Unanswerable questions

[mountainm]

Why did this bit of the world, Europe, end up being the bit that did all the colonising, conquering and exploiting? I think that there is an argument to be made that all these little kingdoms at each others throats, no more than a week or twos ride from each other probably did force people to 'think different', but there other things that came into play.

It didn't ... "end up" is relative - loads of civilisations have done it. Most famously the Romans, but here's the full list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires

We're all at it - all of the time... Europes time is on the wane though.

 

[FoxyRick]

Nope, the loo is on the side of the house with the security light at the back, no vents and a different circuit for the light. I have a theory but it's probably flawed When the loo is flushed, the water going down the waste pipe and into the main drains outside, causes some kind of change in air pressure at the drainpipe drain which is almost directly under the security light. A change in air pressure is enough to set off the something in the light.

It's bizarre though, the first few times I noticed I was going out the back door because I thought somebody was out there, it took me a while to put the two together

PIR sensors are set off by a change in detected infra-red across its detection zones. So, it's heat based... are your drain pipes metal? if so, perhaps the air around the pipe is heated by the effluent, rises up in front of the sensor, and the increase in IR from the warmer air triggers the sensor.

That's a little far-fetched as air is of quite low emissivity, so it would have to get really quite hot. Unless the sensor isn't sealed and some warmer air gets directly into the housing perhaps.

Is there any significant vibration from the drain that could be coupling into the sensor, causing its 'view' to change and lead to an apparent (and magnified) movement of the heat pattern it sees?

Can you borrow a thermal camera???

...

Anyway, what's with toad licking? Why on earth would someone want to lick a toad in the first place to find out if it was 'good'?

 

[sandbender]

It didn't ... "end up" is relative - loads of civilisations have done it. Most famously the Romans, but here's the full list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires

We're all at it - all of the time... Europes time is on the wane though.

Ah, but if we are talking about great leaps forward in science and technology (as I think British Red was) then Europe has done quite a bit better than the earlier civilisations, why is that? Lack of decent coms for the Romans? too big, a system not really designed for stability once the outward push came to an end? The same might be said for the Persians I suppose.

And again Europe didn't become a large empire (not for lack of folks trying), it remained a grouping of powers who were frequently having a go at each other and until quite recently it was one of the most violent parts of the world. I am not necessarily in complete agreement with Red, wars, especially lots of little ones have probably moved science and technology forward but I don't think war alone is needed for that advancement.

yes, I agree, all civilisations fade eventually, ours will too.

 

[santaman2000]

.....what happens when sour cream goes bad? Does it start to taste sweet? Or doesn't it ever last that long?.......

It gets moldy.

 

[BlueTrain]

Why does "adding a decade to my working life" not sound like a good thing?

With regards to unanswerable questions, Bob Newhart once did a stand-up comedy routine about when Sir Walter Raleigh is sending the first shipment of tobacco to England from Virginia. (You do what with it? Oh, you put it in your mouth. Then what? Huh? You light it on fire!). Once you accept the use of tobacco, everything else becomes easy.

Except maybe things like this:

Someone posted a comment to a news story about some commemorative service taking place in the Netherlands. Apparently there was a lot of English spoken during the ceremonies and services. Someone, most likely an American, asked, "If they can speak English, why do they still speak Dutch at home?"

 

[John Fenna]

yes, I agree, all civilisations fade eventually, ours will too.

Check out modern TV - civilisation already has faded!

 

[BlueTrain]

I'm not sure but I think we might define civilization a little differently and, anyway, what do bushcrafters know about television?

 

[yoko]

Why do folks worry about the health warnings on cigarettes? I only buy ones that warn of "low birth weights" or "impotence" as I don't want kids anyway. That way I avoid getting "throat cancer" or "dying younger".

Glad to see some Bill Hicks' fans around .)

I ask myself about oysters, someone must have cracked what looked like a rock and found what looked like snot inside and thought... this must be delicious!

 

[Harvestman]

Why is it my fault?

 

[tom.moran]

I'm not sure but I think we might define civilization a little differently and, anyway, what do bushcrafters know about television?

Ray mears

 

[BlueTrain]

Dick Proeneke (in the thread about hermits--true hermits) made reference to a couple of authors, once being Thoreau, so he was influenced in some way by others, which is probably impossible to avoid. But it would be interesting to know what he might have thought about TV personalities like Mears. However, he also probably would not have considered himself a "survivalist" by any means. He might have been a lot closer to the old concept of frontiersman (and they weren't all men) or settler. I'm from an area where the frontier was almost a living member and people actually still lived in log houses (never called cabins). Of course I realize there are villages in England (never referred to here as the "old country." That was Italy.) consisting of houses with thatched roofs that predate the Doomsday Book, but you get the idea. The whole idea of "settling" an area here was to escape the smothering society on the Eastern Seaboard and it's thoroughly English ideas of land ownership and inheritance. The way to do that was to go off into the woods and clear out some land, build a cabin, perhaps with a stockade or your own little fort (a man's home is his fort) and try to make a go of it. Some did, some didn't.

Other parts of the country that were being settled at the same time by the French and the Spanish evolved a little differently because the imported social structures were not much better than that which existed in Middle Ages Europe. Americans tend to ignore the fact that Quebec and New Mexico were established within just a year or two of Jamestown, Virginia.

I wonder what those frontiersmen could tell us that would be useful to know?

 

[BlueTrain]

Dick Proeneke (in the thread about hermits--true hermits) made reference to a couple of authors, once being Thoreau, so he was influenced in some way by others, which is probably impossible to avoid. But it would be interesting to know what he might have thought about TV personalities like Mears. However, he also probably would not have considered himself a "survivalist" by any means. He might have been a lot closer to the old concept of frontiersman (and they weren't all men) or settler. I'm from an area where the frontier was almost a living member and people actually still lived in log houses (never called cabins). Of course I realize there are villages in England (never referred to here as the "old country." That was Italy.) consisting of houses with thatched roofs that predate the Doomsday Book, but you get the idea. The whole idea of "settling" an area here was to escape the smothering society on the Eastern Seaboard and it's thoroughly English ideas of land ownership and inheritance. The way to do that was to go off into the woods and clear out some land, build a cabin, perhaps with a stockade or your own little fort (a man's home is his fort) and try to make a go of it. Some did, some didn't.

Other parts of the country that were being settled at the same time by the French and the Spanish evolved a little differently because the imported social structures were not much better than that which existed in feudal Europe. In fact, the American plantation system in the South was virtually feudal in some respects. Americans tend to ignore the fact that Quebec City and Santa Fe, New Mexico were established within just a year or two of Jamestown, Virginia.

I wonder what those frontiersmen could tell us that would be useful to know?

 

[BlueTrain]

Here's another head scratcher for you nice people:

Why do men who proudly state that their knives are sharp enough to shave with always have beards?

 

[Harvestman]

Here's another head scratcher for you nice people:

Why do men who proudly state that their knives are sharp enough to shave with always have beards?

And if they want to shave, why don't they just use a razor like everyone else?

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood???

 

[stonehippo]

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood???

42. The answer is always 42.

 

[mousey]

A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck, If a woodchuck could chuck wood



Ahhhh....

If a woodchuck could chuck an amount of wood, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

But...

A woodchuck wouldn't chuck any amount of wood, cause a woodchuck can't chuck wood.

 

[santaman2000]

How many pickled peppers are in a peck of pickled peppers?

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

How many bears could bear grylls grill if bear grylls could grill bears?

 

[S.C.M.]

"Do have any idea who I am!?"