When we're kids, we're taught by our parents, teachers, and other adults that what we're being taught is a skill that will stick with us forever, so we'd better master it and do so quickly.
But as any '90s kid will tell you, some things like balancing checkbooks and researching out of an encyclopedia really do become obsolete skills over time.
Redditor hollowreader asked:
"Millennials, what skill did you acquire in the 90s that you no longer use?"
Balancing a Checkbook
"I was taught how to balance a checkbook. I remember learning how to do it and thinking there must be a better way."
- no_onion_no_cry
Navigating the Dewey Decimal System
"I was in a new library recently. This is when I found out that not every library still uses Dewey decimal. They were using the library of the Congreve system. Totally different."
- bobjkelly
The Ones Who Get It, Get It
"Be kind. Rewind."
- spaghettibeans
Computer Knowledge Taking Up Memory
"I'm late Gen-X but I have a LOT of computer knowledge that is absolutely obsolete. BIOS and DOS interrupts, actually having to limit memory usage, storing booleans in actual bits rather than a whole byte, Mode 0x13 graphics, ANSI escape codes, all kinds of junk."
- faceeatingleopard
Making Friends
"I mean, really, when do you get the opportunity? I'm at home, or I'm at work. When I'm at work, I'm working from home, and when I'm at home, I'm at home. There's nowhere to go to have a chance to make friends."
I'm not religious, so I don't have a church as a third place. I don't really drink, so that rules out the bar like my grandad might have done. I'm third shift, so even most evening classes or clubs I might want to participate in are ruled out."
"I don't really consider myself an introvert, but the fact is there's just no chance to meet people to make friends anymore."
- BasiliskXVIII
Knowing VHS Tapes Inside and Out
"No joke, I used to be able to tell the grade and wear of VHS tape by smell. I was part of an anime club that had a lot of tapes being traded back and forth, and I developed it simply from observation."
"I now describe this as The World's Most Useless Superpower."
- worldofcrap80
Communicating via Fax
"Knowing how to send a fax. I have not needed to do so in forever."
- i-need-blinker-fluid
Using a Typewriter
"I learned how to type on a typewriter in '94, and before the typewriter, my grandma had me practice typing exercises on a cardboard box with a QWERTY keyboard layout printed on top. I had to be able to 'type' without looking before I could get the actual typewriter."
"I can type ~130wpm (words per minute) with near total accuracy to this day though, so it did end up being a skill I put to use."
- b***h-cassidy
Sudden Career Change
"I started training to be a travel agent. That career disappeared in about three years."
- jackatman
Living Those Commercial Minutes to the Fullest
"Going to the loo and grabbing a bite to eat in the time that an advert lasts and making it back to my seat just before it starts."
- can_we_just
"Related, the skill required to vault over the furniture with your plate of nachos as your sibling yells, 'IT’S BACK OOOON!'"
- latenightneophyte
Reciting Favorite Episodes
"I watched an hour of 'The Simpsons' almost every day since it played twice on my local channel."
"We had so much less access to media than kids do now. No kid will EVER know the lines to 'Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls' as well as I did."
- ghloperr
Navigating Paper Maps
"Planning routes using a map. I used to buy an Atlas before a road trip and plan out the routes to take, highlighting them as I went. Now I just say, 'Hey Google, take me to ____,' and off we go."
- isisis
Gathering Those Top-40 Songs
"Recording songs from the radio, but no matter how careful you were, a third of the songs had the DJ talking over the intro dedicating the song to someone or repeating some random caller’s apology to his beloved HS girlfriend."
"The 1982 KFOX top 40, 'Here’s to you, Jessica,' overlay by the DJ will always be associated with that particular song even more strongly than the most powerful commercial jingles."
- Batherick
Using Encyclopedias for Research
"I had a massive history paper to write and I needed the internet and/or library to research. We had dial-up and anyone alive then knows how much it sucked and was more frustrating than helpful."
"Dad wasn’t home and my stepmom didn’t feel like taking me to the library for reasons I’m sure are still worthless, so she told me to use the encyclopedia set we had at home."
"The problem was they were published in 1959. I told her they were useless, but she insisted that 'history doesn’t change.'"
"So I asked her to look up the moon landing."
"I was grounded for two weeks and still didn’t get to go to the library."
- pourthebubbly
An Abundance of Worthless Knowledge
"I am fully capable of writing in cursive, using a card catalog, driving a manual shift car, starting a two-stroke motor, modifying an autoexec.bat file, reading a paper map and navigating with a compass, navigating with a VOR, among others and I haven't done any of those things for a very long time."
- Leucippus1
Not only did this thread bring back so many memories from childhood, but it felt bittersweet to think about all the things we learned that we can't really use anymore.
Fortunately, some of these skills might still randomly come up, like using a physical map when in an area with no reception.
Information is important to have. The older you get, the more we want to know and learn.
So all acquired information is a good thing. But it's also fascinating when we review the info stored in our brains.
Who hasn't looked backed and wondered... "Why do I know this?"
Our brain seems to just pick up and store morsels or useless tidbits every now and again. And we don't even realize we've saved it.
If nothing else, a random bit of quality know how can liven up a conversation at any party.
Redditor KingTrashTheThirdwanted to share all the things they know, and they have no idea why, they asked:
"What's the most useless piece of information that you know?"
My brain is too full. I have information falling out of my ears.
Shapes of things...
90S Snacks GIFGiphy"The shape of a Pringle is called a hyperbolic paraboloid. Learned it when I was 16/17 in a technical drawing class and it just won't leave my brain." ~ sublime_mime
Lost "A"
"That no number from 1-999 contains the 'a' in its word form." ~ pokemonmaster778
"I've heard this a few times and still check various numbers every time I hear it again. It sounds so impossibly wrong." ~ Hrnghekth
Seeds
"Strawberries are the only fruit with the seeds on the outside." ~ 1clovett
"It's an aggregate accessory fruit. The fleshy bit we eat is the structure that supports the ovaries. The 'seeds' on the outside are the ovaries with seeds inside. So technically, the strawberry 'seeds' are the fruit since a fruit is a mature ovary, and the seed contained within." ~ Lumber_Tycoon
Backload
"A butt load is a real measurement. The butt is a specific size of wine barrel. A pretty big one, as it happens. They're hyperbolic rather than factual. A butt actually is a measurement. 491 liters for ale or 573 for wine. Or in American/Idiotic units, about 126 gallons of wine, or a little over two standard barrels' worth." ~ shaodyn
Well that is fascinating, and I'm researching as I write. I never even thought to name that dot anything but dot.
The Traveler
glow red blood cells GIF by Erica AndersonGiphy"It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to travel around the body." ~ Fishcake_K9
PI
"The first 20 digits of PI." ~ WillsWei22
"Hey, I beat you by two digits! Memorized them in a stupid competition against my sister to see who can memorize the most digits of Pi in a day when we were kids. My sister got to 40 after an hour, I gave up at 22." ~ rockaether
"For me it's the square root of Pi. 1.77245385091." ~ AgentCarmichael20
Which cam first?
"The Lighter was invited in 1823, the Match wasn't invented until 1826." ~ N00dleLoop
"You think that's crazy? What if I told you that the can opener was invented 50 years after cans? 50 years!! Imagine opening cans with hammers and chisels for 50 freaking years! Literally the manufacturer recommended way of opening cans was with a hammer and chisel. Tin snips wouldn't work because the early cans were made with thicker metal." ~ Ziff7
The Return
"People often refer to the money they get back after filing their taxes as their "return." It's not a return, it's a refund. You file a tax return and receive a refund if you're overpaid. Also paid is not spelled payed. Get your crap together Reddit. "Consider the two phrases synonymous, although your reference, you've, sounds better for what I wrote."
"Form 2210 is the form used to calculate underpayment penalties. If you owe them money, you're underpaid and may need to pay penalties depending on your specific situation. If the IRS owes you money, you're overpaid and will get a refund, or can apply the overpayment to the subsequent year."~ BrundleflyftwI
Look Closer
See Season 16 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"You can't really see The Great Wall of China from space." ~ Sea-Horror-814
A lot of Diamond...
"A Minecraft diamond block would be worth $11.2 trillion US dollars." aventador7716
"Minecraft is a video game with a world made from kubes (you might know this, but just in case). Each Cube is 1 meter, by one meter, by one meter. The average weight of 1 m3 is equal to 3500 kg. So that's a lot of diamond. Then he probably multiply's it with the weight per gram or kilograms for diamond." ~ Mathematical_Screwup
These Low Effort Jobs Have Surprisingly High Salaries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Have you ever worked one of those jobs that paid you to kinda sit there? If you have, you know the joy that comes with watching the entirety of Breaking Bad ...recitals...
"Avogadro’s Number. Can still recite it, haven’t found a use for it outside of school." ~ slider728
"The 'mole number?' I'm sure you will use it all the time if you are a chemist, biologist, chemical engineer, bioengineer, pharmacist, or whoever work in the related field. It's like all those other technical knowledge that's useless to most of the 'commoners.'" ~ rockaether
Insignificant
"Any useless piece of information I share here would instantly be promoted to 'useful in answering this thread,' and therefore would be more useful than all the other insignificant information that I will never share here or anywhere else." ~ OddScentedDoorknob
"Thanx, your input is very useful to know that you are not planning on sharing information here or anywhere else that can be deemed useful. Thanx again, it's a time saver. I will seek my answer elsewhere." ~ UnfilteredPerception
Extreme Weather
"Extremophiles are organisms that survive under extreme temperatures. Thermophiles are organisms that live in extreme heats, whilst psychrophiles are organisms that survive in extreme colds. Mesophiles are organisms that survive at moderate temperatures." ~ r_e_c_e_d_i_n_g
"Extremophiles also include organisms that survive in other extreme conditions besides temperatures! For example, halophiles that live in super salty areas, acidophiles that live in areas below pH 3.0, and piezophiles that live in areas of high hydrostatic pressure! Life, uh, finds a way." ~ rabbiskittles
Top Students
3/14 pi GIF by NjorgGiphy"3.14159265358979323846264389790- My 5th Grade Math teacher dared me 'To know whether or not you're better than the 'top students,' recite the most digits of pi,' And now Idk what I'm supposed to do with this information." ~ Trip_koLng
Men at Sea
"The myth of the Kraken was likely started by men at sea observing a whale orgy. Several male whales will often take turns with a female, and will cool off their whale sized penises (called dorks) by swimming upside down with their giant dorks flapping around in the air. It's thought that men saw this and assumed that all the different penises were the many tentacles of a massive octopus like creature. The myth of the Kraken was born." ~ skewed-perceptions
I hate Math
“'Y equals negative B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus four A C all over two A.' Sung in a deep slow funeral baritone by my high school Algebra teacher. I’m literally a scientist and regularly do so much math but have never needed to solve a quadratic equation. I’m ready though." ~ jaaaamesbaaxter
You rang?
"Originally Lurch the butler in The Addams Family TV show was going to be silent. But when he made his entrance during rehearsal of the first episode he improvised, 'You rang?' in his deep rumbling voice, and everybody cracked up so they decided to have him speak." ~ refried_pancakes
Maturity
"I posted this somewhere yesterday and got like 500 upvotes so let’s try again, armadillos have four baby’s at one time (quadruplets) and all baby’s will be off the same gender as this prevents inbreeding as they stay as a family past sexual maturity." ~ Party_Comfortable406
Sweet Spot
seth meyers fries GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphy"Ketchup from a traditional glass bottle travels at approximately 27 miles per year, and tapping the ‘57’ on the neck is the sweet spot to get it to flow." ~ Early_Government198
I feel educated. Not ready for 'Jeopardy,' but I could throw out some intriguing tidbits at a party. And now you can too.
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