Rubes by Leigh Rubin for May 11, 2022

An odd twist of eight

In actual fact, an experiment was done in which a treat was given an octopus in one tank, in a mason jar. It took that octopus some little while to get in, but it managed. There was a nearby tank, where an octopus was able to watch the first one. When it was given the same problem / treat, it opened the jar immediately.

Smarter than many people I know

But it is the opposite if you are inside, which proves puskins is really smart.

Hands down, it’s got more brains than 10 Congressmen!!!

they also have dreams when they sleep

Since he’s in the bottle and has to actually do it in reverse, does this mean he doesn’t (even) know his right from his left?

Now have him try to change a flat tire. BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!

The interesting / frustrating thing to me is that consumer products like bread seem to come with the twist ties twisted “righty tighty” about 50% of the time. I would have assumed the twist ties are installed by machines that would always twist in the standard direction.

But it has 8 arms. How does it know right from left?

From the inside that righty tighty thing don’t work.

The way they’re making jars now, my elderly mother could use one of those octopuses!

10 altogether?

From the inside?

If you’re inside the jar, wouldn’t it be righty loosey, lefty tighty?

That saying always confused me. I could push a screw to the right or left all day long, and nothing would happen unless I turned it either clockwise or counterclockwise. People would just keep repeating that to me as a way to remember, but to this day it’s completely unhelpful.

The way I finally got it was this: clockwise is the direction of the clock, which goes toward the future, and the future is getting the job done. Therefore, associate clockwise with something coming together, and counterclockwise with undoing that work. Since I think in terms of associations, reminding myself of it takes about a quarter-second, which is a lot faster than trying to interpret this silly mnemonic.

I just love octopuses! If they weren’t confined to water, they would be the preeminent species here!

Good one.