# Obscure mundane things that kind of blow your mind sometimes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249 "2022-02-10T21:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/41 "2022-02-12T00:03:48Z")
Life evolved on this planet and eventually became sentient and learned to use tools. It blows my mind that this humble life-form, which only very recently (in the timescale of evolution) invented the pursuit of knowledge that we call “science”, has figured out things like: - How the entire universe – time and space itself – began, how old it is, how big it is, and how it’s evolved since its formation. - The nature of the quantum realm and of the fundamental particles, much of which is so completely counter-intuitive that it sounds both impossible and crazy, yet it’s the fundamental nature of reality. We may not intuitively “understand” it, but we do have a remarkably good description of it that makes accurate predictions. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/42 "2022-02-12T00:09:55Z")
Trees are made of air. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/43 "2022-02-12T00:23:51Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > And speaking of Germany, it seems every third language has a different name for that country. And each of them translates into, “Crap, they’re back.” ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/44 "2022-02-12T00:27:39Z")
You will be the last person to die in your lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/45 "2022-02-12T00:52:02Z")
… not if I take all of you with me … ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/46 "2022-02-12T00:53:47Z")
Fair point. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/47 "2022-02-12T00:56:35Z")
“When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like @JohnT, not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/48 "2022-02-12T01:10:13Z")
Gonna be collateral damage. I just _know_ it. Feel it in my bones. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/49 "2022-02-12T01:39:16Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Sometimes I’m kind of blown away by the concept of writing. A bunch of folks decide to agree that one grouping of lines and curves means one thing, another grouping means something entirely different, and suddenly we’re communicating our little butts off. You’ll probably really like this scene from a Canadian movie, Black Robe. A priest embedded with a native tribe introduces them to the idea of written language, and well… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7cj_bSkuKVA/hqdefault.jpg "Black Robe - writing.mov") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cj_bSkuKVA) ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/50 "2022-02-12T01:58:29Z")
I wonder about the first people who thought it was a good idea to drink the liquid from a gourd of rotten fruit. Was it a dare? Why would someone do that? I wonder if everyone sees the same colors. We all agree on what “red” _is_ but is my “red” different from yours? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/51 "2022-02-12T04:38:10Z")
Blows my mind just how smart my dogs are. Or how stupid I am. ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/52 "2022-02-12T05:18:37Z")
All manufactured objects are made of parts that were themselves manufactured using machines that were manufactured using plans thought up by engineers and inventors. Every single part, from the largest steel structures to the tiniest microscopic circuits. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/53 "2022-02-12T06:27:11Z")
How young the universe is. Yeah its 14 billion years old which sounds old. But stars will still be formed for hundreds of trillions of years. Even after that dwarf stars will still exist in the universe for endless nonillions of years. Then after that endless years of black holes. Its all pretty new and I’m assuming intelligently designed life will permeate the universe long before these timelines. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/54 "2022-02-12T16:49:35Z")
Our electricity used to go out with some frequency. (Apparently, the underlying problem has been corrected.) But every time the power went out, I’d find myself reflecting on how dependent we are on technology. And how fragile that technology is. ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/55 "2022-02-12T17:32:00Z")
I still can’t belive that it only took 66 years to go from the Wright brother’s first flight to the moon landing. The idea that humanity went from not being able to fly to landing on the moon within a single average lifespan is simply mindblowing. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/56 "2022-02-12T17:33:01Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Driving. I actually think about it a lot while I’m participating. We have millions of people who are performing a potentially dangerous activity… I’m one of those who think totally autonomous self-driving cars are a bad idea until perfected. I don’t want to trust my life to a software patch. _And yet…_ I’m willing to get out on a two-lane highway, with cars hurtling almost right at me… and the tiniest flick of the steering wheel on the part of any one of those drivers would end my life. But think of how many people DO stay in their lane, every mile, every day, throughout your lifetime… ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/57 "2022-02-12T18:27:41Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > We are all made of star-stuff. This. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/58 "2022-02-12T18:30:32Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > Around **60 percent** of the world’s population — 4.5 billion people — either have no toilet at home or one that doesn’t safely manage human waste. > > > [@Dinsdale](#): > > > > Just having a device as powerful as a cellphone in my pocket periodically gets my attention. > > **I am too lazy to dig up a cite,** but I remember hearing a stat on the BBC that more people in India have cell phones than access to a toilet. (Bolding mine) I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/59 "2022-02-12T19:34:18Z")
What I find even more amazing, actually, is how short a time it was between the Wright brothers and casual, cheap intercontinental air travel. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249/60 "2022-02-12T19:35:23Z")
> [@superwombat](#): > > All manufactured objects are made of parts that were themselves manufactured using machines that were manufactured using plans thought up by engineers and inventors. Every single part, from the largest steel structures to the tiniest microscopic circuits. I’ve thought of something like this while on the assembly line at work. There are a dozen of us on the assembly line. The line makes two taillamps at a time, a left-hand lamp and a right-hand lamp. There are the four or five people who assemble the initial parts. There are the two people who weld the outer covering on and throw the lamps into the annealing oven. There are the people who take the lamps out of the annealing oven and put them in the tester. There are the inspectors who take them out of the tester and make sure they are okay. There are the four people who wrap and pack the lamps. And that’s just one assembly line. There are also the people who fix and maintain the dozen or so machines and robots on the assembly line. There are the people who designed and if needed programmed all the machines and fixtures. And then step back a level. There are the people who run the presses that mould the plastic parts that go into the lamps. There are the techs to maintain the presses and the moulds. There are the people who make the raw plastic granules that get melted and go into the minds to make the parts. There are truck drivers making deliveries and taking finished products to the customer. Forklift drivers moving things around the plant. IT people maintaining the computers and printers and networks. Office staff: accountants, salespeople, managers, lawyers. The optical and testing labs. Engineers. Quality control. Cleaners. Building maintenance. Electricians. People who maintain relationships with the customers so that everything works together. Thousands of people. And there are similar complexities for _every supplier_, from the raw plastic to the bulbs, sensors, and circuit boards inside the lamps. And all this, all this, is for one small part, a tail lamp on one model of truck. _Every other component of that truck has similar complexity._ It just boggles my mind. I’m amazed that automobiles are so inexpensive, really. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-mundane-things-that-kind-of-blow-your-mind-sometimes/959249.md?page=4)