Economic Analysis of Toilet Seat Position 473
Ant writes "The Science Creative Quarterly has published an economic analysis of The Social Norm of Leaving the Toilet Down, employing game theory. This analysis is more thorough than preceding ones cited (from 2002 and 2005), as it factors in the cost of yelling. Both men and women can take some comfort in the conclusion though neither may in the end be satisfied.
Re:What about the lid? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:What's the big deal.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, public restrooms? I will use the urinal when possible, which is what it is there for. My conclusion? Unless the private bathroom also has a urnal, just sit, for crying out loud!
If you want another interesting thing to statistically fight over: Do you leave the LID closed or open? At my house, it is always to be closed. Why? Because it grosses me out when the cats drink out of the toilets!!!
(This has got to be the silliest thread I have ever seen on Slashdot!)
Re:What about the lid? (Score:5, Interesting)
Around our house, we have a good reason to keep toilet lids closed. Due to my wife's allergies to nearly everything furry (except me
The most common cause of accidental death of pet birds is drowning in toilets. Please close the lid when you're done.
This pretty much decides the issue here.
Leave the toilet cover down. problem solved (Score:3, Interesting)
Problem solved. Also keeps pets out of the toilet.
Re:What's the big deal.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Never got the lifting the seat part... (Score:3, Interesting)
Personally I aim for the back of the bowl, just above the waterline.... this is where the angle of deflection will disperse the urine stream effectively in a way similar to a urinal... which is also designed to not spray urine back on to the urinator... which of course is where the concept comes from.
Now if for some reason I do get a couple drops of pee on the seat... I grab some toilet paper and wipe it off. Urine is a combination of uric acid and ammonia mixed with whatever waste chemicals your body decided it didn't need and could expel via your bladder. These chemicals could probably be put into a gel capsule and sold as vitamins if you separated them from the uric acid and ammonia. What I'm saying is that urine is pretty damn safe and really doesn't do anything bad to you at all (unlike fecal matter which can contain Hepatitus, Flu and lot of other nasties).
So here's my questions... if you always get urine on the seat, do you also always get urine on the rim? Who cleans that once a month? Wouldn't it be easier to just clean up after yourself when you make the mess, rather than letting it sit for weeks?
Re:The Unconsidered Factor (Score:1, Interesting)
I have a little problem whereby if I don't have a strong buildup that comes out forcefully, just a light or medium force release, it will often come out in two streams. I guess the dickhole isn't opening up all the way, with a tiny part in the middle not opening up fully if it isn't forceful enough. Trying to aim two separate streams, one veering off to the left and the other off to the right, is quite difficult. So if I know I'm not going to have a forceful release, I often get down on one knee, to piss in the same way I'd have to with an erection. It's a habbit that I don't think much about anymore. Particularly I have to do this in other peoples bathrooms, where I don't want to take the chance of it coming out it two streams and ending up on the rim of the bowl or on the floor.
I know it sounds odd, but maybe this sort of thing is more common than we might realize. I have no idea and no stats, but maybe it happens to others and this is partly responsable for "missing", but is something most guys wouldn't talk about. This is certaintly the first time I'm telling anyone about it.
Re:What's the big deal.. (Score:3, Interesting)
It's the first time i hear this ...! (Score:5, Interesting)
You sit to piss?
There is something very weird about the USA. You are a completely ANAL society. You like asses, admit it. A little bit too much. No, not true for the rest of the world. Maybe in the last couple of years this is starting to get more widespread. But usually, TITS were what man looked for first in women (which is logical, since we all have an ass). In the USA, ASS, ASS, ASS. Look at the way you talk:
Your more usual words are "Shit" and "Fuck you". All your insults are ass-related, while it's usually not so in the rest of the world. In Spanish, for example: "Carajo" (Dick), "Coño" (Vagina), are far more common.
But even when you seem to insult ass-related all the time, you censor anything relating to body functions. For example: Number 1 or Number 2
It's common for the human being to try to separate itself from certain things that remember him that once he was an animal, and then, at the same time, find pleasure in certain primitive sensations. But in the USA you seem to be doing this in a pretty twisted way.
Re:What's the big deal.. (Score:2, Interesting)
The overriding factor here... (Score:3, Interesting)
If the lid is down, the seat must also be down.
Therefore, efficient or no, the seat goes down each time.
Re:A technological approach (Score:1, Interesting)
Male #1 = "piss"
Female # 1 = "wee"
#2 = "poo"
Problem solved.
Re:What's the big deal.. (Score:3, Interesting)
The vertical fly on underwear is indeed unworkable. That's why you should consider a brand with a horizontal fly [amazon.com]. No problems getting your dick through there! I speak from experience.
JP
Re:What's the big deal.. (Score:1, Interesting)
I agree completely. Why the fuck is this topic such a common argument in the US? Are people so petty over there? Now I don't know about other european nations, but I live in Sweden and I have never ever heard (or heard about) anybody have this arguent in real life.
We have so much time on our hands due to staying home because of high gas prices that we don't have anything else to do besides complain about the toilet seat. And yes I realize gas in Sweden costs more than in the US but we use more of it and therefore rely on it much more than you do (especially outside of cities where there is no mass transit).
I hope it's the typical thing of the nasty minority (like fundies in religions) making a huge ruckus, because it boggles my mind that an entire nation of people would have this argument.
So what exactly do you think the "non-fundies" in religion make a ruckus about? Or are you so biased that anyone who has religion must be a fundamentalist?
Re:What about the lid? (Score:1, Interesting)
1) Reminds males not to piss with the seat down, leaving residue.
2) Allows water conservation without giving offense.
3) All that pretty artwork that some people put on their toilet lids is actually viewable.
4) Keeps the pets out.
5) Reminds females that yes their guy actually has some sort of esthetic sense.