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A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

blog.tanyakhovanova.com

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Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#71

Post by robocat »

O2F2 wrote: post #24
NicoJuicy wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, my legs do the same thing though while dropping. So a small variation on it :D An other variation would be to keep your feet in a 45° and then keep doing and landing on every stair edge Never seen someone else doing that, it's insanely fast if you can master it :D

Did that in my childhood on wooden stairs in my parents house. Rounded edges, kid of hazardous in general but great to slide down like this. Kind of want to try this again, but I also value the integrity of my bones.

Stair surfing - I've still done it as a middle aged guy.

I would like to learn to do it hands free, one foot in front of the other (forward and down to the next step). I can surf a bit without grabbing the rails, but only rarely make it to the bottom. Definitely needs the perfect wooden stairs to get maximum flight time!

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#73

Post by gniv »

Judgmentality wrote: post #8
aninteger wrote: post #3

Bonus points for doing this while going down. Taking public transportation as part of my daily commute involves a lot of stair climbing and descending. I always find it fascinating to watch the people who rush from bus to train platform and watch them descend 2 stairs at a time (basically always doing long long long) the whole way down. I've never been brave enough to try this method of descending though.

Honest question, why are you afraid of trying skipping steps on the way down? I ask because I've always done this, and when I'm with company they comment incredulously how quickly I descend the stairs. It never even occurred to me it was difficult or special before.

I've been doing it for a few months too. It was scary at the beginning. The steps at work are pretty high and the first few times I actually had pain in my quads afterwards. It's best to practice on empty stairs with a rail at first.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#74

Post by gniv »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #53
teddyh wrote: post #23

“ ‘You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.’ ‘Frequently.’ ‘How often?’ ‘Well, some hundreds of times.’ ‘Then how many are there?’ ‘How many! I don’t know.’ ‘Quite so. You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and ob…

While good fiction, this is pretty dumb. Did Sherlock count the number of tiles on the wall as well? What about the colour of the carpet or the number of cracks in the ceiling? Knowing how many steps there are is useless information and wasteful to retain.

That was my thought too, but I think the point is subtler. The kind of person who notices those things is good at noticing a lot of things.

I like this relevant scene: https://youtu.be/IjrWOZby8s8?t=47s

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#75

Post by Semiapies »

ethbro wrote: post #60
albertgoeswoof wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While good fiction, this is pretty dumb. Did Sherlock count the number of tiles on the wall as well? What about the colour of the carpet or the number of cracks in the ceiling? Knowing how many steps there are is useless information and wasteful to retain.

The essence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock stories (and what makes them clever and recommended reading) is that the answer lies in plain sight. Holmes does not succeed because he is superhuman (although the stories are not without their action bits), but because he applies himself more fully than others, and prepares and experiments more thoroughly. Is the number of steps important? Well, it would be if one wer…

Yes, but Sherlock Holmes also always magically knows which trivia is important, because he's written that way. He doesn't bother with the count of stairs on every staircase he's ever walked on. And he lives in a world where the trivia he notices always reflects accurately on hidden truths, instead of being simply useless details that reveal nothing of consequence.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#77

Post by ken »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #53
teddyh wrote: post #23

“ ‘You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.’ ‘Frequently.’ ‘How often?’ ‘Well, some hundreds of times.’ ‘Then how many are there?’ ‘How many! I don’t know.’ ‘Quite so. You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and ob…

While good fiction, this is pretty dumb. Did Sherlock count the number of tiles on the wall as well? What about the colour of the carpet or the number of cracks in the ceiling? Knowing how many steps there are is useless information and wasteful to retain.

Sure, and he even reaches across the fourth wall to make fun of himself for it. At one point, Holmes points out that it's impossible to put actual detective work in a novel, and thus all crime novels are merely inspiration, at best, not education.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#78

Post by phyzome »

js2 wrote: post #5

Yes, but do you start at 0 or 1? Also, is the last step you take onto the floor/landing counted? And when going down, do you use negative numbers? So many questions left unanswered. I feel you aren't a true stair counting nerd afterall. :-)

Stairs are counted by their risers.

Re: A Nerd’s Way to Walk Up the Stairs (2011)

#79

Post by NickNameNick »

ChristianGeek wrote: post #66
lostlogin wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2.5m is 8 foot 2.4 inches according to Google (decimals in measurement that are in inches is a thing? I’m metric so don’t know). The standard ceiling distance between floors must be 8 feet in the U.K..

The joists and surfaces between floors in a home are 12-14 inches thick in total, bringing the distance between the floor and ceiling in each level closer to 7 feet.

The joists go on top of the studs, not between them. 'standard' ceiling height is 2.4m.
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