BS: Worst inventions of all time.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 06:14 PM

"...removed all traffic signs. They found that drivers behaved more politely and there were less accidents."

In St. Louis in 1959, they put in 4-way stop signs. The locals did NOT like the idea of taking turns. At a 4-way intersection with a line of cars (occasionally in two lanes) someone would see an opening and GO, and all the cars behind them would follow - ignoring stopped cars from the other direction. Then, when there was finally a break, the other direction would go. If one street had more traffic... too bad! It took several years to semi-train drivers there to use 4-ways as they were intended.

I wonder how that German system would have worked there. Cultural differences are crucial.

(and it seems to me that acrimonious argument (whether serious or a game) IS sort of cultural hobby in England... and Mudcat threads often seem to reflect it. There is an American game of Playing the dozens> where being clever with insults gets you status. I don't care for those games.)

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Irene M
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:53 PM

Driving on the left or the right? Forget cars.
The horses probably decided that one for themselves, while getting the old man home from the pub.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Ed T
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:52 PM

The potato chip is both the worst invention and the most tasty:)

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bert
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:37 PM

Oh, and wasn't the circle one of his inventions? If he hadn't invented that then we would all be happily stopping at every road junction, whether we needed to or not, blissfully unaware that there might be a better way of doing things.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bert
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:04 PM

That's it ~M~. It is God's fault, giving us ten fingers, bloody cheek. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 03:16 PM

Ah -- if only we had had 12 fingers & it had all worked from the off on a base of 12...

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bert
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 03:08 PM

...Kilogram divided by 3 is 0.33 or 3.3333333... no it isn't.

And the real problem is that the thought process of dividing by three actually disappears. If you study designs produced by people who have been brought up on the metric system you find that they don't divide by three when they should. This way they produce some clunky designs because they generally divide by two or four instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 03:03 PM

Possible rationale I have heard for driving on the left:-

Vast majority are right-eye dominant; so driving on left enables most drivers the better to judge oncoming traffic approaching in the opposite lane, in overtaking situations &c.

But I can't honestly think it makes that much difference.

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 02:45 PM

making it impossible to divide by three?

30.00 meters divided by three is 10.00 meters

Kilogram divided by 3 is 0.33 or 3.3333333 etc or 3 decimeters, 3 centimeters, 3 millimeters etc depending on the level of accuracy desired.

1 pound divided by three requires converting remainders to ounces, then to fractions of ounces. etc etc.
5 and 1/3 ounces.

adding decimal fractions and putting the decimal point where the unit is so much easier.

do this in your head

express 1 x 10 to the fourth meters in kilometers.
now express 1 x 10 to the fourth yards in miles.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bert
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 02:09 PM

The metric system makes it easier to divide by ten (which you could do anyway without changing your units) at the expense of making it impossible to divide by three.

Yes John, traffic circles do slow down traffic, most need to be larger and need an extra merge lane around the outside with enforced alternate merge.

Four way stops are not too good because some of them are not marked as such; this means that any stop sign could be a four way stop, and the knowledge of your right of way is dependent upon a sign that is down another street (and you can only see it edge on, if at all). I still think that it is a better idea to just slow down the traffic instead of stopping it completely.

Bill, there was a town in Germany recently that removed all traffic signs. They found that drivers behaved more politely and there were less accidents. Probably needs more study though.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 01:43 PM

YOU go back to calculating furlongs per fortnight!

At the lab where I worked while in college torques were frequently quoted (informally, of course) in units of "flea-fart angstroms." Extended debate eventually standardized the flea-fart angstom as approximately .001 dyne-cm, with the agreement that one must use a carefully calibrated standard flea to be more accurate than that. We agreed we were unlikely to find a flea that would "stay calibrated" due to the presence of too many shaggy-haired professors and grubby lab assistants likely to feed them erratically.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 01:21 PM

I believe that at least some of the British Catters harbour the idea acting like a boor in a Monty Sketch is amusing to others. Of course, sometimes they are right.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: akenaton
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 01:04 PM

The Mudcat Americans are much nicer than the Brits.
Why is that?

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 12:47 PM

The reason the Brits continued going to the left is because they've always been the most persistently and consitently offensive people as a culture.

That there's fighting talk PAL! Ironic IMNSHO.

I would submit Genghis Khan's army was pretty belligerent.
And the Romans didn't conquer with kindness - ask the Gauls.
Alexander the Great was Great for a reason.
Oh shit I have just snookered myself - Great Britain was great for a reason also!

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 12:28 PM

John, do Americans use the words 'traffic circle' for what we in UK call a 'roundabout'? If so, I never knew that! My husband passed his driving test last year, and the one thing that froze him to his seat in terror was roundabouts, which in Ivory Coast are unknown. But he now says they're excellent, as they filter the traffic without the need for lights, just as long as one uses them correctly. In Suffolk there is a USA military airbase, from which newly-arrived American personnel were zooming out onto the tiny UK roads in massive saloon cars and whizzing willy-nilly round roundabouts causing cardiac arrests in the general population. Their Commander ordered a short driving course in negotiation of such strange foreign obstacles, which sorted it out.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 12:14 PM

"... driving while they talk and text."

Recent cartoon in the New Yorker magazine: Cop has pulled a driver over and is standing by window where driver is holding a phone. Cop says- "Do you realize your capslock has been on for the last ten miles?"


But, to be serious..(I have no idea whether Bert was being totally serious).. TRAFFIC LIGHTS? I quote JtS "Lights make right, where the drivers aren't polite" No lights are for type A personalities.

As to which side of the road: You can argue all day about the history of it, but the main consideration 'should' be uniformity, and most of the world has chosen driving on the right. I wonder why some seem to think that 90% of everything ought to be re-engineered to conform to their idea about who once carried a sword?

Secondary consideration... related to most people being right-handed. Vehicles with controls & gear shift levers, etc. on the LEFT are more inconvenient for the right-handed majority. I'm sure I 'could' manage, but I am glad that, since I don't carry weapons and seldom need to defend my self against highway robbers, MY right hand is free for turning on that radio, changing gears and gesticulating at other drivers. ☺

The metric system? Oh right... YOU go back to calculating furlongs per fortnight! *I* am waiting for the USA to finally put kilometers on all highway signs. (My shop tools DO have decimal markings.)

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 12:07 PM

BTW Eliza, I enjoyed your silly verse.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 12:05 PM

Eliza you, of sharpened focus
I didn't think that most would notice
As by this rhyme I seem silly one
It is in the style of Bobby Dylan

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 11:57 AM

Something which is far, far worse
Is posting here in silly verse.
It is a thing I never do;
I would not dream of boring you.
Please write in prose another time.
This ain't a blooming pantomime!! :) (Only teasing, Jack.)

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: frogprince
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 11:52 AM

must agree with JTS

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 11:03 AM

I agree with driving on the wrong side of the road. I don't agree which side is right.

Traffic circles are a welcome sight, where the traffic is light.
Lights make right, where the drivers aren't polite
A wicked thing that will make me scream is halogens set to shine high beam.

But the thing that tends to make me vexed is driving while they talk and text.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: akenaton
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 10:13 AM

No contest......MONEY!!

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: frogprince
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 10:11 AM

1. Nuclear weaponry
2. Bathing suits

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Lighter
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 09:52 AM

Google Glass?

The jury's still out on the atom bomb, but the vibes are not good.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 09:40 AM

The nuclear bomb, the phobile moan... ("I'm on the train...") breast implants, Japanese Knotweed (OK, I know God invented that, but honestly...)

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 08:51 AM

For once, I was talking about my car....

Other weapons under my (loose) control have done enough affecting the future for one lifetime .

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: gnu
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 07:23 AM

JiK... "but as used they really clog things up and produce a lot of accidents."

My city has just spent a tad over $3M for one small one. $360k for the engineering consultant. I'd guess the office and field engineering at $80k, give or take a buck, so we paid at least $250k for someone to draw a fuckin circle. The biggest selling point was less accidents and no t-bone accidents*. My take is that the biggest selling point was $ under the table.

* Apparently, the city and the engineers are not aware of the fact that it often snows (and rains) and freezes up in this neck of the woods for at least four months a year. Dumbasses the lot.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 06:11 AM

The less we know about your weapon, the better...

:D

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 05:10 AM

Yep. I've got my weapon. The future doesn't stand a chance.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 05:07 AM

Private cars. They're a weapon of war against the future.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: eddie1
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:37 AM

Having given the matter a lot of thought I have decided the worst invention is, beyond doubt..............................

Sliced bread!

Eddie

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:31 AM

The reason the Brits continued going to the left is because they've always been the most persistently and consitently offensive people as a culture.

I can't believe that anyone really said that. Even as a Joke. Brits are offensive. Americans are fat. Jews are tight-fisted. Blacks are sex maniacs. Moslems are terrorists. All hilarious jokes I suppose?

Worst invention of all time? Stereotyping :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:09 AM

Ah! At last.

I always said Johnny Foreigner drives on the wrong side of the road. Mind you, the volume knob on car radios is set to be convenient for those of you who drive on the wrong side too.

The worst invention of all time? Religi....... Stop it Musket...

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: GUEST,michaelr
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 02:19 AM

Bert, about your no. 3 - "Units were developed over thousand of years because they are useful." Half true - they were developed over thousands of years, but they are not useful anymore, what with the differences in size of peoples' feet, thumbs, and forearms. So much easier to have a system that just adds or subtracts zeroes.

Worst invention of all time: Facebook!

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 02:13 AM

Driving on the wrong side of the road. Most people are right handed, so they passed oncoming traffic on the left so that they had their right hand free to either defend themselves or shake hands with their right hands.

According to custom long ago, only those who carried weapons and expected (wanted) a fight went to the left, to present their weapons to oncoming traffic.

Those who just want to pass peaceably went to the right, to keep their shield (if they had one) between themselves and those approaching, or at least NOT to give the impression that they had a weapon ready for a fight.

The reason the Brits continued going to the left is because they've always been the most persistently and consitently offensive people as a culture.

(So I've been told.)

In the US, traffic lights often are "synchronized" so that they work pretty well, at least in high traffic areas. The "Four Way Stop Signs" are less efficient, but work fairly well in low traffic areas.

The WORST OF ALL for slowing down traffic flow are the "Traffic Circles" that are an artifact in a few places but "something new" in most of the US. Here, where the new ones have appeared, the circles are too small for smooth entry/merging/exit since they're dropped into places with insufficient space for a "real circle." They're claimed to be cheaper than lights/signs and require less mainenance, but as used they really clog things up and produce a lot of accidents.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: J-boy
Date: 16 Jan 14 - 01:00 AM

Clocks. Those infernal devices have enslaved us. I'm not kidding.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bert
Date: 15 Jan 14 - 11:17 PM

He would have never have attacked Old Hickory at the Battle of New Orleans. He had a habit of not attacking anyone unless he had a significant strategic advantage.

He had chosen Waterloo as a battlefield many years earlier and he suckered Napoleon into battle there.

Subject: RE: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 Jan 14 - 10:56 PM

That's because Arthur Wellesley was busy at the time with the Peninsular War. Nobody else in England spoke Spanish, so they had to send him. He might have learned a thing or two about defense from Old Hickory at the Battle of New Orleans had he been there in 1815, but the Treaty of Ghent was signed and the war over before the battle. I must say that he did a bang-up job at Waterloo, however, with the Prussians arriving in time to take out Napoleon's right flank and, with some Anglo-Allied help, chase the French off the battlefield and force Napoleon's abdication and eventual exile. Whether or not the restoration of Louis XVIII was good thing is debatable.

Subject: BS: Worst inventions of all time.
From: Bert
Date: 15 Jan 14 - 10:12 PM

OK., OK., apart from Windows.

Bureaucracy has to be my No. 1 worst. The idea of giving officials unlimited power with no effective checks and balances, has to be the worst idea of all time.

No. 2: that would be traffic lights. Who the hell was the idiot that thought of that idea. We need to keep traffic moving, so we'll STOP IT.
Brucking filliant.

No. 3: The metric system. Units were developed over thousand of years because they are useful. So, let's throw them all away and just move the decimal point.

No. 4: Driving on the wrong side of the road. Most people are right handed, so they passed oncoming traffic on the left so that they had their right hand free to either defend themselves or shake hands with their right hands. Nowadays one would use that same right hand to pay at the toll booth or drive through. But then Napoleon went mad so everyone had to copy him.

But fortunately for America, Wellington (that's the guy who kicked the shit out of Napoleon) was pro American so they didn't send him to America in 1814. Otherwise America would have lost the war of 1812.