Ask Lemmy

Plumbing. I'm not a plumber and I'm not particularly good at it, but it's one of those things that most people won't even consider looking at.

Also, 3D visualization. I had a carpenter do the gutters on my house and I explicitly told him that the reason I didn't do them myself was that the eaves are slanted inwards so that the slope on the gutters would cause the gutters to go inwards when it goes downwards, and I was unsure what best practise was for that case, where to get the proper hangers for this or if we'd need to put a vertical board up first in order to make it work. He assured me that it'd be fine, having done many gutters before. When I got home, he had put ordinary hangers right on the slanted eaves, and the gutters were halfway under the roof at one end. He stood there scratching his head and tried to argue that the wall of the house was not straight, because he could simply not see any other reason for it to do that.

Math is the big one, and logic by extension. Everyone around me seems to have difficulty breaking problems or logical arguments down into relevant incremental steps. They either get distracted by irrelevant things, or can't figure out how the output of one step provides the input for the next.

cutting off toxic people

Not judging other people. Partly, I'm just quite easy going, partly I've had enough personal history of making mistakes to understand that people often have others reasons for their actions. But mostly I just don't see the point in wasting headspace caring about someone's appearance, opinion or behaviour.

But I feel like I'm constantly hearing people bitching, moaning and picking at other people. There are situations where you need to take a decision about something (particularly if you're in a position of responsibility or authority) but most of the time there seems very little point in being judgemental about someone.

Being assertive

Getting up when the alarm rings
Not touching my savings
Paraller/reverse parking
Finding joy in mundane little things

I have a good imagination. After meeting people with aphantasia it seems I have an exceptional ability to call to mind sights, smells, sensations, sounds, and simulate the interactions they would have entirely in my mind. I can imagine a different set of curtains on the wall and tell you if it would clash with your paint, and I can taste a spoonful of a soup and go through a mental library of tastes and combine it with more salt, onion, wine etc and make a suggestion based on what "tasted" the best. I thought everyone could do it but some people don't have a "mind's eye" at all. Some people only can see in their imaginations, not smell or taste or hear etc.

Using any sort of digital device. I've really never had a problem figuring out how they work and what needs to be done to fix them.

A lot of math things. It hasn't been nearly as lucrative as people assume.

Answering completely random questions without any context and/or reason.

I can do an oil & filter(s) change and or a brake job on most normal cars pretty easy. Many people I know would have trouble with these.

I'm really good at finding flaws in things. It's not that I'm trying, I guess I just use things differently. A colleague of mine told me I should be a tester for product development to help find the problems when I asked him why some software worked the way it did. He just said, "I don't do it that way."

Consequently, I'm excellent at writing manuals because I always write them in such a way that no one will make the mistakes I did. The real bummer is I HATE WRITING MANUALS.

Empathy. Some people just have a brain for math and understand numbers in ways other people just never will. Others, like myself, have brains that are really good at understanding others, and we perceive and understand others with a facility some other people just can’t. It sounds pompous to say, because all human beings are at least somewhat skilled in this area, due to our species being highly social, but it’s still a cognitive speciality and some of us are innately better at it than others.

It can be frustrating too, because when other people don’t understand what you see in someone else, they question your decisions about them, and it can be hard to see why other people don’t see what you find obvious sometimes. It’s a bit of an extreme example, but I know people who can’t see that Donald Trump is a highly transparent narcissist. Even ones who didn’t vote for him and hate him for all the obvious reasons can’t see the personality disorder in him, and I find it so glaringly obvious that I sometimes just can’t fathom how anyone could miss it. But, if I really think about it, and I imagine what it might be like for a person who doesn’t have a natural talent for empathy, I can see how they just might not connect the dots and just see a bombastic, arrogant asshole, rather than the much more complex pattern of malignant narcissism that underlies that comparatively superficial persona.

Remembering long passwords. We're talking in the 30-40 character ballpark. And I still can't remember people's names.

Talking to strangers. I'm always the person my introverted friends push to the front if the group has to say something. Ohh, and phone calls! I'm the designated "Can you call them please?" person.

Being open to learning new things which may contradict previously held beliefs. I enjoy becoming more informed and having my ignorance diminished, but I find for the bulk of humanity most people do not want to know things - they want to be continually assured the things they hold true are true, regardless of the validity.

Spatial problem solving.

Problem solving.

Processing written information.

Budgeting and staying afloat.

I'm immune to FOMO, I've been conditioned and hard-wired to resist a majority of what commercialism tries shoving in my face. I'll get what works for me and has proven to work for me and I'll consider alternative options if whatever that is, is proven to me that it is something better.

I may be living as an individual and alone, but I don't feel the need to spend $200+ on groceries just for me. Some people whose budgets are broken down when they go over their expenses just for them, I see so many flaws. Why do you need weed? Why do you need this or that? Why did you pick a place to live that costs you $2,000 a month? Are you insane?

Not trying to judge but you came here complaining to us (whenever I see it on social media) about why you're broke or struggling, until I see what you're spending on. Stop subscribing to bundled utilities where you'll use only ONE of them (Net), stop subscribing to things you know you'll use only once then forget about. It's not that freaking hard, but the only reason people do these dumb things is to feel inclusive or feel like they're saving on things but don't read the fine print. It is all on you for why you fail budgeting.

I'm not trying to make excuses for capitalism but it's survivable if you ask me.

I get hit and screamed at a lot…just as a part of my job, and it doesn’t seem to phase me other than the mild inconveniences of injury. I’m sure my brain is a bit wonky. I do take summers off, and I get so bored.

Waking up early.

It’s the fastest way to a cup of coffee

Public speaking. I just can't get my head around the fact that a crowd is composed of real, individual people. It just looks like an impersonal, lifeless blob to me, so I have no trouble performing in front of it.

Climbing, I see a path and just take it. Pretty crazy how many people are afraid of heights. I've been climbing towers for over 20 years and have seen a lot of people not make it through the day.