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What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

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Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#321
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This made me recall immediately the "I, pencil" article. It's stunning to remember that almost anything one gets to touch or see throughout the day is a product of almost always global collaboration, if we include a things conception with its production, and also transportation, selling, etc.

Going off of that, when I realized that an ice cube was proof of incredible engineerning and that in terms of mankind, it's brand new tech !! I "couldn't believe it". I got that the concept of freezing water was some complex thermodynamics, but never realized it implied I couldn't make an ice cube without it when it's hot outside ! I thought the French had been drinking cold champagne all these years ! (turns out the…

Before refrigeration, people would use evaporative cooling to keep things cool: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#322
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprisingly relevant Adult Swim Infomercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ

A sewer pipe that could detect what’s passing through it would actually have all kinds of practical uses! I wonder how feasible it would be to embed chemical sensors into such an environment.

Governments sometimes analyse waste water for drugs and drug metabolites. You can't pinpoint specific houses' drug use, but you get get trends and general population data.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#323

For 22 years I used toilet paper until I traveled to South East Asia where every toilet has a seperate sprinkler. After a few toilet visits I decided to give it a GO. Man, toilet paper feels strange and plain stupid now. Water is way cheaper, doesn't hurt your "behind" and I feel cleaner afterwards. Paper seems an invention to sell something we really don't need (by Mad Men :-)).

Do you dry yourself before putting your pants on? If so how?

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#324
I am ever intrigued with how long lived the Ancient Greek and Romans were in spite of near to no medical knowledge whatsoever. They still believed in miasma theory and, in spite of phenomenal advances in most sciences and culture, medicine remained quite backwards for the entirety of their civilizations. Yet go look at the age of death of most any Roman or Greek. There's some selection bias in that names that we know obviously did not die when they were 15, yet the bias is probably not that large. Aristotle died at 61. And you might think that would be average or old, but he actually died quite young. Wiki has pages on lists of ancient Greeks [1] and Romans [2] to facilitate easier searching. Just picking some names out:

Plato - 80

Socrates - 71 (sentenced to death)

Antisthenes - 80

Hippocrates - 90

Pythagorus - 75

The reason for the lower life expectancy was largely because of people dying during childhood and infancy. And so it makes one immediately wonder about things like this. Sharing poop rods seems like a great way to spread disease, yet on the other hand the immune system, like much of our body, becomes stronger with use -- the whole concept behind vaccines.

Put another way, it seems to me that we're not living as long as we 'ought' be. What would the life expectancy of these peoples be if you gave them their culture and style of living, yet also threw in only imminent life saving interventions from modern medicine? Based on limited data it seems it would begin to challenge the life expectancy of man today, certainly if we exclude the mortality of childhood and infancy. Though perhaps that is also part of the picture. Vastly improved care for infants and children has removed natural selection from that part of humanity.

No idea, but each time I read one of these alien sounding tales, it certainly sparks the imagination!

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_Greeks

[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_Romans

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#325
post #24

When I moved to Argentina, it took me a while to get used to bidets. But now that I'm used to them, I never use toilet paper voluntarily. It leaves your butt still dirty! As someone said, if you got poop on your arm, maybe while changing a diaper, would you wipe it off with a piece of paper and consider it clean? No, not if you're from the mainstream of any developed country. You would use water, soap, and maybe more…

I grew up with bidets, but lately have been giving myself “quick enemas”, which means colon cleansing. My method is a simplified version of a more traditional enema, and it has the following perceived benefits: more thorough cleaning with water, evacuation of feces that would have stayed in otherwise, less smell in the area throughout the day. Method: after pooping at home, I use a vaginal cleanser (a pump) with some…

I'm not a doctor, but to me it doesn't seem to be healthy to be giving yourself a daily enema.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#326

For 22 years I used toilet paper until I traveled to South East Asia where every toilet has a seperate sprinkler. After a few toilet visits I decided to give it a GO. Man, toilet paper feels strange and plain stupid now. Water is way cheaper, doesn't hurt your "behind" and I feel cleaner afterwards. Paper seems an invention to sell something we really don't need (by Mad Men :-)).

I'd be afraid of the sprinkler collecting fecal and other matter, and am not too eager to nebulize that onto my behind.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#327

The article says that certain remote and rural areas of Asia still don't use toilet paper. However, this is also true of most of the Philippines, including middle- and upper-class areas in major cities. It's not an issue only of economic stability or access to it, but also just a cultural one. I've been in upscale restaurants in Manila where there was no toilet paper in the bathrooms. They use a little bucket of wate…

How do you dry afterwards? At home you could use some towel, I guess... But in a public place?

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#329

For 22 years I used toilet paper until I traveled to South East Asia where every toilet has a seperate sprinkler. After a few toilet visits I decided to give it a GO. Man, toilet paper feels strange and plain stupid now. Water is way cheaper, doesn't hurt your "behind" and I feel cleaner afterwards. Paper seems an invention to sell something we really don't need (by Mad Men :-)).

There are lots of places here in SG that have these toilets. They ... freak me out, tbh. Mostly because I have not the faintest idea how you'd use them and "So, how do you do your business" is not among the list of conversations I want to have.

This whole floor (hosting six companies I think?) in a prominent office tower has one shared male restroom. Two booths. One is usable for me, the other one the scary thing. Most people, locals included, fight for the single seat..

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#330

For 22 years I used toilet paper until I traveled to South East Asia where every toilet has a seperate sprinkler. After a few toilet visits I decided to give it a GO. Man, toilet paper feels strange and plain stupid now. Water is way cheaper, doesn't hurt your "behind" and I feel cleaner afterwards. Paper seems an invention to sell something we really don't need (by Mad Men :-)).

After traveling through a decent portion of China I tend to agree. The design of the “facilities” (e.g. “squatty potty”) in a lot of locations made a few in my group question toilet paper all together. Though being back in the states there are a lot of weird looks trying to find ways to mimic the stance... A few years after my time there I saw the “Squatty Potty”[0] on Shark Tank, but haven’t tried it. Anyone with th…

I use things similar to that Squatty Potty and it feels better for me. I discovered this a couple of years ago. Coincidentally we have brand name ones at work, but any stable platform will do--my favorite might be this kids' stool from Ikea: https://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/60248418/
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