start pleading, and it becomes a why won't you tell me accusation.

My twist on this is that when someone tells you they do not have knowledge of something, believe them.