Stupid questions

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Stupid questions

Postby OrangeEyebrows » Fri Oct 18, 2013 2:03 am

Full disclosure: If anyone posts "Why do you drive on a parkway and park in a driveway?" or "Why aren't aeroplanes made out of the same stuff as the black box?" or anything of that nature, I will end you, both with my mod powers and by actually coming to your house and hitting you again and again and again.

That said, as long as it's sincere, there is no question too stupid for this thread, whether it's "Which came first, orange the colour or orange the fruit?" or "How do you make toast without a toaster?", and other people are only allowed to snigger in the privacy of their own homes.

I'll start. Wouldn't it be more sensible to use lunar months instead of calendar months? They conveniently divide up into four weeks and everything.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby Typical Michael » Fri Oct 18, 2013 2:09 am

Where they originally came from, oranges were always green.

http://www.omg-facts.com/Science/Orange ... rown/52278
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby Qinglong » Fri Oct 18, 2013 2:23 am

OrangeEyebrows wrote:Wouldn't it be more sensible to use lunar months instead of calendar months? They conveniently divide up into four weeks and everything.

It's because we're boring. We should use Shire-reckoning instead.

Why do we still use Roman numerals for anything?
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby Matthew Notch » Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:49 am

OrangeEyebrows wrote:"Why aren't aeroplanes made out of the same stuff as the black box?"


They would never get off the ground. The modern aircraft is a marvel of engineering, quite sturdy and capable of handling anything from fast moving geese to turbulence at many times greater than you'd expect. Despite this, its strength is largely derived from its structure, not its substance. For the past year or so, LearJet has been prototyping a new model here in Wichita at a Colisseum north of town in conjunction with the National Institute for Aviation Research, and conducting stress tests on it to determine its ideal makeup and build. I've been delivering small parts up there for months now, and I've gotten to see the craft and even some of the tests they subject it to, which DO include firing whole chickens at it from a cannon, in case you were still hunting for that dream job that would allow you to use dead birds as ballistic weapons.

I know the title of the thread, but still... that was kind of a silly question Orange.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby Dr. Ambiguous » Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:57 am

JugularNotch wrote:I've gotten to see the craft and even some of the tests they subject it to, which DO include firing whole chickens at it from a cannon, in case you were still hunting for that dream job that would allow you to use dead birds as ballistic weapons.

I have finally found my calling.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby Matthew Notch » Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:04 pm

Re: Qinglong...

It is a widely assumed, though probably unconfirmed and possibly unconfirmABLE theory, that film studios, for example, used Roman numerals for copyrights in order to hide the dates of their release, to avoid audiences feeling that film is "stale". Again, this is only a popular theory; the truth may be linked to other situations, and indeed many films have left off this practice in more recent years. However, it is possible to extend that theory—putting numbers that you HAVE to put in something in such a way as they are not easily read—to most applications that use them.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby sunglasses » Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:55 pm

Sometimes Roman Numerals just look sexy.

Come on, which looks more awesome: 17 OR XVII

9 or IX

50 or L

I'm just sayin'
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby Qinglong » Fri Oct 18, 2013 3:08 pm

I dunno. I think 69 is more appealing than LXIX.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby electricflamingo » Fri Oct 18, 2013 3:57 pm

I cannot ask this question. My father-in-law would probably throw me in a river but he is a very staunch vegetarian....but he wears leather. Lot's of leather. Leather generally made from cows.

This confuses me. Why is meat bad but leather and fur are good?

I did ask my husband once and I got the death stare, which seems unfair since he asks me waaay weirder questions about my culture.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby JamesT » Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:50 pm

electricflamingo wrote:I cannot ask this question. My father-in-law would probably throw me in a river but he is a very staunch vegetarian....but he wears leather. Lot's of leather. Leather generally made from cows.

This confuses me. Why is meat bad but leather and fur are good?

I did ask my husband once and I got the death stare, which seems unfair since he asks me waaay weirder questions about my culture.


Depends on why they're a vegetarian.

Yeah if they're a vegetarian for moral reasons that is just bizarre. If it's for dietary reasons then I don't think it makes much difference. If it's for religious reasons then... well you'll probably have to ask some theologian and they'll probably give you a long list of dos and don'ts with complicated reasoning involving the soul, or karmic debts.


As for Roman Numerals? It's because they're CLASSY. That's why I have a roman numeral tramp stamp. Don't y'all want to feel classy like me? *scratches self and spits*
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby FaceTheCitizen » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:10 pm

...
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby w00 » Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:24 pm

electricflamingo wrote:I cannot ask this question. My father-in-law would probably throw me in a river but he is a very staunch vegetarian....but he wears leather. Lot's of leather. Leather generally made from cows.

This confuses me. Why is meat bad but leather and fur are good?

I did ask my husband once and I got the death stare, which seems unfair since he asks me waaay weirder questions about my culture.

I think it's because leather is generally a by-product of the meat industry. That probably isn't the case in exotic leathers, but for cow leather I believe it's the case. So cows aren't being killed for their skins so buying leather isn't (in the current way the market works) leading to more death for replacements.

Fur, on the other hand, is often harvested without regard for the food value of the poor critter being killed, so they'll skin the thing and leave the carcass. Baby seals, for example. I hate that industry. Although what polar bears would do to those seals - eat them alive - doesn't sound much better; at least the bears have an excuse: "We're bears - deal with it."

Also, "No McDonalds in the arctic." And, "You humans can have the fur when we're done with it."
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby blehblah » Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:40 pm

OrangeEyebrows wrote:
I'll start. Wouldn't it be more sensible to use lunar months instead of calendar months? They conveniently divide up into four weeks and everything.


That is a very good stupid question, Orange.

It breaks-down a year being roughly 365 days, which is not divisible by 28 (a 13.03571428571429 month year is difficult), and a year isn't actually 365 days, it's closer to... well, it's complicated.

Okay. The concept of a "year" is complicated, but maybe we can divide by months (say, ten) and then days (sunset to sunset, -ish?). BUT, it all goes back to that "year" thing. Maybe instead we go to solstice and equniox. The thing is that those times float because we have to mix the rotation of the earth (how it spins on it's wobbly changing axis), it's orbit around the sun (not a circle, but rather a ellipse that itself wobbles), and the wobble that the other planets, moons, and everything else within measurable (another sliding scale) range of influence.

The people who came before us settled on answering "When do we harvest? When do we plant?" without worrying too much about when, by some external constant, that is. Eh, Einstein just rolled-over a shot me the bird.

To get at the fun that people have had behind your question, check-out this thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter

If you're like me, your head will start to hurt around http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter#Date.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby blehblah » Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:09 pm

Dr. Ambiguous wrote:
JugularNotch wrote:I've gotten to see the craft and even some of the tests they subject it to, which DO include firing whole chickens at it from a cannon, in case you were still hunting for that dream job that would allow you to use dead birds as ballistic weapons.

I have finally found my calling.


I sincerely hope that you're not a chicken.

It's not worth it, man. It's really not. Leave it to the geese.
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Re: Stupid questions

Postby Aquila89 » Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:20 pm

w00 wrote:I think it's because leather is generally a by-product of the meat industry. That probably isn't the case in exotic leathers, but for cow leather I believe it's the case. So cows aren't being killed for their skins so buying leather isn't (in the current way the market works) leading to more death for replacements.


I'm a vegan, and I would've given the same answer. I wouldn't buy new things made from leather, but I still wear the old ones I got before I became a vegan. I already supported the animal industry by buying them, and not wearing them wouldn't undo that.

I have a question: why do people close their eyes during kissing?
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