I don't understand electricity either
I think it's fucking magic. It's been explained to me so many times, but every times but every time someone explains a bit and I say "but why does that happen" so they explain that, so I ask why that happens, etc, until they end with "because it just does".
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:48, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

has anyone clever tried to explain it?

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:49, Reply)

yeah
there was this one guy at my school who used to explain things in Kitty Speak to me so I would get them. Like aeroplanes and vacuum cleaners. But even he couldn't make me understand. I get the fundamentals of it but I just don't get how it happens, or maybe more why.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:52, Reply)

Why do we need to have it explained?
Obviously it's important for someone to know how it works, but I don't need to know.
I know how to use it and how to wire a plug. All I need.
Who needs to know WTF Virginia Woolf was on about? Me.
Selective knowledge FTW.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:52, Reply)

you don't need to
but kitty was saying that people have tried and not succeeded so was wondering where the problem lay.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:54, Reply)

somewhere between my ears and my brain probably
derpbelmdribble
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:55, Reply)

PEBKAC

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:58, Reply)

I thought it was POBKAC
problem occurs between keyboard and chair. What's the E?
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:59, Reply)

Exists?

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:05, Reply)

It is 'exists'

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:05, Reply)

Exists

( Kroney, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:06, Reply)

WTF was she on about, then?

( Lisette von Falcon, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:55, Reply)

yeah that's how I feel
it bugs me when people say that you should know how something works before you use it. I bet they couldn't build the car they drive, or sew the clothes they wear.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:55, Reply)

yeah, fuck that
as long as you know how to use it

there are some things where it is advisable to know how it works, so you can sort it if it goes wrong, or use it in the appropriate way, but that doesn't apply to a lot of things.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:57, Reply)

My driving instructor told me how to change a wheel
and then asked me to describe it back to him. I was like "I open my phone, I ring AA, I wait". I know how to change a tyre, but I can't physically bloody do it, especially when they've put the wheel nut thingies on with a drill.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:00, Reply)

last time I tried to do one myself I did something to my back
and almost blacked out, on my own, in a cul-de-sac in one of the dodgiest parts of Cardiff.

Bugger doing that again.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:01, Reply)

in a cul-de-sac?
that's so ghetto.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:05, Reply)

it was full of scum

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:08, Reply)

have you seen the Antoine Dodson meme?
It made me laugh so much. "they rapin e'rybody out here!"
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:18, Reply)

I've done it myself a couple of times
And changed the car battery.
Thank god I now have AA membership.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:07, Reply)

Because it's interesting?

(PsychoChomp, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:59, Reply)

not to everyone
and nor should it be.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:00, Reply)

only to some.
I find some science fascinating, but when you get down to really technical stuff I get bored.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:01, Reply)

Well you if you keep asking questions like you say you do up there
then you'll get to the technical stuff and then to the maths.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:02, Reply)

that's the problem
maths evades me, which is pretty lame because I'm supposed to be all clever and shit. I had to get Wiggy to help me with my drafting work last night because I just couldn't figure out why some stuff in the room plan I was drawing didn't add up. I think it's when maths and logic are combined.

Don't get me started on Sudoku. When I do it on the train I try and pretend I'm doing the crossword so no one notices how fucking long it takes me. 5 minutes? Yeah maybe for Stephen Hawking!
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:07, Reply)

I'm good at maths, and I enjoy it
but I don't even want to try Sudoku. Doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:09, Reply)

Sudoku is about logic
You can do it with letters of symbols. No need for mathematical ability.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:13, Reply)

that is true
Strangely, given the way my brain works, I don't tend to enjoy logic puzzles particularly.

I prefer crosswords and things.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:15, Reply)

Logic puzzles I can do
Cryptic crosswords baffle me until I see the solution and then I'm amazed I didn't get it. It's a certain way of thinking.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:18, Reply)

my mum's really good at cryptic crosswords
I'm a fucking whiz at join the dots.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:20, Reply)

it helps to know the way the crossword writer works
unfortunately the only cryptic one I know the system for is the one in the Sun. It is the best thing in the paper though, by a long way.

Other than breasts obviously.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:22, Reply)

Not everything is interesting
I really can't get excited at the thought of car maintenance for example. Most people feel the same about poetry whereas I love it.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:02, Reply)

I disagree, everything can be interesting it depends how it is presented.
edit: everything new stuff you already know doesn't count.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:04, Reply)

I suppose this is true to an extent
I had a physics teacher at school who made rainbows dull, but a Latin teacher who made it fun.

It depends on your audience though, I'm sure you wouldn't find it very interesting to know the different ways of constructing a corset.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:09, Reply)

No, but I know the best way of getting a woman out of one

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:11, Reply)

Put a dead mouse down the back?

(PsychoChomp, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:12, Reply)

If you can fit a dead mouse down the back
They're wearing it wrong.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:14, Reply)

Thanks Literal boy
you've ruined my joke.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:14, Reply)

You're welcome!

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:15, Reply)

Maybe, but some things are just going to have a passing interest
Rather like going to a museum - 'Oh, that's interesting' and then you move on to the next case.
I'm never, ever going to be queuing up outside Maplins waiting to buy bits to build a new solenoid.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:09, Reply)

I don't even know what a solenoid is

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:21, Reply)

Here
you go
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:22, Reply)

Wikipedia?
You mean WIKILIES! Yesterday it said Russ Abbott was dead. I was sad until I realised that's where it was from.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:27, Reply)

I doubt the world is going to lie about solenoids on wikipedia
I do like looking at the edit history for some articles though, like when people vandalised Anjem Choudhury's wiki article, so it simply says "Anjem Choudhury is a cunt."
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:31, Reply)

Yep.
GCSE physics classes were like that for me. I had it all explained but when it comes down to it electricity is magic - I can't see it, smell it or touch it (without DEATH) but it lets me talk bollocks to people all over the world. Magic I says!
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:51, Reply)

it's like tiny marbles being push through a little hosepipe

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:52, Reply)

Stephen Fry
Nod of approval.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:53, Reply)

I remember having that explanation!
It still doesn't explain how it makes a telephone work, a light illuminate, a laptop work and so on.
And to be perfectly honest, I'm not that bothered. :)
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:54, Reply)

making a light work is easy
the other stuff is more complicated, but telephones aren't all that hard. Computers I am less sure on.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:55, Reply)

As far as I understand, it's all permutations of switches
Millions and billions of switches.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:57, Reply)

I think that's the problem
once you get to that many things going on at once I lose the ability to understand on anything more than a basic level.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:58, Reply)

I understand the absolute basics (about switches)
And can read a binary clock, but then there's a biiiiiig gap in my knowledge up until everyday stuff and work stuff.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:00, Reply)

that's the thing
I get all that, but it's sort of mindblowing, for want of a better word, to think that on/off switches can develop into something as amazing as an artificially intelligent game.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:02, Reply)

Oh I agree it is mindblowing
And saddening when all that knowledge and power is used to make a CGI baby dance about.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:04, Reply)

Made starcraft 2 as well.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:07, Reply)

and the Sims 3 :D

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:09, Reply)

To be honest I'm making sweeping statements
I remember heating filaments and conductors and magnetic coils - all that sciencey stuff. It just didn't get me excited during physics. The teacher would never discuss black holes with me - that was what I wanted to know about. Quantum physics and the multiverse theories are fascinating but WiFi baffles me.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:58, Reply)

that's because most physics teachers are shit
and boring.

electronics never interested me either. I'm shit at it.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:00, Reply)

My physics teacher was great.
He was the radar operator on a Fairey Swordfish, and told us loads of stories while he tried to make all the bits he had nicked from the navy, work.
( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:04, Reply)

mine was shit
she was fresh out a PhD in something completely useless and thought she was the shit.

Mrs V's sister is an a-level physics teacher, and as lovely as she is, I'm not overly sure on her abilities. I had to explain to her why stuff floats. Pretty fundamental I would've thought.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:07, Reply)

The stuff I learnt at GCSE was not that more complicated that the things I've had to teach
when I taught nine year olds. Or maybe I was that crap at Physics I only had the grasp of an average nine year old...
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:11, Reply)

If you stop ejaculating in the bath
You won't have to explain again.
( Bartleby A dead man on vacation, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:12, Reply)

my first one was fucking fit. God he was hot.
The second one was dreadful, he made the universe boring.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:10, Reply)

my first one in secondary school
taught us both physics and chemistry. He hated me. It was an unfortunate incident that caused the dislike.

He winked at me, and unsure of what the hell to do, I think I winked back. Sadly for me it was the result of a twitch on his part
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:13, Reply)

do you live in a sitcom?

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:21, Reply)

There was no laugh track
to that incident sadly
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:44, Reply)

I don't get the internet either
I understand how it works, but I still find it incomprehensible, like giant numbers. I don't get how something like electronic switches can turn into a game like GTA.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:54, Reply)

YES!
Let's rise up and be honest!
We know fuck all about PHYSICS!
:)
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 15:55, Reply)

You know what else I don't get? (at the risk of angering the Chomp)
Reaction. Everything having an equal reaction. Why does it? Why? We learned it by pushing on a wall when standing on a skateboard. But HOW? How does the wall push back? ARGH!
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:11, Reply)

The wall pushes back because it enjoys it.

( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:12, Reply)

the skateboard/wall thing doesn't seem like a good way of explaining it to me
the wall isn't pushing back, and that's not what the action-reaction law means.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 11 Aug 2010, 16:28, Reply)