# chair design

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 2, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575 "2009-09-02T00:20:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![slaagheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@slaagheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaagheap)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575/1 "2009-09-02T00:20:53Z")

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hi everybody,i did’t see a introduction forum,so here’s my question to ponder.what would a chair look like if our legs bent the other way at the knees?😕

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**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575/2 "2009-09-02T00:44:21Z")

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Stools, but long enough to support the whole leg from knee to buttocks. But it would be really awkward to sit that way, because you’d have your feet up in front of your face. You’d be better off sitting on the floor and keeping your feet flat instead of bending the knees up.

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**Author:** ![slaagheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@slaagheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaagheap)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575/3 "2009-09-02T02:29:42Z")

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your theroy is good,but you’d be sitting with the front of your body instead of on your butt

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575/4 "2009-09-02T02:36:17Z")

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Like [this](http://www.gotfuturama.com/Multimedia/FrameGrabs/3ACV16/Grabs/pic00293.jpg)?

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575/5 "2009-09-02T03:37:42Z")

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We’ve done this before.

When you’re sitting in a chair, your lower legs are pretty much irrelevant. So instead of hanging down to the floor, they’d be bent back toward you. And you’d probably have them serve some purpose, like holding a drink.

The hard part, though, would be sitting down or getting up.

And I think your feet would have to point backward as well.

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**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575/6 "2009-09-02T16:15:09Z")

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> [@slaagheap](#):
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> your theroy is good,but you’d be sitting with the front of your body instead of on your butt

Do you mean the hips bending the opposite direction, or just the knees? Your OP said just the knees had a different direction. If so, you’d still have to sit on your butt.

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**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chair-design/508575/7 "2009-09-02T21:32:47Z")

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Knees that bend the opposite direction aren’t very useful unless the hips are reversed, too, so I think backwards hips would be a safe assumption.