The story of a shit knife

[cwolff]

If you have 5 minutes this is a great short story (http://fora.tv/2010/01/13/Wade_Davis_Why_Ancient_Wisdom_Matters_in_the_Moder n_World/Wade_Davis_The_Ingenuity_of_the_Inuit).

[Ker_Thwap]

TED Talks make me want to stab someone with a shit knife. A privileged audience applauding like lemmings while learning that the world exists.

Each talk could be condensed to a single sentence. High school student stumbles onto an old scientific concept. Insane man teaches you how to dry your hands. Here's a Bear Grylls kind of stupid survival story. Thrift shops exist, as do poor people! People in Africa want to make their own decisions!

[Warriorbird]

Some of them are pretentious twaddle. Some of them are decent. They work well to explain the occasional psychology principle. I like the ability to play some of them that disagree and have my students come to their own opinion. That talk isn't TED though. TED usually does a questionable job at anthropology.

[Ker_Thwap]

Some of them are pretentious twaddle. Some of them are decent. They work well to explain the occasional psychology principle. I like the ability to play some of them that disagree and have my students come to their own opinion. That talk isn't TED though. TED usually does a questionable job at anthropology.

I couldn't get the original link to play, so I googled shit knife and got a TED talk. My bad.

[Warriorbird]

I couldn't get the original link to play, so I googled shit knife and got a TED talk. My bad.

Yeah. The short version is superior. I understand where you're coming from at the least. 3 minutes worked a lot better than 17.

[Ker_Thwap]

Well then, ignoring my earlier rant about TED... The actual shit knife parable is much like any other parable, while the lesson is to make the most of a bad situation, be resourceful, yada yada. I can't help but think it should be followed up by another parable about being prepared.

Then there's still the Bear Grylls angle, where I suspect the knife might melt when contacting the warm dog, and creating a dog carcass sled seems like an energy inefficient way to travel/survive.

[cwolff]

I don't get where you're coming from. Energy efficient vs. a snowmobile? Be prepared with all kinds of gear? The way I see it, the old man was obviously well-prepared and making a dog pull your sled is better than walking.

[waywardgs]

Hope he didn't encounter a shit blizzard.

http://youtu.be/Pvm-n6gwPCY

[waywardgs]

But if he did, I bet his shit barometer would have warned him.

http://youtu.be/q4iDurCE3Yk

Sorry, shit knife reminded me of lahey. Carry on.

[Ker_Thwap]

I don't get where you're coming from. Energy efficient vs. a snowmobile? Be prepared with all kinds of gear? The way I see it, the old man was obviously well-prepared and making a dog pull your sled is better than walking.

If you're in a survival situation, I can understand eating the dog if you're far from civilization. But, are you really going to spend that time out in the cold fashioning a crappy tiny sled out of a dog carcass that a single dog can then efficiently pull? How much weight of gear can a single dog pull on a 2 square foot sled made of skin and bone with a high friction coefficient?

As for being better prepared, how about just a spare knife.

[Warriorbird]

But if he did, I bet his shit barometer would have warned him.

Sorry, shit knife reminded me of lahey. Carry on.

Trailer Park Boys is a subject that I think most of us can support.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo9Ip9FHODo

[Methais]

I'm disappointed that this wasn't a Jim Lahey thread.

But I'm less disappointed now that he got a mention.

[cwolff]

If you're in a survival situation, I can understand eating the dog if you're far from civilization. But, are you really going to spend that time out in the cold fashioning a crappy tiny sled out of a dog carcass that a single dog can then efficiently pull? How much weight of gear can a single dog pull on a 2 square foot sled made of skin and bone with a high friction coefficient?

I still don't get it. Did you not listen to the short story? Of course it's more efficient to be pulled by a dog than to walk. What do you want the runners of the sled to be made from?

[Ker_Thwap]

I don't think it's physically possible to make a sled from a dog that would work. I think at the very best, it might be the size of a small furry, non slippery laundry basket. Now, it's cold enough to freeze shit into a knife, yet somehow the knife doesn't melt when contacting the warmer dog. So, as soon as you skin the dog, it's pelt is going to freeze into whatever shape it happens to be in. Then you're going to cut out relatively small ribs and attach them to this malformed frozen skin. How many hours out in the cold have you spent making this meaty abomination? It's a Bear Grylls net energy loss situation. Grab a rack of ribs, and a wet towel this winter. Fashion a sled, and have a friend drag you around on it.

It's just a parable, I get it. Let's not pretend it's actual good advice.

[cwolff]

I don't think it's physically possible to make a sled from a dog that would work. I think at the very best, it might be the size of a small furry, non slippery laundry basket. Now, it's cold enough to freeze shit into a knife, yet somehow the knife doesn't melt when contacting the warmer dog. So, as soon as you skin the dog, it's pelt is going to freeze into whatever shape it happens to be in. Then you're going to cut out relatively small ribs and attach them to this malformed frozen skin. How many hours out in the cold have you spent making this meaty abomination? It's a Bear Grylls net energy loss situation. Grab a rack of ribs, and a wet towel this winter. Fashion a sled, and have a friend drag you around on it.

It's just a parable, I get it. Let's not pretend it's actual good advice.

HAHAHA that's true. If you can freeze your shit into a knife that dog's going to be a brick to work with.

[waywardgs]

Grab a rack of ribs, and a wet towel this winter. Fashion a sled, and have a friend drag you around on it.

Step 5: get arrested on suspicion of being a ritual serial killer.

[Ker_Thwap]

Step 5: get arrested on suspicion of being a ritual serial killer.


I had him set up perfectly, then you go and ruin it.

[waywardgs]

Haha

[cwolff]

Haha

Now that would have been a good PC story.

"Why has Cwolff been so quiet"
"KT convinced him to try to sled on a rack of ribs. Police have him in a psych ward"