this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
103 points (100.0% liked)

Asklemmy

44839 readers
905 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Cloak@lemmy.ml
14specks@lemmy.ml
mekhos@lemmy.ml
tmpod@lemmy.pt
103
What's something that's taken for granted that occasionally makes you think, wait wtf? (feddit.uk)
submitted 21 hours ago by manicdave@feddit.uk to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
52 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

For example, Britain's national mapping organisation's brand is associated in our national consciousness with going to a small shop in a quaint village to get a map showing how to walk up a mountain. It's called Ordnance Survey. If that sounds like Artillery Research to you, that's because the project started because the king wanted to know how to accurately bomb Scotland.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] manicdave@feddit.uk 30 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (4 children)

Driving just gets more absurd the more you think about it.

Had it not been invented yet, would anyone get away with suggesting a machine propelled by explosions supplied by a tank of the most flammable liquid possible kept underneath the passenger seats?

[–] thezeesystem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 11 hours ago

Reminds me of the Asgard from Stargate and how there advanced race was surprised about how we us explosives to propel a bullet and "primitive" things they never really thought of or considered because there dangerous.

[–] Scrath@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 13 hours ago

Your comment just reminded me of a sci-fi short story about how humans solve every problem eith explosions.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/16fx8tc/humans_solve_problems_with_explosions/

[–] LeftRedditOnJul1@lemmy.world 19 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

If you think driving's weird, think about flying, too. We put several tons of that explode-y liquid, along with a bunch of people, into a big metal tube and shoot it into the sky. And we made that form of transportation several orders of magnitude safer than driving.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I feel like it’s probably going to go down in safety an order of magnitude or two in the US given, you know, The Horrors.

[–] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago

The aviation industry can absorb a whole lot of sin before they're on equal danger footing with automotive, if for no other reason than sheer volume. Most people, unless you fly constantly for work, get on a plane once a year or less. Most people drive to work almost every day. Roads have traffic, the skies do not (at least, not nearly to the same extent, midair collisions can happen but they're rare).

I have no doubt the skies are about to become noticeably less safe, but they've got a looooot of catching up to do before they dethrone the automobile as one of the top 3 leading causes of death in America.

[–] ADKSilence@kbin.earth 13 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Not just merely a machine powered by explosions, sitting on volatile liquids... but one in which we've decided that it's also a great place to enjoy some music, maybe a nice beverage, and as a great way to take our attention off into vast distances to the sides to "see the sights".

I think to myself as I steer with one knee, trying to simultaneously drink my coffee and light a cigarette...

[–] manicdave@feddit.uk 17 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

You don't need to worry about crashing. You'll be protected by an unmaintained bomb that can inflate a pillow faster than you can travel 18 inches at 70 mph yet somehow never goes off accidentally.