Basic concepts that seem to escape the grasp of most people

[Blackjack200]

Probably because tides are caused by the moon.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/tides/tides02_cause.html

The earths spin is slowing, but not that much.

Oye

 

[Ichinisan]

Correlation does not imply causation. Nothing makes me facepalm more than people who don't get it.

This. So much this.

 

[MongGrel]

A not-very-bright friend made some comment saying a video of weightless astronauts was "fake - because there's air in there." He thought having pressurized air meant they couldn't be weightless / in free-fall. Really. He tried to argue this.

Those Sneaky gravity producing air molecules.

If you have enough of them around, they even lift things off the ground with no forward momentum.

Apparently, the word "stall" doesn't exist.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

This is my wife in the car.

She either turns the AC on full blast, turns it off, or turns the heat on full blast. Fan speed varies, but she doesn't grasp that you can set the heat/cold settings to a medium and not have to constantly turn it on and off.

My car has a digital thermostat (which makes it easier to see the same settings you get on a dial because it actually switches between heat and cold depending on outside air temp and inside air temp differentials....). She doesn't understand that either...

Whenever I turn on the AC, I put it on full blast. The damn compressor is murdering my gas mileage, and it's running the same whether its set to 75 or 65 degrees, so I might as well get every damn negative BTU coming outta that thing into my vehicle cabin.

Maybe cars nicer than mine have AC compressors that cycle according to the set point and the cabin temperature, but mine doesn't.

 

[angminas]

It really doesn't. If you have a main heating system that puts out a crap-ton of air at 90 degrees and a little auxiliary system that puts out a small amount of air at 110, it will still take a lot longer, even if you're just trying to heat from 60 up to 70 degrees.

Try this: Heat a full mug of water to a middle-warm temperature (cool enough to put your hand in) a drop in an ice cube. See how long it takes to melt. Now, heat a mug of water to boiling, take a teaspoon of boiling water, and drop it on an ice cube. See how long it takes to melt.

Air works the same way as water re: transferring heat. Quantity is a quality all its own.

Are you trolling? Saying that temperature matters is not saying that volume does not matter. You're putting words in people's mouths, and it's annoying.

 

[Ichinisan]

4-way stops. Sorry, it's not your turn just because you can make your turn faster than I can make mine. It's also not your turn because you have been waiting longer than me.

Am I one of those people?

Yielding to the right and then going clockwise from there only applies when you stop at the same time as others. It's not hard to pay attention to which sides have gone and know when it's your turn. Take turns. Be efficient.

...or maybe I'm wrong.

Found this:

4-way stops: While 4-way intersections that are controlled by four stop signs are relatively safe, they still pose some potential problems. Drivers tend to always screw up the right-of-way rules at 4-way stops. Here’s how it works: right of way is yielded to whichever car arrives first at the intersection. If multiple cars arrive at the same time, the right of way is yielded to the car to the right. Now, that is how things are supposed to happen. What actually happens at a 4-way stop is usually much different.

http://www.driversedguru.com/drivers-ed-training-exercises/stage-3/stage-3-intersections-part-2/

 

[Ns1]

n/m, clarification rec'd further upthread.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Most don't give a fuck about anyone else on the highway, they never have, they never will. Deal with each situation as safely as you can and just let it go man. When it comes to dealing with out of control situations, it's a waste of your own time to stress and rage over how others do something they shouldn't. Just know it's because they flat out don't give a fuck.

Yeah, but that seems like a cop out. I mean, if you ignore it every time it happens, how will the offenders ever learn that their behavior is wrong? You just need to help reinforce positive behavior so they can realize their mistake. Like if someone is driving too slow in the fast lane, give them a friendly nudge into oncoming traffic. At the very least, they'll give you a wide berth from then on and you won't have to deal with their lack of judgment in the future. Or if someone starts unloading what is clearly more than 14 items in the express lane of the grocery store, count off the first 14 items, then take the remainder of their basket and throw it as far as you can down the nearest aisle. It helps if you give a sympathetic look as you do this and say, "Hey, I don't make the rules, I'm just helping you out." They might not appreciate it at the time, but it's important to learn that not giving a fuck about other people goes both ways. I'm not going to let you inconvenience me just because you're an inconsiderate shithead.

 

[who?]

The book about the Vietnam war airline Air America talks about them flying Pilatus Porter aircraft with a take off speed of 35 m.p.h.. When the wind was strong they could lift off with no forward speed.

 

[Ichinisan]

This is a huge problem in my town:
F-----g idiots that don't tighten-up the space in front of them while stopped at intersections. When multiple people do it, 4 cars lined up to go straight through an intersection take up the amount of space that should be occupied by 10-12 cars -- completely blocking anyone from getting up to the entrance for the two really-long turn lanes next to them. Unable to get up to the turn lane entrance, those of us who want to turn left just have to line-up behind these idiots who are waiting to go straight through the intersection. Meanwhile, the 2 empty left-turn lanes get green arrows multiple times and nobody gets to turn left. The line behind the people going straight just keeps getting longer. There are multiple intersections like this in my town. If you have 2-3 car lengths in front of you and you're stopped at an intersection with people backing up behind you CLOSE THAT SHIT UP. This wouldn't be such a big deal if it was just the occasional idiot doing it, but it seems to be more than half of the drivers during congested times.

The other part of this stupid behavior is when it causes traffic to back-up all the way through another intersection, causing ridiculous congestion. Ignorant assholes have no idea how their actions add-up and severely impact the flow of traffic for everyone.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

This is a huge problem in my town:
F-----g idiots that don't tighten-up the space in front of them at intersections. When multiple people do it, 4 cars lined up to go straight through an intersection take up the amount of space that should be occupied by 10-12 cars -- completely blocking anyone from getting up to the entrance for the two really-long turn lanes next to them. Unable to get up to the turn lane entrance, those of us who want to turn just have to line-up behind these idiots who are waiting to go straight through the intersection. Meanwhile, the empty turn lane gets green arrows multiple times and nobody gets to turn left. The line behind the people going straight just keeps getting longer. There are multiple intersections like this in my town. If you have 2-3 car lengths in front of you and you're stopped at an intersection with people backing up behind you CLOSE THAT SHIT UP. This wouldn't be such a big deal if it was just the occasional idiot doing it, but it seems to be more than half of the drivers during congested times.

The other part of this stupid behavior is when it causes traffic to back-up all the way through another intersection, causing ridiculous congestion. Ignorant assholes have no idea how their actions add-up and severely impact the flow of traffic for everyone.

I remember watching a video in driver's ed that said you were supposed to leave three car lengths at all times, complete with a video that showed the test car stopped at a red light three car lengths behind the car in front of it... The proctor was not thrilled that I laughed out loud at the stupidity of such a suggestion. Based on that video, rush hour in Los Angeles should stretch to San Diego and take three months to resolve. No thanks.

 

[Ichinisan]

I also see this practically every time I turn left when there are two left turn lanes:

EVERYONE on the outside turn lane moves completely into the inside lane in the middle of the turn and then back into their original lane at the end of the turn. If there are 4-5 cars turning in front of me, every single one of them does it.

 

[Ichinisan]

This. I actually had a friend who though you'd be weightless in a vacuum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbJ-y6BWfUc&t=35s

This has got to be one of the worst HISHEs thanks to that same stupid misconception.

Yup. Same friend.

 

[Ichinisan]

Difference between single click and double click.

Fucking double clicking hyper links and single clicking icons. Been using Windows 25 years and still not getting the concept?

Or always asking me to specify which mouse button to use after I've been forced to say "regular left-click" and "right-click with the other mouse button" 1,000 times each. You should learn that unspecified "click" is a regular left-click.

 

[Ichinisan]

The renewal sticker for your licence plate goes in only ONE place and you cover or remove the old one.

I've never seen anyone screw that up. Never.

 

[DrPizza]

Probably because tides are caused by the moon.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/tides/tides02_cause.html

The earths spin is slowing, but not that much.

Oh, absolutely. And, there's a tide when the moon is on one side of the Earth, and a tide when it's on the other side of the Earth. The moon makes one orbit around the Earth each day. Right?

 

[Ichinisan]

Too lazy to read the last 4 pages.

Sorry if it was already discussed in this thread.

Try hundreds of threads. Practically every forum on the Internet has had a thread dedicated to the plane on a treadmill. It takes off.

 

[Caveman]

Basic concept to YOU is not a basic concept to EVERYONE.

Everyone is different and EVERYONE is stupid in some way shape or form about things they have very little knowledge or experience of.

I think it's pretty ignorant and stupid for OP to not understand that.

Something I learned in the IT world. Just because someone doesn't know how to hook up a mouse, doesn't mean they are stupid. To me it's easy cause I've done it before and do it on regular basis. But some people never even touch a computer.

Heck I remember there was a guy at a company that simply refused to use a computer all together. He was rich, had islands and no, he didn't know how to hook up a mouse.

Was he stupid? Not at all, I'm pretty sure he was smarter than MOST people.

Hope you understand.

Good post and very true.

 

[Ns1]

Too lazy to read the last 4 pages.

Sorry if it was already discussed in this thread.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=119817

 

[Ichinisan]

I'll try and explain a bit better. Let's just use a 2 way stop. There are 3 cars lined up across from you (all there before you arrive). You pull up and stop as car #1 goes through. Now it's either your turn or Car #2 depending on who got to the stop sign first. More often than not if car #2 goes before me car #3 will ride his tail through the intersection (i.e. run the stop sign and give themselves right-of-way because they were waiting longer).

I try to time my stopping at multi-stop intersections so there is no confusion about who has right-of-way.

OK. I don't encounter that very often and just assume they weren't paying attention.

 

[Ichinisan]

If the plane moves forward 1 m/sec and the treadmill moves back 1 m/sec, the net motion is 0 m/sec. No speed, no lift.

Troll food: "moves forward 1 m/sec"
Think about what you just said.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Think about what you just said.

What's to think about? It's simple math.

1 - 1 = 0. No movement. This ain't no chopper we're talking about here.

 

[marvdmartian]

Another one that I've heard of but never personally run into is people that don't understand how graduated income tax rates work. i.e. they believe there are certain breakpoints where earning another dollar of income will result in reduced earnings because the taxes on their entire gross income will increase.

Doubtful it's "another dollar", but I have, in the past, received a gross pay increase, that resulted in a net pay decrease. Pretty sure taxes had something to do with that. :hmm:

 

[Ichinisan]

What's to think about? It's simple math.

1 - 1 = 0. No movement. This ain't no chopper we're talking about here.

Stop trolling or take it here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=119817

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Stop trolling or take it here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=119817

Somebody's wearing his superman underpants today.