She needs to watch her step better, ran right across a patch of shiny spinning wheel-packed snow.

Yes, probably in that case you would not be intuiting, but inferring. That is perhaps one of the funny things about intuition. Once you do understand those concepts, have you 'lost' your ability to intuit about such things?

That may account for why so many people (dare I say) fear science. As you say though, looked at another way, by learning and deeply internalizing the previously unintuitive concepts, you develop a more complex and Truer form of intuition. A person, however, who cannot or will not put forth the effort to internalize unintuitive concepts is condemned to live in a world governed by strange principles they do not understand. I can see how that may be a disturbing and frightening way to live.

The easy way out, of course, is to say, "it is god's will that the world works this way, and god's will is unknowable." I can see the comfort that can be found in that, and even a glimmer of wisdom there, so I should make the disclaimer that I don't believe this is a bad thing *when applied with intelligence and thoughtfulness.*

Naturally, it doesn't have to be 'god' either. It could simply be an acceptance that some things are beyond what can be truly understood in a single lifetime. Personally, I try to find some sort of a balance--particularly because I'm an engineer and sometimes I just have to accept that something works without really understanding how. For instance, I rely a good deal on quantum mechanical phenomena that I only understand in the crudest sense, and I just have to be satisfied that I can, without any genuine intuitive understanding, mechanically manipulate symbols on a page and create something that nevertheless works. Attempting to intuit on that level (though it may be fun as an exercise), is beyond me personally, and properly in the realm of academia. It's why I have so much respect for this guy and his silly spinning wheel.

As for things like existential questions of the soul and free will and all that? Well, I'm already way too far off topic, and I only got this far because of the couple glasses of wine I had with dinner.

In response to a question posed above about this being number 1, there is something about watching people who are very good at their jobs working that I find appealing. I'm not sure why, really. Another example would be the Spanish bricklayer video a week or so back.

*happy *comedy too!

Wait, no spinning wheel?

>> ^mxxcon:

>> ^Reefie:
I would dearly love to know what this firework is called, it looks awesome! So awesome that I feel compelled to buy dozens of them and amuse my neighbours with an impromptu firework display
It's called French Nipple Twister and they go for $1700 each


LOL

Also i love how the spinning wheel keeps it straight like a gyroscope.

>> ^cosmovitelli:

Looks like it has a turning circle of about half a mile.
Also what is Margaret Thatcher going on about with 'you are not relying on rotating the wheel to drive forward'?


What she's saying is that with a car, the wheels are turned via the axle, and to push the car forwards they must grip on the road and push the car, otherwise they just spin on the spot.

With these, the internal part is effectively turning the cabin bit against the inside of the wheel, and the wheel then moves forward or backwards just based on the weight of the internal portion pulling it around.

This contraption, while cool, is entirely impractical:

* How do you stop it? As in, how would you park this on a hill such that it wouldn't roll away?
* How do you see straight ahead?
* How do you make sure no-one inside it puts their hands into the spinning wheel of death?
* It's got waaay more size (especially height, good luck with multi-storey car parks) for less cabin space than a normal car
* The afore-mentioned poor turning circle.

Trying to sell this as actually being a practical vehicle is disingenuous.

>> ^rottenseed:

"...centrifugal force; you never know where they're going." Sorry, the physics nerd in me has to point out that you'd know they're going in circles. You'd even know what size circle, velocity and position. Carry on.


I thought the same thing when I heard that, but then I tried to think what he might have meant by that and I came up with the following which made me feel better:

"Its like a centrifugal force" possibly refers to something like someone/something clinging to a spinning wheel/surface and you never know when or which direction they will go flying off in. Kinda like all those morons on merry-go-rounds powered by their mate's scooter.

EDIT: Also I realise that if you know all the factors involved such as friction, grip strength etc etc you can possibly predict even these things but let's assume you can't be sure when fatigue etc will set in or something like that

Video won`t work for me...
Commercial worked fine though...

Spin wheel spin...

Ya, All I get is the spinning wheel, the video won't load...

I love the ridiculously over simplified discussions. First of all, these guys fail for putting it on a treadmill as it is not equal because there is a difference between a belt providing a force to spin wheels (the power involved is coming from the treadmill, in real life this can only happen with an incline and gravity, which is not the same as treadmill moving wheels).

A few problems with this is the reality of a 10mph wind versus moving 10mph with a 10mph tailwind. The reality of travelling 10mph with a tailwind is not exactly the same as a 0mph wind. There is static friction differences, rolling resistance changes, the turblence and wind drag change based on the speed, etc.

Can a plane take off if it is put on a giant treadmill? (assuming the prop/jet doesn't blow across the wings?)

I hate to be a know-it-all (I love being a know-it-all), but centrifugal force has nothing to do with it. It's the forces of the spinning wheels acting as a gyroscopic flywheel that enables the motorcycle to maintain an upright axis while the operator is left behind. As the velocity of the wheels decreases, the nutation (amount of travel in the side to side tilt) of the motorcycle increases and the bike loses stability.

>> ^MightyZep:
The bike actually would right itself, how much track width needed for that speed I do not know, but centrifugal force of the wheels keeps the bike upright, you upset the balance by counter-steering and shifting weight. I know because I had first hand experience with a high-speed get off.

I love it.

What is next, an exercise bike that converts the spinning wheel's energy into a pair of moving legs?

PATENT !!!

As always at the Sift, there's a danger to posting too many videos on one topic. But hell, if the video's good enough, it really doesn't matter, eh?

In this case, the footage is absolutely hilarious. Highlights include the Idiot Jeep Driver, Idiot Spinning Wheels, and Idiot Exploding Engine Woman Driver.

I mean.... WOW. Thanks for the link bnsa.