this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
60 points (96.9% liked)

Ask Lemmy

38865 readers
1169 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I'd trade my car repair skill for house repair, and my musical ability for math ability. Both of those are far more useful in life. Maybe also trade my computer ability for welding or woodworking.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 30 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'd trade my dick sucking skills for skill at playing guitar.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Have you tried taking up the (skin) flute?

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The fact I played flute in 4th-6th grade makes me wonder if those skills just translated... 🤔

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Based on what I know about flute embouchure, probably only if the receiving dick is quite small.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Now I'm gonna try to blow across someone's meatus to see if I can make it whistle next time I go down.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Ironically enough, sounding would probably help

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I feel like there's got to be people out there that want the opposite trade.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

"Being good at guitar doesn't help me at all. Everyone hearing me play wants to suck my dick and not the other way around! 😩"

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Anyway, here's Wonderwall...

Like, is it really that great for boosting romantic success? I mostly just hear the roasting.

(If you want to make money at it or get famous, I can assure you skill isn't a big part of the equation. I've been close enough to the industry to definitively say a lot gets fixed in post)

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 22 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

I'd trade 90's computer skills for 90's social skills. Because 90's social skills are relevant today, while it's been a while since I've had to resolve IRQ conflicts via jumpers. And switches no longer have a ~~Chasey Lain~~ daisy chain port thanks to multiplexing.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 weeks ago

You've had a Lotta dick

Had a Lotta dick

I've had a Lotta time

[–] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I have a tangent related to 90's social skills: I wish I had attended university before the high-speed internet era. We collectively replaced so much face-to-face interaction with stupid Flash games and scrolling ebaumsworld.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

I would trade my accumulated engineering training and skills in order to be a great musician. I'm done with office work, staring at a screen all day, and coming home mentally exhausted. I want to be able to go to a jam session and shred with the best.

[–] einkorn@feddit.org 20 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)
[–] kersploosh@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

That hits the nail on the head.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 2 weeks ago

Have you considered the possible financial implications of this? Playing music is great, but poverty isn't.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] 11111one11111@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Id trade the skill of knowing how many carbs are in any dish with the skill to naturally release insulin to process the carbs of any dish. Or am i trading a skill for a perk?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] disregardable@lemmy.zip 11 points 2 weeks ago

I need better emotional regulation. I wish I could just go "Yeah this is going to completely suck" and then get it done.

[–] ms_lane@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

I'd trade the ability to pick up my underwear with my foot and toss it into the laundry hamper for invisibility.

[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I have the jack-of-all-trades skill.

I can play guitar, piano, cello, oboe, drums and sing, write computer programs, poetry and short stories, read at a fairly fast pace (I've clocked myself at over 1800 pages a day, 4 full novels, without skipping sleep), I have decent eidetic memory, I've read multiple encyclopedia's from A to Z, I am apparently unable to get lost, I can do carpentry and electrical work, home repairs, automobile repairs, fix electronics, toys, gewgaws and gadgets, I know dozens of stupid human tricks like folding joints out of place and flipping eyelids, crossing eyes and flexing tongue.

I have literally never run into anything that I cannot do to some degree other than a pull-up or play the classical flute.

If I had to trade that skill for something else, I do not know how to properly value it. All I know is that everyone around me considers it basically worthless.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I wonder how one gets your skills of all skills! Did you grow up without fear of failure and ADHD perhaps? Did you have good parents? Curious.

[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Massive fear of failure and incredibly abusive parents.

Also, practically no support from them beyond food and shelter. Even clothing was a once a year if they remember kind of thing.

I'm also vigilantly self-reliant, to the point that when I ask other people for help, they are often shocked.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's great you're able to do all those things!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 weeks ago

Is doom scrolling a tradeable skill?

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 weeks ago

I would trade all my skill and knowledge in history and geography for just being able to program in rust

[–] rawn@feddit.org 5 points 2 weeks ago

Trading my "people always want to tell me what went wrong in their life"-superpower for excellent executive function. Pretty please.

[–] muxika@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'd trade my writing skills for coding skills. I feel like I'd be happier programming than teaching kids how to write.

[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

You had me at "teaching kids".

I'd lose my mind. Happier coding and vibin to music. You know, the OG vibe coding.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] TheWeirdestCunt@lemmy.today 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Id probably trade my gaming skills for any sort of artistic skill. At least then I could be good at something that you can make an income from.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Not negating you, but if you are under any notion that art can sustain a living, especially in the current slop world, I have bad news for you 😬

[–] TheWeirdestCunt@lemmy.today 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Not sustain but at least provide something extra. The sort of thing where a couple of commissions might get you a pizza or some other treat that you couldn't justify otherwise.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Eq0@literature.cafe 3 points 2 weeks ago

I would trade my very limited woodworking skills for equally limited artistic skills of any type, ideally music related.

I would trade some other skills (really any pick) for extra house improvement skills. It’s not even that I’m bad at it, I’m just too nervous to fuck it up to even start…

[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

I can whistle without moving my lips. I'd trade that for the ability to play football at a world competative level.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

Knowledge of Mandarin-Chinese for Knowledge of Japanese

I like Anime 😁, but haven't really used Mandarin for over a decade so I feel like Japanese would be a better use of brain capacity for me.

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I would gladly change my math ability, that is small, for some musical ability, that is non existent.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So many folks here just mentioning things that with time and effort they could just straight-up learn.

Music isn't magic, Art isn't something you're born with

[–] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (14 children)

Respectfully disagree with you.

I've been taking music lessons for years, to find that I don't have the ear nor the rhythm for it.

Ten years of dance classes, I love the feeling of floating over the floor with an English Waltz. But ask me to stop counting in my head, or improvise rather than trained patterns, and I fall apart, just rocking in place.

Painting too. Aquarels, not acrylic. I don't have the imagination nor, again, the fine motor skills.

The Arts are not for me.

I am a man of electronics, mechanics, computing, soldering, Lego, woodworking, sailing, geometry, 3d modeling. And I can teach and plan and organise.

It's all practical, tangible stuff. That is who I am.

load more comments (14 replies)
[–] El_guapazo@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Useful doesn't mean you'll enjoy it. I have the math skills but no musical skills. I wish I could sit on my patio and strum a guitar.

[–] z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'd trade in my excellent customer service skill for elite sniper skill. Can't let Luigi have all the fun.

[–] MerryJaneDoe@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

My skill at driving a car would be transformed into helicopter pilot. I hear they make good money and I can always get a motorcycle or take Uber.

load more comments
view more: next ›