Recent comments in /f/todayilearned
96_doomer t1_jarfd44 wrote
Reply to comment by LetLeft4959 in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Thanks
meat-juice OP t1_jarfcfn wrote
Reply to comment by davogrademe in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Perhaps... but try jumping over a river that way... ;- )
meat-juice OP t1_jarf5h9 wrote
Reply to comment by Greene_Mr in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Molesting boys in his church and fleeing town probably contributed to that as well...
DabbinOnDemGoy t1_jare01d wrote
Reply to comment by Eliseo120 in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
That's the point; people do use "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" as a different way of meaning 'work harder'. I'd argue most people don't understand what the phrase actually means, and have heard/used it wrong.
[deleted] t1_jarcd1h wrote
Reply to TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
And "Die With Your Boots On" is a song by iron Maiden, released in 1983 on their "Piece of Mind" Album.
eegocentrik t1_jarbfau wrote
Dawnawaken92 t1_jar4t3o wrote
Reply to comment by fondledbydolphins in TIL that traditional lacquer is made w urushiol sap, aka the rash-causing toxin in poison ivy & poison oak. In fact, "urushi" (as in "urushi-ol") is the Japanese for the Chinese lacquer tree (also toxic) & an English word for lacquerware. They all fall in the genus Toxicodendron, or "poison tree". by thedamnoftinkers
I had a friend in high-school almost die from biting into a mango. Somehow he'd gone his whole life without knowing up until that point. Wash ur mangos ppl.
yottalogical t1_jar3j49 wrote
Reply to comment by sharadeth in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Can't wait until they figure it out!
Landlubber77 t1_jar3ao1 wrote
Reply to TIL that Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Peter Cushing were all a part of London's "Ghost Club," which looked for scientific evidence of paranormal activity. by paleopuzzler
In a way they're still very much involved in the club.
Gagarin1961 t1_jar2jwn wrote
Reply to comment by byllz in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Yes so the phrase originated as an example of an “Impossible task,” but it’s since become a term for a self starting process.
The linked article reads:
>In general, bootstrapping usually refers to a self-starting process that is supposed to continue or grow without external input.
Computer engineers aren’t referring to an impossible task, just a self starting one. As much as Reddit loves the original usage, the the phrase “pull oneself up by their bootstraps” today means to use what you have to get ahead instead of relying on outside help.
LetLeft4959 t1_jar1dxa wrote
Reply to comment by 96_doomer in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
He wont read it, but I think you did a good job explaining the mindsets.
Hour-Investigator-12 t1_jar0v55 wrote
Reply to comment by WorldsGreatestPoop in TIL Crabs will capture and eat baby Sea Turtles after they hatch. by TheMadhopper
When I was a boy scout we had a trip to Florida to do exactly that.. but unfortunately they didn't hatch in time.
Splyce123 t1_jar023j wrote
Reply to TIL that Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Peter Cushing were all a part of London's "Ghost Club," which looked for scientific evidence of paranormal activity. by paleopuzzler
Not at the same time though. Unless they communicated after death, which would make sense.
Narrow_Assumption_25 t1_jaqyysi wrote
Reply to comment by SCWarriors44 in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
This is absolute insanity. The device you typed your rant on is the result of billions of people coalescing into societies across human history, being able to support each other and focus on progress, rather than worrying whether they can hunt or gather food to eat that day.
coarsing_batch t1_jaqx09m wrote
Reply to comment by TheCloudFestival in TIL the "Nokia Tune" was originally composed in 1902 by Spanish guitarist and composer Francisco Tárrega, part of a piece called "Gran Vals" and was the first identifiable mobile phone ring tone by mantolwen
So the reason that changed is because in the Nokia tune, you need to hear the end of the phrase. Whereas this one is transitioning into the following phrase in the actual song. So it doesn’t need to resolve as much as the ringtone does. That’s my ELI5 about why that happens. Also I was with op when she found this out and it was really awesome.
ipauljr44 t1_jaqwatf wrote
Reply to comment by WorldsGreatestPoop in TIL Crabs will capture and eat baby Sea Turtles after they hatch. by TheMadhopper
One reason is that it would breed dependency on humans into the turtle so that future generations would be even worse at reaching the water by themselves.
WaterChi t1_jaqujtx wrote
Reply to comment by SCWarriors44 in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
So you educated yourself. Bought every piece of clothing you ever wore. Built the car you drive, the roads you use, the refrigerator that holds your food? You built and stocked the grocery store where you get your food? You created the company your work for and educated all of the people to who make sure you have what you need to do your job? You designed and built both the device you are using right now to read this and the entire network infrastructure between there and the reddit servers?
Every single thing you have or have done in your life is the result of tens to tens of thousands of people helping you. Providing for you. You stand on the shoulders of 10000 years of human progress. You have done NOTHING on your own. Not one single thing, including the first breath you took, was done only by you. EVERYTHING is a result of someone else helping you in one way or another.
The idea of "only I'm responsible for myself and I'm not responsible for anyone else" is not only the most heinous lie the right tells, it's the most anti-Christian, anti-family, anti-community, anti-human piece of garbage propaganda humanity has every created. Like it or not, you are 100% dependent on everyone else around you and they are dependent on you.
Lateralis85 t1_jaqq4zp wrote
Reply to comment by SCWarriors44 in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
>Not a single soul besides leaches benefit from society.
That is a staggering level of ignorance.
sharadeth t1_jaqq44v wrote
Reply to comment by Business-Emu-6923 in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Nope, and computers will be useless until they do.
Mammoth-Mud-9609 t1_jaqq20c wrote
Reply to TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Munchhausen's trilemma (Munchausen's) says that proving something is true normally involves circular reasoning, regressive argument or an axiomatic argument each of these methods have problems but an axiomatic argument can prove a truth if you can agree upon a precept or principle of an underlying statement. https://youtu.be/qtYVLatihIo
Business-Emu-6923 t1_jaqpiq0 wrote
Reply to comment by byllz in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Did they solve this problem?
willie_caine t1_jaqe4qh wrote
Reply to comment by CouldCareLessWatcher in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
Good bot!
TheGillos t1_jaqbvnf wrote
Reply to comment by SCWarriors44 in TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots. by meat-juice
I'm a self made leach because I don't respect society and I'm not materialistic enough to want much from life. I do as little as I possibly can do. I have a lot of freedom because I just don't give shit about working hard or contributing or much of anything else. I've grown to hate most people and/or see them as sucker slaves. I love my friends and family, I'd do anything to help them short of participating in this gruesome soul sucking mockery of life called "modern society".
RedditByAnyOtherName t1_jarhi13 wrote
Reply to TIL Poland uses clams to test their water supply by Zrgaloin
When asked about the water quality, they clammed up.