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What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

nautil.us

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Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#71

Post by jsjohnst »

lostmsu wrote: post #60
jayalpha wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh. I just googled "bidet". I thought it is "integrated" in a Japanese toilet? Or do you mean this additional "installation"?

Search for bidet seat. Pretty fancy thing. Heats up too. I am now frustrated whenever I have to use paper.

> I am now frustrated whenever I have to use paper.

I so strongly agree. It’s funny how I used paper much of my life, but now find it so disgusting.

The brand I bought is a BioBidet. Watch for sales on Amazon, I got mine for ~$200 as a lightning deal a while back (usually $350-500).

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#72

Post by chongli »

adminu wrote: post #10

I wonder why so many articles today have so many words but yet so little content? This one has a mile-long introduction. The headlines question could have been answered in rather few words. I feel a short answer had satisfied me. To make it even more frustrating to me the article teases different but-wiping techniques used today without telling me which ones. Thanks for that... I said I wonder why, I guess that was a…

I wonder why so many articles today have so many words but yet so little content?

Because short articles are penalized in search engine rankings.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#74

Post by nyolfen »

eevilspock wrote: post #64
ubittibu wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For real, I can’t stand this kind of longform. They take three simple facts and write an article that is more a short essay. And when the write starts with an accurate description of weather, place or person, “It was a foggy winter day in …”, “we reached a hidden part of the shore”, “is a tall woman with bright expressive eyes" you know you’ll be stuck in a fifteen minutes reading without learning anything.

Not all writing is utilitarian. People in tech, on average, prefer the utilitarian. They also, as a whole , on average , are considered to have below average social skills and below average art skills. Their coincidence is not a coincidence. > To make it even more frustrating to me the article teases different but-wiping techniques used today without telling me which ones. Thanks for that... For an introduction to So…

most people don't click on something titled "What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper" to read an anecdote about a stranger's vacation to denver or the history of toilet paper, hn audience aside

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#75

Post by jsjohnst »

Noumenon72 wrote: post #43
rayiner wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it’s a nice high pressure jet of warm water. At least in Tokyo, toilet paper is also provided, and you can double check by wiping after. They’re definitely going in when we redo the bathrooms in our house.

This misrepresents it, at least in my disappointing experience. The jet is nowhere near powerful enough to spray off poop. You are going to be getting most of it with your fingers and the jet just helps wash it away.

I’ve got a BioBidet (that’s the brand name) and never once has it not fully gotten everything off. There’s a lot of varieties of bidets, you were just using a less automated style most likely.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#76

Post by eevilspock »

nyolfen wrote: post #74
eevilspock wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all writing is utilitarian. People in tech, on average, prefer the utilitarian. They also, as a whole , on average , are considered to have below average social skills and below average art skills. Their coincidence is not a coincidence. > To make it even more frustrating to me the article teases different but-wiping techniques used today without telling me which ones. Thanks for that... For an introduction to So…

most people don't click on something titled "What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper" to read an anecdote about a stranger's vacation to denver or the history of toilet paper, hn audience aside

> most people

or, perhaps, most tech people. Not all tech people, of course, as is evident from other comments on this page.

The article was on Nautilus, not The New York Times or Scientific America or Linux Journal.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#77

Post by WalterSear »

adminu wrote: post #10

I wonder why so many articles today have so many words but yet so little content? This one has a mile-long introduction. The headlines question could have been answered in rather few words. I feel a short answer had satisfied me. To make it even more frustrating to me the article teases different but-wiping techniques used today without telling me which ones. Thanks for that... I said I wonder why, I guess that was a…

* Writing is cheap, research is expensive.

* People are rewarded for how long they can keep people looking at ads, not how much value those readers find in their work.

* Finding/re-engaging an audience via aggregator sites such as this one is cheaper than maintaining an audience loyal to the quality of your journalism. For the most part, people click on titles, rather than domain names.

The end result is small amounts of content, disbursed as slowly as possible, with a clickbait title.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#78

Post by jabl »

taivare wrote: post #40
throwmex wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an Indian, I too had this WTF moment. It makes me wonder why paper is still used in the western world. Makes one wonder if there is a TP lobby out there ? We used to make jokes what if a TP user have diarrhea, how many trees will that be ? If a bird shits on your hand will you use paper or water to clean it ? Its just that simple to comprehend. Just use water damn it. Cheap, hygienic, no left overs and green too !

Here's my WTF moment. My grandmother told me, she was born in 1901 as a kid on a rural PA farm. They used pages from a Sears wish book or dried corn cobs,out at the old out house!

At least in northern Europe it was common to use a stick to scrape. "More civilized" city dwellers used old newspapers.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#79

Post by FabHK »

adminu wrote: post #10

I wonder why so many articles today have so many words but yet so little content? This one has a mile-long introduction. The headlines question could have been answered in rather few words. I feel a short answer had satisfied me. To make it even more frustrating to me the article teases different but-wiping techniques used today without telling me which ones. Thanks for that... I said I wonder why, I guess that was a…

Dude, an article about Roman anal hygiene is not to be read for important facts. It's feuilleton, reading as pleasure per se, light-hearted entertainment, path, not destination.

Having said that, I agree that a) this article was extremely light on facts, b) many other long articles about actually important topics digress way too much on setting the scene.

Re: What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

#80

Post by [deleted] »

adminu wrote: post #10

I wonder why so many articles today have so many words but yet so little content? This one has a mile-long introduction. The headlines question could have been answered in rather few words. I feel a short answer had satisfied me. To make it even more frustrating to me the article teases different but-wiping techniques used today without telling me which ones. Thanks for that... I said I wonder why, I guess that was a…

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