Disagree. Just follow what the sign says. Do you use the same logic when approaching a "stop" sign while driving?
I remember being told why we stop at stop signs when I was learning to drive. Regarding the sign about laptops: do you want to be right, out do you want people to not put their laptops on there? If your goal truly is to stop people putting laptops on there, then account for people who may not follow the directions if they don’t know why.
There are just as many people who will be more likely to disobey a warning if they hear the rationale. They might think "naw that HVAC unit couldn't do that. this sign is wrong"
Sometimes simple commands are better than explanations.
I know it's unrelated because this has an actual explanation, but I had an ex that stopped watches simply by wearing them for a while. The model didn't matter, give them a few weeks, and they would stop. Put them aside for a while, they started back. Never could figure out why, no particular behavior emerged, she changed jobs and houses and I couldn't see a pattern. Fun that life is still full of weird stuff like thi…
Fascinating. Did she work in medical / hard science? I could imagine some exposure to radiation / magnetization could do this.
> And of course, no story about natural resonant frequencies can pass without a reference to the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940.¹ Yes it can because it turns out it wasn't an issue with resonant frequencies & it's just promulgating an incorrect (but catchy) story. > Just four months later, under the right wind conditions, the bridge was driven at its resonant frequency, causing it to oscillate and twis…
Flutter is a resonance. That of a combined aeroelastic system not simply mechanical inertial-elastic.
> "Don't put laptops on here." With an explanation why not? I feel like having that, instead of a "Here Be Dragons" note would be more helpful, so someone won't ignore the sign thinking "It'll be fine". Also it'd be funny if the sign is still there even though all* laptops have SSDs now...
Because it's funny? Life would be pretty boring if everything were explicit. Also, sometimes explaining the rationale for a warning can backfire. An "absolutely no smoking" sign at a fuel depot doesnt tell you _why_ you shouldn't smoke there... If it did, dumb people might think "We'll I'm not refueling at the moment so it will be fine." "Here be dragons" is vague for a reason.
I've lived in the US and UK and noticed what I think is a tiny cultural difference -- that signs giving instructions in the US tend to be brief and contain the instruction only; whereas in the UK I thought I saw more that add some text for a brief explanation or reason, if it wasn't obvious.
I wonder if there is a name for the phenomenon where people do something that leads to negative consequences but they technically "did everything right". I have a friend who crosses the street without looking both ways and his argument is that if a car hits him "they're in the wrong", as if an accident doesn't occur that way.
>I have a friend who crosses the street without looking both ways and his argument is that if a car hits him "they're in the wrong" in the U.S there seems to be a hatred of pedestrians among the driver class, and a tendency for police to let even the most egregious drivers off the hook when a pedestrian gets killed (as long as it's not a hit and run), therefore this does not seem a good strategy. However, and this is…
I worked with a group of other Americans in a part of Switzerland for a bit and we noticed that, even on relatively busy roads, if we even approached the curb from the sidewalk, cars would all come to a stop. Even if no formal cross walk area was nearby.
I have another, different oddity. Whenever my colleague and I stand up (or also sit down?) on the desk, his Dell monitor would turn black for a few seconds. I don't remember the specifics, but I think it was mostly just the two of us, when other people say down if was fine. Even if he's sitting on a different table, the moment I sit down his screen would blank for a few seconds then continue to work normally. I also…
> I also get electrocuted easily when I use the escalator. You get shocked easily when you use the escalator.You wouldn't be electrocuted more than once.
That's true :D, thanks for the correction!
I think I was still in German mode, it's called "electric punch" (Stromschlag) if translated literally, my brain went the easy route and tried to find the closest match.
Because it's funny? Life would be pretty boring if everything were explicit. Also, sometimes explaining the rationale for a warning can backfire. An "absolutely no smoking" sign at a fuel depot doesnt tell you _why_ you shouldn't smoke there... If it did, dumb people might think "We'll I'm not refueling at the moment so it will be fine." "Here be dragons" is vague for a reason.
I've lived in the US and UK and noticed what I think is a tiny cultural difference -- that signs giving instructions in the US tend to be brief and contain the instruction only; whereas in the UK I thought I saw more that add some text for a brief explanation or reason, if it wasn't obvious.
In the UK they love their safety labels. Only country where I’ve been where there’s a safety label on everything. It’s ridiculous.
> And of course, no story about natural resonant frequencies can pass without a reference to the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940.¹ Yes it can because it turns out it wasn't an issue with resonant frequencies & it's just promulgating an incorrect (but catchy) story. > Just four months later, under the right wind conditions, the bridge was driven at its resonant frequency, causing it to oscillate and twis…
When you’re about to quote a sentence with a footnote, you best read the footnote first.