# If a horse dies on treadmill, will Dopers ever stop beating it? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 7, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364 "2006-02-07T06:53:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/61 "2006-02-10T06:52:52Z")
**KeithT** , I disagree with your OP. (hey that rhymes!) I enjoyed the fact that the OP was worded in such a way that there were multiple interpretations, and that it took a long time to thoroughly explore those different interpretations and all of the different details involved. Just like I would recommend to those posters that continually ridiculed the people for a lengthy topic, if you found an answer you liked in the first few posts, and you were getting annoyed by the length of the thread, then quit reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/62 "2006-02-10T07:56:24Z")
Aw, sheesh. All of you witty and wonderful people have totally failed to address the question put forth by the OP. The question was: \*\*If a horse dies on treadmill, will Dopers ever stop beating it? \*\* And the answer is: **No** There you go, honey. Now you can sleep nights. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/63 "2006-02-10T11:37:47Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > What’s the problem if you enjoy being nibbled to death by ducks? Now if we instead _juggle_ the ducks (or geese, or goslings, if you prefer), what is the average velocity of the ducks while being juggled? And why a duck? Why not a chicken? ---
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/64 "2006-02-10T14:16:05Z")
> [@glee](#): > > If a horse riding a bicycle on a treadmill dies and is carried behind one of three doors… …and if the goats behind two of the doors are Angry and Hungry, what is the horse? **RaftPeople** , if the length of the thread upset me, I wouldn’t stick around to read it. Even on the 8th page of the comments thread, new details and interpretations are popping up, and those are fun to read – if they’re well reasoned. It’s our seeming inability to clearly explain counterintuitive phenomena – look how at how much confusion there was about friction – and the resulting, repeating confused outrage by guests who really don’t seem to grasp the unclearly explained underlying theory that can make it tedious. ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/65 "2006-02-10T14:49:11Z")
For some reason, Monty Hall and .9999999… = 1 are particularly upsetting to people, because they are so counter intuitive. Most people want to trust their judgment and will continuing arguing their position when they’ve proved wrong. I haven’t seen those items presented here, but I’ve participated (on the losing side!) of both arguments, and I can recall how upset I was. I think in both cases the whole thing is exacerbated by the condescending know-it-all who explained them to me, and I will take a wild leap and suggest that such condescending know-it-alls are not in short supply on this board. Even the most cut-and-dried issues become ugly conversations when the discussion isn’t civil. My advice is to simply respect people even if they’re wrong. You’ve probably been wrong a few times yourself in your life. Stop looking for opportunities to work in little jabs and insults. Also, if you don’t know that much about something, and/or you can explain it clearly, just don’t say anything. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/66 "2006-02-10T22:31:09Z")
> [@Hilarity N. Suze](#): > > (4) Will no one think of the canaries? I laughed out loud at this one! I’ve finally found my sig line…may I? ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/67 "2006-02-11T00:31:21Z")
> [@KeithT](#): > > …and if the goats behind two of the doors are Angry and Hungry, what is the horse? \* \* \* Jay in a horse costume? > [@KeithT](#): > > * * * > > It’s our seeming inability to clearly explain counterintuitive phenomena – look how at how much confusion there was about friction – and the resulting, repeating confused outrage by guests who really don’t seem to grasp the unclearly explained underlying theory that can make it tedious. You’ve a point there. I thought Cecil was headed straight for the abyss in his treadmill column until something clicked about halfway through and I understood the problem. I don’t think it was because he explained it well; he just said _something_ that coaxed my mind to solve the problem. Since there do seem to be concepts that can’t be concisely and lucidly explained, the horse-beating threads are probably necessary - eventually someone will state the matter in just the right way to get through to someone. The problem of folks popping in on the third page of a thread is regretable but unavoidable. The large ones (threads, not Dopers) daunt all but the most determined readers. (Alas, I’ve done this myself a few times; when y’all are done with the horse, feel free to cane me). In my newby days I was dumb enough to march into a 0.333~ thread without being prepared to defend myself. You can guess how that went. But by the end of my participation I was actually _thinking_ and _learning_. So the venture was worth it. Oh. And it isn’t just guests for whom penis ensues. Somebody hadda say it. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/68 "2006-02-11T21:52:22Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > If we put **Bouv** on a horse, on a treadmill, which is attached to the back of a 707 and the 707 is also on a treadmill, and there’s a 20% chance of partly cloudy weather, and it’s the last Tuesday in March in leap year, will there be a trian wreck when the two trains meet in Dayton? > > Show your work. 20% hmmm, what about the butterflies…are you in Texas? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/69 "2006-02-11T22:25:13Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And why a duck? Why not a chicken? Because it’s deep water, that’s why not a chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/70 "2006-02-11T23:42:27Z")
Really tiny rock? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/71 "2006-02-12T12:12:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Really tiny rock? She turned me into a newt! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364/72 "2006-02-12T12:13:36Z")
I got better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-horse-dies-on-treadmill-will-dopers-ever-stop-beating-it/343364.md?page=3)