# Well, that's about the dumbest fucking piece of "logic" used to solve a TV show crime **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962 "2002-12-02T15:11:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/21 "2002-12-02T18:50:22Z")
Dammit, **Grizz** , howzabout stealing my idea for me? šŸ˜ƒ Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/22 "2002-12-02T19:31:47Z")
Iā€™m right-handed, but my mouse is on the left-hand side of the computer. Up until this summer, it was on the right-hand side, but after I began feeling pain which turned out to be carpal tunnel syndrome (undoubtedly inflicted as punishment for the years in which I would silently think to myself that all those claiming ā€œcarpal tunnel syndromeā€ were just malingering) the mouse was moved to the left and Iā€™ve taught myself to use it with the left hand. I figure I have another 10-15 years before I screw up my left wrist. šŸ™‚ - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/23 "2002-12-02T20:55:47Z")
Iā€™m a leftie and the only person that I know that mouses with their left hand is my right-handed stepfather. He wanted to set the computer up so that it was on the far right side of the desk. That only left the left side for mousing- and he didnā€™t switch the buttons, either. It makes troubleshooting their computer a bit of an adventure. I figure that he does it to punish anybody who wants to use his computer. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/24 "2002-12-03T03:01:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gravity \* > \*\*Iā€™m a leftie and the only person that I know that mouses with their left hand is my right-handed stepfather. He wanted to set the computer up so that it was on the far right side of the desk. That only left the left side for mousing- and he didnā€™t switch the buttons, either. It makes troubleshooting their computer a bit of an adventure. > > I figure that he does it to punish anybody who wants to use his computer. \*\* Jesusā€¦ I have almost the exact same story. Iā€™m a leftie. I do everything left handed _except_ my use of the mouse. I do that right handed on the right side of the keyboard. And itā€™s my Grandfather who set his mouse on the left side (even though he is right handed) and uses it quite well in that manner simply because he felt there was more space on that side of the keyboard. Itā€™s a pain in the ass to troubleshoot for him. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/25 "2002-12-03T06:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarinth \* > \*\*Actually, itā€™s a pretty good show. (Unlike the nightmare that is ā€œThe Practice,ā€ which just sucks this season) Last night was even pretty goodā€¦outside of the stupid ā€œlogical wrapupā€ that the OPā€™s about. > Why on earth didnā€™t they just notice that the DNA was ridiculously close to the victims (theyā€™d done DNA analysis) and find the killer that way? \*\* I donā€™t know, I liked it at first but Iā€™m starting to lose hope. First two weeks of " s/he would have gotten away with it had someone who liked them not figured it out at the last minute from clues not revealed until then" (the hostage and insurance scam) and now thisā€¦the show is getting lamer by the week, which is not a good sign in the 1st season. OTOH, I didnā€™t realize until a few days ago that **The Practice** was still on the air, so I suppose things could be worse. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/26 "2002-12-03T07:52:14Z")
I, a lefty, mouse on the left at home and the right at work. Iā€™ve never bothered reversing the buttons because then Iā€™d just make it harder for myself to keep track of which button to use. That whole left-hand/right-hand whodunnit bit has always annoyed the hell out of me. Jeez, if I really had to kill someone, Iā€™d wouldnā€™t stop to worry about which hand to use. Iā€™d just start stabbing. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/27 "2002-12-03T08:04:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, thatā€™s about the dumbest fucking piece of ā€œlogicā€ used to solve a TV show crime. Clearly, you havenā€™t been watching _John Doe_. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/28 "2002-12-03T19:36:39Z")
Iā€™m right handed, and use the mouse with my left, without switching the buttons over. Iā€™m the only person in my office (and probably building) who mouses left, even though there are at least a dozen left-handed people on my floor. Itā€™s damn amusing when people want to use my machine, and cross their arms over trying to use the mouse and keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/29 "2002-12-03T20:15:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*Clearly, you havenā€™t been watching _John Doe_. \*\* Actually the single most preposterous TV mystery resolution Iā€™ve ever seen was on _Matlock_. Andy Griffith was questioning a witness (a slim attractive woman) and managed to get her to reveal that she was in fact a _he_, a cross-dressing homicidal lunatic. Now, if the character had been played by an actor or actress that could convincingly play both genders, we might have had something, but the revelation consisted of little more than a shot of the actress on the stand, a cut to Matlock, than a cut back to the stand and an obviously different actor now wearing a dress and five-oā€™clock shadow and speaking in a much deeper voice. The actor and actress purportedly playing the two ā€œsidesā€ of this character didnā€™t even resemble each other. AAGH! That was the last episode of _Matlock_ I ever watched. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/30 "2002-12-03T20:47:57Z")
In one of my _Encyclopedia Brown_ books as a kid, the hero deduced that both members of a couple were cross-dressing as a disguise, because they sat in a restaurant with the ā€œmanā€ facing the room. How many people even still know that rule, let alone would apply it in such a bizarre way? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/31 "2002-12-04T03:59:36Z")
The woman is supposed to face the room? I didnā€™t know that was a rule, but you know, thats how I always sit tooā€¦I think itā€™s just paranoia of someone coming up behind me (I donā€™t even really like talking to the wait staff), or someone trying to steal my purse if itā€™s behind me, facing the rest of the room. I never noticed if this was something other people do, thoughā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962/32 "2002-12-04T04:01:11Z")
**Bryan** : You win. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-about-the-dumbest-fucking-piece-of-logic-used-to-solve-a-tv-show-crime/139962.md?page=1)