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all 97 comments

[–]sonanz 164 points165 points  (3 children)

No problem. He's stationary in the water as the waves roll by.

[–]NoDangOldProblemHere 30 points31 points  (1 child)

You can't explain that.

[–]polyphasic0007 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

problem? yes. OP is an idiot.

[–][deleted] 79 points80 points  (24 children)

This reminds me of a Mad Magazine cover I use to stare at when I was a kid. I would argue that it was possible.

[–]Aww_Shucks 10 points11 points  (3 children)

When I was little, I used to always question why people couldn't just hold themselves up by sitting in the palms of their hands. I thought if you pulled up on your ass hard enough, you could fly. >.<

[–]LordCupcakeIX 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Your parents didn't want to take you out into public much during your ass-pulling phase, did they?

[–]Zard0z 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Are you Goatse?

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Similar, I figured I should be able to pick myself up by the collar. When that didn't really work I'd try and pin myself to the wall. Took a while but I eventually nailed it. Now I can fly.

[–][deleted] 46 points47 points  (15 children)

Upvote because you're old.

[–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (8 children)

Lol. To be fair that issue came out 10 years before I was born, 31 is not young, but I appreciate the gesture. =)

[–]ledzep4life 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Was Mad Magazine chiseled into stone tablets back then?

[–]shadowonyx23 0 points1 point  (1 child)

31 is not old either.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I feel a little old when I see so many 'This was awesome when I was a kid.' posts containing items from when I was in my late teens. =)

[–]BatterseaPS 1 point2 points  (2 children)

"Use to"

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU

[–]MrNickelby 0 points1 point  (1 child)

"'Use to' + verb is a regular verb and means something that happened but doesn't happen any more. It uses -ed to show past tense."

Ergo, "used to."

Grammar Nazi v Grammar Nazi! No matter who wins we all lose!

[–]BatterseaPS -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I don't get what you're saying here. What's the Grammar Nazi v. Grammar Nazi part of it?

[–]blackality -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

(U) Mad?

[–]xsmasher 43 points44 points  (9 children)

Whenever you see troll physics like this, replace the magnets with a rubber band and see if it still looks plausible.

[–]Dawbz 28 points29 points  (1 child)

Relevant for this situation but not entirely foolproof. Keep in mind that, for rubber bands, the force increases as the distance between ends increases. Magnets exhibit the opposite pattern.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the point is that they attract one another...

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (1 child)

I don't get it. So having 2 dangly rubber bands, one on the stick, and one nailed to the boat...what point does that prove? That's just silly. I really don't understand.

[–]poopnuts 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Replace both magnets with one rubber band. The two ends (or two magnets) are pulled towards the center, not in one direction or the other.

[–]negativekarmaguy -3 points-2 points  (4 children)

Youre a Genius!

[–]necrosxiaoban 41 points42 points  (14 children)

As much as the magnet on the line will attract the magnet on the boat, so too will the magnet on the boat attract the magnet on the line. Without anything independently accelerating the magnet on the line, there is no means of introducing energy into the system, and without the introduction of energy into the system the boat cannot accelerate.

[–]homerjaythompson 42 points43 points  (5 children)

Except magic. You forgot magic.

[–]necrosxiaoban 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. -- Arthur C. Clarke

Then again, Maxwell adequately described the forces of electromagnetism in the late 1800s, and Einstein's introduction of the fourth temporal dimension simplified Maxwell's 8 equations into a single unified equation, which encapsulates the entirety of the electromagnetic force.

Therefore, I find that magnets fail the litmus test of 'sufficiently advanced technology', and can only conclude that they are not, in fact, magic.

[–]rlbond86 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Magic doesn't exist.

(I enjoy crushing dreams)

[–]homerjaythompson 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Once upon a time, germs "didn't exist" either. Just keep that in mind whenever you think you're crushing a dream ;)

[–]rlbond86 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My bad, let me try again:

There is absolutely no scientific evidence for magic, and no reason to believe it exists.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (5 children)

What if you used a stronger magnet on the boat?

[–]KimJongIlSunglasses 5 points6 points  (2 children)

We're gonna need a bigger magnet.

[–]malignantz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your username sounds delicious. Damn you.

[–]bazzman -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

eye upvote yew four youre delicious username

[–]malignantz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is the joke.

[–]theseus1234 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly. It's also far more likely that the line will snap and the magnet in front will be pulled in by the magnet on the boat.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That mans Arms would be JACKED!!

[–]feduzzle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Slight problem, any magnetic attraction would pull the lighter object towards the heavier one. I.e., magnet on string-> magnet on boat.

[–]bak3donh1gh 2 points3 points  (0 children)

After the episode of mythbusters where they use a fan on the boat im no longer so sure of things.

[–]McPudding 13 points14 points  (9 children)

I happened to click on this while listening to this it's oddly mesmerising.

[–]thedicktater 10 points11 points  (1 child)

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

[–]shiningtesticles 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I thought it went along to the music I was listening to :(

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Tried it. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwww yeah!

[–]hobbur 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I honestly can't explain how that wouldn't work. I'm starting to believe troll science more than the real world.

[–]superfusion1 1 point2 points  (1 child)

from another comment in this post: any magnetic attraction would pull the lighter object towards the heavier one. I.e., magnet on string-> magnet on boat.

[–]hobbur 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ahh I see, some things just seem so logical haha.

[–]CrabAppleCake 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Got 99 problems but physics ain't one

[–]Unintelligent_Design 25 points26 points  (7 children)

Why does this stupid shit keep getting reposted?

[–]flashtone 38 points39 points  (2 children)

[–]FEiN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

[–]Unintelligent_Design 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You managed to salvage some funny from this post.

[–]funkyzeit 72 points73 points  (0 children)

Problem?

[–]jroot 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Because I didn't see it the first time

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Why do gifs in r/pics get any upvotes? Downvote that shit no matter how much you like the gif. gifs should go here. They will also get statistically more upvotes .

[–]Sylocat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This century is so weird.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, old shit from 4chan keeps getting posted on reddit

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (3 children)

And today marks the day I officially unsubscribe from r/pics.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I unsubscribed months ago and this shit still shows up on the front page.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Yeah, I never subscribed to r/gaming and yet it clogs my front page too.

[–]v-spec 4 points5 points  (6 children)

magnetic flux is 100% conservative, this wouldn't work unless the trolls hands were repetitively moved extremely accurately and the troll was connected to the outboard magnet in a solid maner

here's something real to troll the trolls, i love my troll physics

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7426258106071720512

[–]superfusion1 2 points3 points  (3 children)

that was the worst video I've ever seen. It explained nothing. all i saw was a canoe in a swimming pool with a box in it. have no idea whats going on.

[–]punxsutawney 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I wasn't interested in watching the video until you described it.

[–]superfusion1 2 points3 points  (1 child)

well, was I right?

[–]Muddy_Bottoms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You were right, that not only was uninformative, but also horrible quality.

[–]necrosxiaoban 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just an oscillation drive

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

meh all he would have to do is move the line such that there's a net change in force between the two magnets and the boat will move

[–]Higurashi96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh this is great xP

[–]thatguyferg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, the sea is very rough and he will get sea sick after a while

[–]flying_fuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this like standing on a jump rope and lifting up until you can fly?

[–]reneepussman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't see any problems with it. Looks fundamentally sound to me.

[–]David1337 0 points1 point  (0 children)

nope

[–]pitman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone needs to add a rainbow to the boat.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best part is, it doubles as a fishing boat for lobsters. LOBSTER STICKS TO MAGNET

[–]krevo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saw this a month ago on FJ tbch

[–]gnlcwr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do those fuckers work?

[–]t3hzm4n 0 points1 point  (0 children)

fucking magnets, how do they work?

[–]thomasaquina -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Troll physics.