Unusual Questions: Do You Get Those 'What If' Questions?

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Discussion Overview

This thread explores a variety of unusual "what if" questions and curiosities, ranging from personal musings about hermaphrodites to societal observations about everyday products like ketchup and toilet paper. The discussion includes both humorous and serious inquiries, touching on conceptual and practical aspects of these questions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants ponder whether a hermaphrodite can impregnate themselves, with differing views on the feasibility of natural versus artificial methods.
  • There is a recurring humorous inquiry about the placement of butter in refrigerators, highlighting personal experiences and frustrations.
  • Questions are raised about the presence of safety seals on plastic versus glass ketchup bottles, with some suggesting that the design of the bottles influences the need for such seals.
  • Participants discuss the changing dimensions of toilet paper sheets and the implications of packaging and marketing strategies in consumer products.
  • Some express curiosity about the lack of instructions for displaying toilet paper, suggesting that many people may not know the "correct" way to use it.
  • There are observations about the marketing tactics used in the pulp and paper industry, including the manipulation of sheet counts and product dimensions to influence consumer perception.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion contains multiple competing views and humorous anecdotes, with no clear consensus on the various questions raised. Participants share differing opinions and experiences without resolving the inquiries.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the knowledge and awareness of product features among consumers, as well as the implications of product design on usability and safety.

Who May Find This Useful

This thread may interest individuals curious about societal norms, consumer product design, and the humorous side of everyday questions and dilemmas.

  • #31
Sorry, but an equilateral triangle could fall into the hole. The only shape for which it cannot (assuming the size of the supporting lip is negligible) is a circle. The distance from one vertex to the center of the opposite side is shorter than the side length, therefore it can fit through.
 
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  • #32
NeoDevin said:
Sorry, but an equilateral triangle could fall into the hole. The only shape for which it cannot (assuming the size of the supporting lip is negligible) is a circle. The distance from one vertex to the center of the opposite side is shorter than the side length, therefore it can fit through.

Oops, your right. Somehow when I was mentally picturing it I didn't consider that alignment. I should have just stuck with my first instinct and left it at circle.:redface:
 
  • #33
Ivan Seeking said:
Here is an old one: Why are manhole covers round?

Manhole covers are round...because manholes are round :wink: .
 
  • #34
lisab said:
Manhole covers are round...because manholes are round :wink: .
:smile: :approve:

I somehow suspect that anything Ivan-shaped probably can't fall through any hole that consists of less than 7 dimensions.
 
  • #35
I bet all you guys have been brainwashed into thinking that the default position for a toilet seat is down. Or am I among thinking people here? I would be nice to think so...
 
  • #36
Not me.

When I worked at a department store and they made me clean the ladies room I always left all the toilet seats up.
 
  • #37
I always, as a matter of course, leave both the seat and the lid down... even when I was single. Not only does it look better that way, but it's equal ground. No matter how drunk I get, I always know to open the damned thing. Perfectly sober women can't grasp the concept. If you leave the seat up, they fall in; if you put the lid down, they piss on it. It's got to be a Mars/Venus thing. :rolleyes:
 
  • #38
OK. I'll give you all a hint. What's the argument given for leaving the seat down? (think emotional argument) It really is a venus/mars thing. Totally.
 
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  • #39
Any woman who has discussed the subject with me has said that if they have to go in the middle of the night, they fall in.
How stupid can you be to not either turn on the light or feel to discover the current configuration of the seat/lid assembly? Our niece is blind, so she doesn't care.
 
  • #40
My bad. You guys are not going to get this, after all you are only men. I'll expose the female psycho, and hope for the best. To be fair, I only figured it out when my X showed up, and asked to use the toilet. So I told her to put the seat up when she was finished out of shear spite.

It's all about power. It goes like this:_

I want the seat down. That's how I use it. (tell him he uses it down too, so it should be down.) "We all use it down. Last time you left it up I fell in." (appear to his sense of masculine protection. accuse him of being insensitive to your needs.) "Do you even care?" (Make the 'you-don't-love-me' face.) As an added bonus I get to accuse him of screwing up if I sit in piss. "See what you did?" or for extra impact, "See what you did to me?
 
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  • #41
What's really sad about that otherwise hilarious explanation is that some idiots actually go through it. The human race is doomed.
 
  • #42
Danger said:
What's really sad about that otherwise hilarious explanation is that some idiots actually go through it. The human race is doomed.

This idiot was taken for a fool for some time on this. But it really is true to one degree or another. Even sit-coms helped to estabish this fraud. I watched it happen. So most guys don't have to endure the attack because it's become established culture.

I think I'll open a clinic for the culturally brainwashed. That should get me a client base of about 100% give or take a few canotonics.
 
  • #43
Phrak said:
This idiot was taken for a fool for some time on this.

Sorry, man... I didn't realize that you were speaking from personal experience. No offense intended. Since you're here on PF, you're obviously not an idiot (hey, wait a minute... I'm here as well, so I guess that doesn't count for much).
W might have had the intention of taming me when she stalked me into submission, but after the first year or so of living with me, she realized that it ain't going to happen. Now she just keeps hiding my tools so I have to buy new ones every couple of weeks. Really, the Dremels and X-Acto knives were irritating enough, but now I can't find my wire-feed welder.
 
  • #44
NeoDevin said:
Sorry, but an equilateral triangle could fall into the hole. The only shape for which it cannot (assuming the size of the supporting lip is negligible) is a circle. The distance from one vertex to the center of the opposite side is shorter than the side length, therefore it can fit through.

Janus said:
Oops, your right. Somehow when I was mentally picturing it I didn't consider that alignment. I should have just stuck with my first instinct and left it at circle.:redface:

A Reuleaux triangle also works (and might be what you were thinking of?).

A drill bit in the shape of a Reuleaux triangle can drill a square hole.
 
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  • #45
BobG said:
A Reuleaux triangle also works (and might be what you were thinking of?).

A drill bit in the shape of a Reuleaux triangle can drill a square hole.
The animation in the link you provide shows that the hole is almost, but not quite a square. Also, it requires a trick that is not explicitly shown, the center shaft of the drill bit has to rotate in a circle. Here is an animation that shows it. http://video.aol.com/video-detail/drill-square-hole/2669150781"
 
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  • #46
Phrak said:
I bet all you guys have been brainwashed into thinking that the default position for a toilet seat is down. Or am I among thinking people here? I would be nice to think so...

As a woman who grew up with 7 brothers, let me tell you the only thing that matters: I don't care how you leave it, just put the seat up when you use it. One of my brothers would never bother to lift the seat, and he'd leave a wet seat for me to deal with. YUCK!
 
  • #47
jimmysnyder said:
The animation in the link you provide shows that the hole is almost, but not quite a square. Also, it requires a trick that is not explicitly shown, the center shaft of the drill bit has to rotate in a circle. Here is an animation that shows it. http://video.aol.com/video-detail/drill-square-hole/2669150781"

The rounded edges are simply a safety feature to avoid banging your head on sharp corners. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #48
BobG said:
The rounded edges are simply a safety feature to avoid banging your head on sharp corners. :rolleyes:
Now you tell me.
 
  • #49
lisab said:
Manhole covers are round...because manholes are round :wink: .
Two reasons: The primary one has been covered, but there is another. Manhole covers are VERY heavy, but once you have pried one up and tipped it on its edge it is pretty easy to roll on decent pavement.
 
  • #50
Danger said:
I always, as a matter of course, leave both the seat and the lid down... even when I was single. Not only does it look better that way, but it's equal ground. No matter how drunk I get, I always know to open the damned thing. Perfectly sober women can't grasp the concept. If you leave the seat up, they fall in; if you put the lid down, they piss on it. It's got to be a Mars/Venus thing. :rolleyes:

That's the approach I go with. The lid is there so it can be closed. There wouldn't be any lid if it was never supposed to be closed. And, it's fair. Everyone has to lift something to use it, it's just a matter of whether you grab one layer or two. The only exception in my house is the toilet the cat uses as a water bowl. :rolleyes: She wins, lid up. She does prefer the seat down though, so she has a wider ledge to stand on while getting her drink, but I don't care which position guests leave it in since it's always open anyway (at least she stopped playing in the water...then I'd even leave the seat up so I didn't have a wet seat waiting for me ).

SA is right that in public bathrooms, the toilet seats are always left up after cleaning (I do the same in my house)...it let's the water drip off them quicker after cleaning so they are dry sooner. And, in the case of the public restrooms, the women know they've been cleaned when they see them up.
 
  • #51
turbo-1 said:
Two reasons: The primary one has been covered, but there is another. Manhole covers are VERY heavy, but once you have pried one up and tipped it on its edge it is pretty easy to roll on decent pavement.

You're also forgetting that the men climbing down into them are often more round than any other shape too. :biggrin:
 
  • #52
Danger said:
Sorry, man... I didn't realize that you were speaking from personal experience. No offense intended.
Not at all. No offense taken.
 
  • #53
BobG said:
A Reuleaux triangle also works (and might be what you were thinking of?).

I stand corrected.
 
  • #54
Round manholes usually connect to a 'round' type of piping system, like a sewer. ---and economics, the round tubes (that they climb down) are cheaper to build and it would be more expensive to transition back to a square opening. Square covers usually access square structures and tunnels.
 
  • #55
Aside from the rolling and round hole arguments, there's also the fact that circles provide the most area per diameter, which means that circular manhole covers give the largest area for a particular amount of material (weight) and strength requirement.

Round manhole covers don't have to be twisted into alignment.

Round covers don't have any corners where stuff could more easily leak or they're more likely to wear out, or catch on something.
 
  • #56
So if you buy a toilet with a round seat, you don't have to worry about putting the seat and lid down, right? :rolleyes:
 
  • #57
Men don't leave the manhole covers up, do they?
 
  • #58
BobG said:
So if you buy a toilet with a round seat, you don't have to worry about putting the seat and lid down, right? :rolleyes:


and don't put anything square in them---use round TP from now on---or at least round the squares before you throw them in
 
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  • #59
Moonbear said:
You're also forgetting that the men climbing down into them are often more round than any other shape too. :biggrin:

Women should be climbing down there then (they definitely have more rounded forms)--hubba hubba
 
  • #60
This is all very informative, but none of it explains why hollywood boulevard has so many manhole covers in the shape of stars.
 

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