The Daft Questions Thread

[Athy]

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The version I have always believed was that it was due to the 'footpads' on the highways, the gentry riding his horse needed room to pull out his sword and dispose of them.

 

 

Me too - although I find it hard to believe that these scurrilous fellows were not also found in mainland Europe.

[Scholar Gypsy]

1 hour ago, Athy said:

Me too - although I find it hard to believe that these scurrilous fellows were not also found in mainland Europe.

And the twist on a spiral staircase is designed for right handed swordsmen to defend more effectively 

[system 4-50]

2 hours ago, Rambling Boater said:

What was there before the Big Bang?

There is no such thing as "before" the Big Bang.  The Big Bang is happening continuously but appears to us as a historic event.

 

Did time exist before consciousness existed?

Yes. But it is only a minor feature of the everything.  Start with the idea that there is only one "thing". Then allow that there is something different from that one thing. Then what we see is every possible result of something being different from another thing. Thus there are millions of universes where you exist, with every possible variation of every action you might take and your surrounding universe might take. Many of them will not experience time as we see it.  Our universe and all its physical laws is just one snowflake in an infinite number of snowflakes with different physics.

 

When will Eastenders return?  Not important.  What is more important is how many times will it return, and the answer is infinite. Sob.

 

[magpie patrick]

3 hours ago, Athy said:

Me too - although I find it hard to believe that these scurrilous fellows were not also found in mainland Europe.

The origin of drive on the left is old, and as stated is related to being able to reach for and use one's sword.

 

The French apparently modernised and switched over after the revolution - they also tried out a ten day week

 

Most of continental Europe followed the French, most of the rest of the world did not BUT

 

In North America waggon trains were pulled by two files of horses side by side, the most effective place for the driver to be was on the left so his whip hand was in the middle of the double file. As he could then best see up the left hand side of the horses, these convoys passed left-to-left, or in other words they drove on the right. 

 

When I went to Myanmar (Burma) in 1994 the then military junta had just imposed drive on the right as "modernisation" (most of SE Asia drives on the left) - meaning all the (surprisingly numerous) cars were right hand drive even though they also drove on the right.

 

And finally, Henry Ford was the guy who put the steering wheel closest to the middle of the road - until he came along many USA cars had the steering wheel on the right so the driver could get out onto the kerb, but Ford decided to give that privilege to the passenger. 

 

It is said that most of the world's population live in places where they would drive on the right, but this hides a huge regionalisation, with the Americas and most of Europe driving on the right, and Oceania and much of Asia (but not China*) driving on the left.

ETA *nor that part of Russia which is in Asia 

Further edited to add - No idea why Africa varies, might be a split between British and French influence?

Edited July 25, 2020 by magpie patrick

[Jen-in-Wellies]

23 hours ago, robtheplod said:

why do boats go on the right and cars on the left?

So boats can overtake the cars when they sink in the canal. Alternatively, so cars can get past boats that can't move on the road. Only works in one direction of course.

[roland elsdon]

Why don’t people run a 6 volt pump and six volt lights off their 12 volt batteries. Everything would last twice as long saving generators being on all the time.

 

Also why can’t I run storage heaters off my solar panels. After all solar panels work off the sun what is hot.

[Theo]

23 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Boats pass Port-to-Port (left side to left side)  so 'drive on the 'right'.

The reason being that ships steering was a big rudder on the side (not at the rear) this was called the "steerboard", (steering oar) later known as 'starboard', if boat were to pass starboard to starboard their steering could be compromised (not enough room) or the steerboards could touch, fare easier to pass Port to Port and have full control.

 

'Port side' was so called because that is the side they came into port and moored up on, (because the steerboard was in the way on the other side).

 

It goes back centuries :

 

2

At one time "port" was called "larboard".  You can imagine the confusion that could cause in a gale when voices got carried away by the wind.

 

"Middle English ladebord (see lade¹, board), referring to the side on which cargo was put aboard. The change to lar- in the 16th century was due to association with starboard."

 

Again, to keep the steering oar away from the quayside.

 

N

 

[Scholar Gypsy]

5 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

The origin of drive on the left is old, and as stated is related to being able to reach for and use one's sword.

 

The French apparently modernised and switched over after the revolution - they also tried out a ten day week

 

Most of continental Europe followed the French, most of the rest of the world did not BUT

 

In North America waggon trains were pulled by two files of horses side by side, the most effective place for the driver to be was on the left so his whip hand was in the middle of the double file. As he could then best see up the left hand side of the horses, these convoys passed left-to-left, or in other words they drove on the right. 

 

When I went to Myanmar (Burma) in 1994 the then military junta had just imposed drive on the right as "modernisation" (most of SE Asia drives on the left) - meaning all the (surprisingly numerous) cars were right hand drive even though they also drove on the right.

 

And finally, Henry Ford was the guy who put the steering wheel closest to the middle of the road - until he came along many USA cars had the steering wheel on the right so the driver could get out onto the kerb, but Ford decided to give that privilege to the passenger. 

 

It is said that most of the world's population live in places where they would drive on the right, but this hides a huge regionalisation, with the Americas and most of Europe driving on the right, and Oceania and much of Asia (but not China*) driving on the left.

ETA *nor that part of Russia which is in Asia 

Further edited to add - No idea why Africa varies, might be a split between British and French influence?

Vanuatu  in the South Pacific - celebrating  40 years since independence this week - was formerly a joint French/British condominium.  They spent several years arguing about whether cars should be on the left or the right.  Most of the time it doesn't matter much - here is my favourite road from a trip a couple of years ago.

[AndrewIC]

6 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

The French apparently modernised and switched over after the revolution - they also tried out a ten day week

And decimal time!

[sharpness]

Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?