Comments on: Pogue’s Imponderables

By: rob

rob — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:32:54 +0000

Owen–the universe has no end or edge or for that matter no center. nor is it infinite. think of the surface of the earth. you can walk forever on it and never get to the end nor is there a middle. of course it repeats but the latest therory, which is being tested, is that the universe would too i.e. if you had a telescope strong enough, you could be looking at light that is “behind” you. the shape of the universe is like a donut…mathematically it is closer to a cube with exact opposite corners connected.
sorry, i had to geek out on that one

By: rich

rich — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:14:52 +0000

Why do bird fall down from the sky,
Every time I walk by?

By: Owen

Owen — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:01:29 +0000

Here are 3 questions for all of you to ponder:

1) How do you know when bagpipes are out of tune?

2) How do you know when horseradish sauce goes bad?

3) The question I once asked my parents when I was 7. Whats on the other side of the universe?

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:30:48 +0000

The answer to most of these questions is money:

— Public sinks don’t have foot pedals, because they’re expensive. The owners won’t install them because the government hasn’t forced them to.

— Hotel check-in kiosks are redundant, because the hotel usually pays someone to sit behind the counter already.

— Wi-fi is more expensive at expensive hotels than cheap ones, because people who stay at expensive hotels are usually there on business and can write the cost off on their expense accounts.

— Food courts don’t have recycling bins because you’d need a different one for each type of material (glass, paper, metal, plastic), which would take up too much space…or, you’d have to put out one can and then pay someone to sort what comes out of it.

— We children of the 60s remember when prime time started at least a half-hour earlier than it does now. Back in the 70s, the FCC took that extra time away from the networks, to give to the affiliates for “local programming.” Of course, local programming is expensive (all that creativity!), so they fill the time with syndicated game shows and “Seinfeld” re-runs.

— I also remember when MTV showed music videos nearly all the time. But, that gets boring (who, after all, listens to the same radio station 18 hours a day?), so they started filling with non-music programming. Eventually, the non-music stuff started making more money than the videos (how, I don’t know, since I believe MTV got the videos from the record companies for free), so they just finished the transiton.

Follow the money. That’s the answer to many of these.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 03:44:57 +0000

Why do people who support abortion oppose the death penalty? (and conversely, why do so many who are pro-life support the death penalty?)

By: Rachel*

Rachel* — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 03:24:11 +0000

Why doesn’t the government sanitize money? (you ever think where a dollar has been…)

Why do people have to pay for vegetable seeds and water?

How do people find “The Hills” entertaining? And why is MTV called “music television”?

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 01:08:33 +0000

Why do they paint in between the yellow lines on the road?

By: Higgins

Higgins — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:08:31 +0000

Angie – he does call them “Pogue’s Imponderables.” I assume this is a nod to Feldman’s well known work, though Pogue doesn’t specifically credit Feldman.

By: Scott A.

Scott A. — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:41:53 +0000

Why do smokers think it’s not littering to toss butts out of their car windows?

By: Angie

Angie — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:33:48 +0000

Does this guy actually call these questions Imponderables? Because there was a series of books written by David Feldman that were also called Impoderables… they were written in the early ninties, with titles like “Do Penguins have Knees?” and “When do Fish Sleep.” Not sure if the word Impoderables is copywrighted, but I have to say that I was surprised to see it used in a context other than Feldman’s own work.