# Simple things that amaze me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 25, 2016, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587 "2016-12-25T05:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/41 "2016-12-29T20:04:51Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Some people know jackshit about their own jobs. My cousin was a design engineer for an company that makes fuel injectors for Detroit automakers, and he was nearing retirement. I asked him one day what does he do all day when he gets to the office. After a moment to collect his thoughts, he said “I don’t know, there’s a lot of meetings.” > > It’s Dilberts, all the way down. This hits uncomfortably close for me. I’ve been a consultant (doesn’t matter what I consult about) for over 25 years and I’m still amazed that people pay me for my work. From my point of view, I’m “borrowing the client’s watch to tell him what time it is.” The majority of what I do just seems like common sense to me. Why do they want my help? Why do they pay so much for it? Even my wife used to ask, “They PAY you for that?” ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/42 "2016-12-29T20:21:16Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Magnets. Even scientists cannot fully explain how the can be used to stick elematerary school art to my refrigerator. Reminds me of a few lines from that classic song “Miracles” “Fucking magnets, how do they work? And I don’t wanna talk to a scientist Y’all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed.” - Insane Clown Posse ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/43 "2016-12-29T20:22:00Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Voyager 1 and 2. > > Okay, so launching them and getting the trajectories right was all grade A, genius level stuff. > > What blows my mind is you have this electronic device that has been on for over 35 years. > That’s like turning on your TV and keeping it on for 35 freaking years! Over a hundred AU out, traversing the heliosheath into interstellar space. The utter loneliness of those two spacecraft, still returning data as their power sources fade, is just breathtaking. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/44 "2016-12-29T21:15:54Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Magnets. Even scientists cannot fully explain how the can be used to stick elematerary school art to my refrigerator. At the risk of just being wooshed… > [@Hermitian](#): > > Reminds me of a few lines from that classic song “Miracles” > > “Fucking magnets, how do they work? > And I don’t wanna talk to a scientist > Y’all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed.” > > - Insane Clown Posse (classic? classic trainwreck maybe) Depending on what field of science they’re in, they should absolutely be able to explain how magnets work. I’ve had HS teachers and entry level college profs that have been able to explain how magnets work. If a scientist that works with them can’t, the fault is with his ability to explain, not with the lack of that knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/45 "2016-12-29T21:18:00Z")
Today we’re getting sustained 25 mph winds, with gusts to 40. In the supermarket parking lot were the usual birds, walking around looking for whatever they forage on. If I made little model birds and set them out there, they’d be blowing all over the place. How do little brds keep their balance and their purchase on the ground in strong winds? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/46 "2016-12-29T22:50:54Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Voyager 1 and 2. > > Okay, so launching them and getting the trajectories right was all grade A, genius level stuff. > > What blows my mind is you have this electronic device that has been on for over 35 years. > z > > That’s like turning on your TV and keeping it on for 35 freaking years! Voyager space probes = very impressive. But I can’t help but be even more impressed by the [Venera probes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera). Some transmitted data from the surface of Venus, and the electronics survived for a small period of time. Do you know how hot it is on Venus? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/47 "2016-12-30T07:58:18Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I’ve been a consultant (doesn’t matter what I consult about) for over 25 years and I’m still amazed that people pay me for my work. From my point of view, I’m “borrowing the client’s watch to tell him what time it is.” The majority of what I do just seems like common sense to me. Why do they want my help? Why do they pay so much for it? Often, because they’re so close to the problem that they can’t see the solution. A while back, I had a customer that made me understand why there are structured methodologies for things such as quality management or, dunnow, test preparation. There’s those of us to whom the stuff those explain is pretty much self-evident. Then there’s those who’ll never get it. And then there’s people like that guy, who would never have come up with those concepts on his own, but once we explained them did understand them. Our clients often call us hoping they’ll be part of the third group: that we’ll be able to come up with solutions they wouldn’t have but will understand. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/48 "2016-12-30T14:25:06Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > This hits uncomfortably close for me. > > I’ve been a consultant (doesn’t matter what I consult about) for over 25 years and I’m still amazed that people pay me for my work. From my point of view, I’m “borrowing the client’s watch to tell him what time it is.” The majority of what I do just seems like common sense to me. Why do they want my help? Why do they pay so much for it? > > Even my wife used to ask, “They PAY you for that?” As I am constantly explaining to people on my team (we’re IT Project Managers) If people used common sense and could communicate with each other like adults 90% of us wouldn’t be here because we wouldn’t be needed. So stop whining about them acting like 2yr olds, that’s the reason we exist. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/49 "2016-12-30T15:02:05Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Forget ants which form bridges over streams - there id a hornet in Japan which feeds on bee hives - and a single hornet can kill every bee in the hive. The bees kill the hornet by getting it inside the hive and buzz their wings to create heat. The bees can survive to 118. The hornet dies at 115. [Good picture of a thermal kill here.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet#/media/File:Honeybee_thermal_defence01.jpg) So many bees, the hornet can’t even see the light of day. The hornet - [the Asian giant hornet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet) - is scary. They are truly gigantic, and their stinger is a scary 1/4" long, but when they’re attacking honey bees, they don’t even bother with that; they just bite their heads clean off. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/50 "2016-12-30T21:40:54Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > As I am constantly explaining to people on my team (we’re IT Project Managers) If people used common sense and could communicate with each other like adults 90% of us wouldn’t be here because we wouldn’t be needed. Even as a basic advertising Art Director I’d ask what I thought were Obvious Questions. I remember asking the head of a multi-national company “What’s diiferent about your product?” \*“Nothing, really.” \*“So, why would anyone buy YOUR equipment?” Crickets _“So, we should improve our product so that people want to buy it?”_“Yep…” > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Do you know how hot it is on Venus? :eek: But what really gets you is the humidity… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/51 "2017-01-26T17:23:10Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > In 1969, as a teenager of fourteen, I watched the moon landing with my grandparents. My grandfather had been born, just barely, in the nineteenth century, having been born in October of 1900. My grandmother was born Dec. 17, 1904, one year to the day after the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk. They started in the horse and buggy era, with no inside bathrooms or running water. And there they were, watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. Such a short time to come so far. I’m not quite 50 and because of the ways the generations fell my grandfather was born in 1885. He was an adult before cars were more than a novelty. He was too old for WWII. He also witnessed the moon landing (I was two). He refused to believe it was real. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/52 "2017-01-26T23:15:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > . . . He also witnessed the moon landing (I was two). He refused to believe it was real. And your point would be? I am always amazed that when you’re driving down the highway, no one coming towards you crosses over onto your side. All those thousands and thousands of cars, what are the odds that not even one would start driving in the wrong direction? ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/53 "2017-01-26T23:30:26Z")
I learned that blue and yellow make green as a little kid, and it still astounds me. I mean, yeah duh, red and yellow make orange. Red and blue making purple is ever so slightly less intuitive but still very obvious. But green doesn’t look like either of its progenitors! Maybe I’m not sseing the same green everyone is… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/54 "2017-01-26T23:32:12Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > And your point would be? > > I am always amazed that when you’re driving down the highway, no one coming towards you crosses over onto your side. All those thousands and thousands of cars, what are the odds that not even one would start driving in the wrong direction? They do. People die. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/55 "2017-01-27T01:16:23Z")
I’m still amazed that phonograph records work as well as they do. Digital recording makes some sense. You can store lots of data digitally. But how in the world can you etch a little groove into plastic (or whatever) that cane store enough information to **mechanically** reproduce such a good copy. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/56 "2017-01-27T01:38:39Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > How micro SD cards can hold so much information. There’s one now with 512GB! I remember reading a prediction in the early 80s how there would be solid state memory chips that could hold libraries of music and movies without the need for records and tapes. I thought I’d never live to see the day. Now I have the equivalent of hundreds of CDs of music and a couple hundred videos on my phone and can download music and videos all wirelessly. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/57 "2017-01-27T15:03:11Z")
The fish in Devils Hole. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/58 "2017-01-28T19:28:53Z")
I’m amazed by what has been lost. For tens or hundreds of thousands of years people have been walking this earth, their heads and hearts awash with thoughts and feelings, ideas and insights. Yet, all the richness and breadth of virtually every human experience has been compressed into a mote of dust and set adrift in the winds of human history, lost forever. Think of all the potential world-shaping artists, warlords, politicians, scientists, writers, philosophers, and humanitarians who never rose to influence humanity with their previously-unseen genius because they were stuck farming a field, defending a cave, playing second fiddle to a favoured sibling, passing in infancy, or getting skewered on a sword in the interest of some megalomaniacal king. I live near a trail that I use for mountain biking, on occasion. It runs from an interior plateau to the coast and was used by First Nations people for trade. It’s been there for 6,000 years. Six. Thousand. Years. The trail is beautiful where I ride as it snakes through the wilderness and follows a ridge overlooking a river and the hills and mountains beyond. There is a boulder at one point and I usually stop there and sit to have a drink or a snack. How many times has a First Nations person sat on that same rock and absorbed the same beauty? What were their reflections on the state of things? That, and so much like it, lost. It boggles the mind. For all the magnitude and complexity we observe in the world today, I can’t help but think of it as a mere, hair-thin flame front. A candle flame slowly working up the length of a twig, the ash behind and the fuel yet to come. That’s what amazes me. Speech over. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/59 "2017-01-28T20:53:22Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > I’m amazed by what has been lost. > > For tens or hundreds of thousands of years people have been walking this earth, their heads and hearts awash with thoughts and feelings, ideas and insights. Yet, all the richness and breadth of virtually every human experience has been compressed into a mote of dust and set adrift in the winds of human history, lost forever. > > Think of all the potential world-shaping artists, warlords, politicians, scientists, writers, philosophers, and humanitarians who never rose to influence humanity with their previously-unseen genius because they were stuck farming a field, defending a cave, playing second fiddle to a favoured sibling, passing in infancy, or getting skewered on a sword in the interest of some megalomaniacal king. > > I live near a trail that I use for mountain biking, on occasion. It runs from an interior plateau to the coast and was used by First Nations people for trade. It’s been there for 6,000 years. Six. Thousand. Years. The trail is beautiful where I ride as it snakes through the wilderness and follows a ridge overlooking a river and the hills and mountains beyond. There is a boulder at one point and I usually stop there and sit to have a drink or a snack. How many times has a First Nations person sat on that same rock and absorbed the same beauty? What were their reflections on the state of things? That, and so much like it, lost. It boggles the mind. > > For all the magnitude and complexity we observe in the world today, I can’t help but think of it as a mere, hair-thin flame front. A candle flame slowly working up the length of a twig, the ash behind and the fuel yet to come. > > That’s what amazes me. > > Speech over. [And cue the music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ)---- ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587/60 "2017-01-28T22:49:07Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > As I am constantly explaining to people on my team (we’re IT Project Managers) If people used common sense and could communicate with each other like adults 90% of us wouldn’t be here because we wouldn’t be needed. So stop whining about them acting like 2yr olds, that’s the reason we exist. _ **SHHHHH!** _ We got a good thing goin’ here! Don’t screw it up! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-amaze-me/775587.md?page=4)