[mjr00]

> However, most good advice is common advice. In practically any field, grokking the fundamental advice and actually sticking to it will get you 99% of the way there. As Charlie Munger once said, "Take a simple idea, and take it seriously."

Definitely. There's also an issue on the flip side of it: many people asking for advice are not doing so sincerely. You'll see it in the new year on fitness forums. People asking for advice on which fad routine (coughCrossfitcough) will make this the year they keep that weight off, or whether they should get a Peloton or a Bowflex. If you give them the simple, obvious advice that most experienced lifters would agree on--do a barbell strength program and count your calories--they get extremely defensive. That isn't an option for them because it's boring. It requires repetitive, uninteresting, and physically strenuous effort multiple times per week. They're actively looking for, as you say, the new and novel advice that gives them the dopamine hit.

So yeah, I disagree with the article's assertion that good advice is not obvious. There's a reason the advice is obvious; it's likely pretty good advice!

[maximus-decimus]

I don't think this is the same thing. They're asking for a fun activity they can use to lose weight, not for a novel fun advice about losing weight.

It's not the advice itself that's boring, it's the activity the person will have to do every other day.