24,010,000 weaves in shower curtain!!! ~ Mysteries of the world

[Iamme]

I am not married with kids. Therefore I have time to think and investigate such mundane things.

The other day I came to the realization that my shower curtain is weaved. I got out a magnifying glass and confirmed it. I counted 14 threads high, per stitch. I have 5 stitches per inch. That means 70 threads per inch. The shower curtain is 70 inches. That means there are 4900 threads horizonatlly run. The shower curtain is also 70 inches wide, meaning there are the same number of threads vertically. That means over 24 million weaves.

I ran this by my married neighbors who have little kids and they laughed and said I needed to get a life...get kids.

How in the world!....could someone craft a machine to do this...and at such a reasonable cost?

WHO in the world figures all this stuff out?! I have yet to ever meet anyone who is behind the manufacture of ANYthing!!! Have you?

Have you ever ran into someone who goes, "*I* am the one who figured out how much mercury to put in the thermometer to make it accurate." And antoher guy goes, "And *I* am the one who figured out the gadgetry for the dispensing of the correct amount into the tube!" And another guy goes, "But *I* am the one who figured out how to get the mercury in the glas tube and how to seal the glass with it inside!" And another guy goes, "*I* am the one who got the numbers printed evenly on the thermometer." And another guy goes, "*I* am the one that knew how to gather mercury." Etc.

And that is just for something as simple as a thermometer! Now look around you. Look at everything you see. WHO is coming up with all this? Where ARE these people! I have only met people who run machines at factories. They don't know where they came from. They just do what they are told and run them. I know construction people. They too only know what to do and work with the stuff that mysteriously is available. I know lawyers. I know doctors. Even smart doctors simply work with things provided by someone else who figured out all the stuff from pills to tools to machinery, to everything.

Are we being duped by the Supreme Mind? Could it be that the Great Mind existed and begat more minds (us) and the chicken and egg scenario with mankind really is...the mind came first. Then man drummed up everything we THINK we see, in our minds? :D

[Alkatran]

I really hope your kidding. Centuries of science tend to build-up knowledge with on one being completely responsible for everything.

Please don't start 'intelligent invention'...

[Psi Baba]

I was going to ask this question in your "Crystal Skulls" thread, but with great effort, restrained myself. But now I can contain it no longer.

JESUS, IAMME, DID YOU CRAWL OUT FROM UNDER A ROCK LAST WEEK? IF YOU HAVE ALL THAT TIME, READ A FRIGGIN BOOK ONCE IN A WHILE!!! MANY TITLES HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED TO YOU IN OTHER THREADS, BUT YOU SEEM TO IGNORE THE ADVICE. YOU CAN'T FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT JUST BY THINKING ABOUT IT. PLEASE AT LEAST TRY TO EDUCATE YOURSELF. Start here: www.howstuffworks.com

In another thread in this very forum category (Science) Depak Chopra backs ID (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61481), Silicon posted this:
"Hundreds of years ago, human beings answed all of our deeper questions in just this manner. It was believed that man had "innate ideas" and could just think up the answer to any question. It was reasoned that flies spontaneously generated from rotting meat, and no experiment was necessary to prove it. The world was flat, it was plainly obvious and without need of verification." This appears to describe exactly what you try to do. Honestly, there you are sitting in front of a computer connected to the internet acting like someone from the 12th century. By the way, the crystal skulls thing was a biggie in the mid-70s and was featured on "In Search Of..." I guess you missed that episode.

Oh, and it's "woven" not "weaved." And 70 threads per inch is nothing. Most sheets sold these days have thread counts that range anywhere from 200 to 600. There are sheets being advertised as 1000 thread count (though such claims are considered dubious by some industry experts).

There. I had to get that off my chest. That also marks my debut of typing in all caps on this forum.

[athon]

Nicely put, Psi. A little strong, but perhaps that's necessary.

Iamme, science as a methodology doesn't resembled anything like a bunch of people sitting around postulating. In fact, that's closer to mysticism than anything. I do that when I write a speculative fiction short story, not when I wonder something. But some of the things you come out with reflect more of a willingness to remain ignorant than to really understand a concept.

Discussing things here sure is fun, but it's better when you've got actually got something to contribute. If you've got so much time on your hands, go out and get a few basic text books on physics or biology. There's plenty out there to get your hands on.

People here got so annoyed with Kumar not so much because of his insane beliefs, but because he refused to do some homework on the basics. We all have a lot to learn from each other, however while we're happy to assist and educate, some things are better researched on your own first. It might seem a touch arrogant on our behalf, but it does get frustrating when you seem more focussed on an emotive response than on advancing your understanding.

Athon

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

We must celebrate that Iamme is experiencing the joys of discovery that many of us went through as children...

But let me make a suggestion to Iamme... One of the Smithsonian museums on The Mall in Washington, DC have displays on the history of industry and textiles. Please, go spend a week on The Mall. Absorb the history, the science and the really way cool stuff there.

Learn about textiles! See how measuring instruments evolved over time! Check out the really old cars!

Oh, shoot... it is closed: http://www.si.edu/ai/

This website is cool: http://www.si.edu/history_and_culture/history_of_science_and_technology/

Failing that... hang out at your local library. Pick up a book on textiles, weaving and learn how the first punch cards were used in textile mills -- and the the same cards were used for accounting and then computers! (http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/jacquard.html )

And if that gets you excited, try to find a local science museum (well, because the one on The Mall is closed). Here are some suggestions, these sites have links to science museums around the world:

http://newton.physics.wwu.edu:8082/jstewart/scied/museum.html

http://www.chicopee.mec.edu/musems.htm

Also check out the Extreme Textiles: http://www.cooperhewitt.org/extexsitelet/index.htm

(About twenty years ago there was a special exhibit on China at the Pacific Science Center. It included a loom and someone there who worked on it making an incredibly patterned fine silk fabric. It was right next to the display of silk worms and silk thread weaving... way cool stuff!)

[JSFolk]

For what it's worth, I used to work in the drafting office of a chemical plant, and I did know the kind of people who came up with these things.

They are called "Mechanical Designers" or, depending on their education, "Design Engineers".

[c4ts]

Adam Smith observed that in industry, small improvements just keep getting added to machines to slightly increase production and quality until they're very specialized. One guy's simple yet brilliant idea after another, and another. Even little things, like tying two lids together so closing one opens the other, instead of having one person stand between them, opening them manually, can get effective results. And this, he says, is human philosophy at work.

[Luke T.]

Originally posted by JSFolk
For what it's worth, I used to work in the drafting office of a chemical plant, and I did know the kind of people who came up with these things.

They are called "Mechanical Designers" or, depending on their education, "Design Engineers".

And I worked with the guys who invented the machines that make the microchips you all are using to send these messages.

I suppose to someone who is mystified by a shower curtain, modern inventions seem to appear like magic.

[Iamme]

Originally posted by Psi Baba
I was going to ask this question in your "Crystal Skulls" thread, but with great effort, restrained myself. But now I can contain it no longer.

JESUS, IAMME, DID YOU CRAWL OUT FROM UNDER A ROCK LAST WEEK? IF YOU HAVE ALL THAT TIME, READ A FRIGGIN BOOK ONCE IN A WHILE!!! MANY TITLES HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED TO YOU IN OTHER THREADS, BUT YOU SEEM TO IGNORE THE ADVICE. YOU CAN'T FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT JUST BY THINKING ABOUT IT. PLEASE AT LEAST TRY TO EDUCATE YOURSELF. Start here: www.howstuffworks.com

In another thread in this very forum category (Science) Depak Chopra backs ID (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61481), Silicon posted this:
"Hundreds of years ago, human beings answed all of our deeper questions in just this manner. It was believed that man had "innate ideas" and could just think up the answer to any question. It was reasoned that flies spontaneously generated from rotting meat, and no experiment was necessary to prove it. The world was flat, it was plainly obvious and without need of verification." This appears to describe exactly what you try to do. Honestly, there you are sitting in front of a computer connected to the internet acting like someone from the 12th century. By the way, the crystal skulls thing was a biggie in the mid-70s and was featured on "In Search Of..." I guess you missed that episode.

Oh, and it's "woven" not "weaved." And 70 threads per inch is nothing. Most sheets sold these days have thread counts that range anywhere from 200 to 600. There are sheets being advertised as 1000 thread count (though such claims are considered dubious by some industry experts).

There. I had to get that off my chest. That also marks my debut of typing in all caps on this forum.

Thanks for the response. At least I know you care and enjoy to discuss this stuff.

I really DON'T have a lot of time, though, you see. It only took a few minutes to study that shower curtain.

Do you know HOW many-a rich men get rich? Should I tell you now or let you guess?






















They get rich by using other people and other people's knowledge! That is why they hire other experts. No one man can know it all. I have used the opportunities in my life to pick other people's brains to get to know an awful lot of stuff about an awful lot of different things in my life, this way.

If you guys would care to post things..start new threads... that you are experts on, or that you have great knowledge in, I am sure I will enjoy reading what you have to say.

I am intrigued by the universe...the speed of light...if it's true...if the universe just happened, if there is a Bigfoot, etc. Am I going to read tons of books on this?...only to find myself still not knowing?...where instead, I could come here and maybe read someone's post where they have brought up some key element that could be quite significant in one's understanding? I will chose the latter.

I thank you guys fro any research you can do/have done, on my behalf. :D

[Iamme]

Originally posted by Hydrogen Cyanide
We must celebrate that Iamme is experiencing the joys of discovery that many of us went through as children...

HA! I actually, for real, laughed out loud, as I read this response to my friend. Thanks, I needed that, for the day ahead.

But in all honesty...as I am around a bunch of little kids...I seriously doubt they would have gotten out a magnifying glass, ruler and a calculator and figured out the shower curtain weaves that were WOVEN. :D

I DID used to enjoy watching that kiddie show on tv called "Bill Nye the Science" guy though. (Not enough people interested in science?) You know...where he would do that experiments type stuff.

My next door neoighbor came over one day and took a fork and spoon and intertwined them. Then rested the pair on a toothpick on the rim of a glass. Then, burned the toothpick with a lighter, and the fork-spoon combo was there outside the rim, hanging in space, seemingly defying logic as it balanced outside the rim.

[scribble]

Originally posted by Iamme
My next door neoighbor came over one day and took a fork and spoon and intertwined them. Then rested the pair on a toothpick on the rim of a glass. Then, burned the toothpick with a lighter, and the fork-spoon combo was there outside the rim, hanging in space, seemingly defying logic as it balanced outside the rim. [/B]

Was it one day when you were about five? Because I think even at the age of five, I didn't find that trick mystifying. It's quite clear that the handles of the silverware provide the counterbalance to set the center of gravity of the assembly firmly over the rim of the glass.

It's great to see your fascination with the world. You'd probably become an extremely smart person if you'd take the time to learn some basics.

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

Originally posted by Iamme
HA! I actually, for real, laughed out loud, as I read this response to my friend. Thanks, I needed that, for the day ahead.....

Yes, but did you read the rest of the response?

I should tell you that it is fascinating to watch a person on a human-powered loom creating a fine silk fabric with a whole lot higher thread count than your shower curtain!

Or that Jacquard cards that were used to automatically get the design in the woven fabric were the basis for the computer punch cards some of us are old enough to have actually used (we used to carry our computer programs around in boxes... and it was a headache when the cards spilled out on to the floor).

My kids loved Bill Nye the Science Guy... Hey! I remember seeing him in person when "Almost Live" was taping the "High Fiving White Guys" in the park where I pushed my first born around in a stroller. His latest series was finally broadcast... it was great!

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by Iamme


The shower curtain is also 70 inches wide, meaning there are the same number of threads vertically. That means over 24 million weaves.

..................

If you stand in awe of your shower curtain with 24 million thread intersections, I'm not sure what this is going to do to you..

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/nvidia/7800gtx/g70wafer.jpg


Each of those little squares is a graphics processor a little larger than a postage stamp.. Each of them contain 302 million transistors..


I hope I haven't caused your brain to explode..