xkcd #3251: Time Machine Conversation
Title text:
It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3251/
“What’s a spoiler?”
“It’s a fixed wing that you attach to a vehicle to provide additional downforce, but that’s not important right now.”
try to refrase it using only iron age terms
"So you know how when you go really fast with a chariot , it slips and slides around in tight turns? And you know when it's really windy and you hold your hand like this, it gets pushed up? And when you hold it the other way, it gets pushed down? Right. We can use that to solve the chariot problem. We can put a board on the back of the chariot in the same way you would hold your hand to have it pushed down. That way, the chariot gets pushed down and has better contact with the ground so it stays more stable."
Some Egyptians think their massive spoilers help with handling their chariot but they just introduce drag for no real benefit because the power comes from the horses in front of the chariots and allowing your chariot to slide to the side as your horse pulls it through a tight corner makes it easier for the horse to maintain speed (or horses if you're a fucking show off).
You know how many snapped hitches I've seen on chariots with spoilers vs how many without? 3 and 1, which should show a clear trend. And that one without a spoiler happened because she was trying to go way too fast over cobblestones for some reason.
For some reason.
Uh... it's a hard, dead bird that you nail to a chariot so you don't slide so much when you make sharp turns... 😰
...We will now proceed to publicly decease you on the account of being too smart. We don't like that.
Ooga booga upside down wings
Ooga booga run fast
Ooga booga stay grounded
I think you're off by a couple millennia. Depending on the definition, the iron age (in Europe) aligns roughly with Greek and early Roman antiquity, a time famously known for philosophers whose works we still read today, not with stereotypical cavemen.
Shit, man. Must be my time machine.
Lemmy has the best humour I've seen on the internet.
That's the stone age, you went way too far back.