One Above All

[Gemini Cricket]

So, I have a feeling that this thread is going to sound really, really weird so I apologize in advance.

Anyway, I thought of something interestingly wonderful and I had to share.

And, no, I'm not doobing out right now.

Here goes:


Somewhere in this world lives the tallest man. I mean, if all the men on Earth were lined up by height, someone would be the tallest. He could tell every single person he met, 'I'm taller than you.'

Somewhere in this world lives the strongest woman. If all the women in the world were put into a room, she could lift more than any of the rest of them.

Somewhere in this world lives the person who has had more sex partners than everyone else in the world.

Someone has the largest penis.

Someone has the longest hair.

Someone on our planet has spoken the most words of anyone else in the world.

Someone has walked the farthest.

Someone has hiccuped more than anyone else in the world.

There is one person on the planet who is older than all of us.

Someone holds the record for having farted more than anyone else alive.

Someone has said the word "the" more than everyone else in the world.



Don't ask me my I thought of this. It's just tripping me out. And I think it's pretty cool to think about.

We're talking about an ultimate Guiness Book of World Records that was 100% accurate.

Okay, I'm done. Welcome to Brad's Head.

[wendybeth]

It is a cool thought, and it's true. Logistically difficult to prove, but true.

The Girl would qualify for this one: " Someone holds the record for having farted more than anyone else alive." Or she will, and probably very soon.

[mousepod]

...and since there are more people alive today than ever lived in all of history combined (I think that's true), then what's the possibility that many of these all-time record holders are all alive RIGHT NOW?

(BTW, I'm not "doobing out" either)

[lizziebith]

Someone out there, right now, has typed the letter "a" more than any of us can imagine...and might have done it poetically, to boot!

But it prolly wasn't me...

[Sheila]

GC, you're not alone in this line of thought at all. I've thought about this a lot!

Having spent much of my adult life as an actress/singer, trudging from one audition to another, I've found out one thing that is very, very true: there is alway someone who is better than you, prettier than you, more talented than you. Conversely, there is something that you do that is much better than how others do it.

As a raging perfectionist, I found that I took a lot of comfort when I realized the above. I just try to do the best I can do and take pride in those things I do well.

And be profoundly humbled when I walk into an audition and find 50 clones of myself. That is both scary and funny. And totally, colossally WEIRD!

[mousepod]

"She can sing, dance, act and holds the record for having farted more than anyone else alive! That's a quadruple threat!"

That's the kind of talent that most people would keep secret...

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I love thoughts like this, GC.

I've always loved thinking about truly unknowable facts. My basic example is this. There are an exact number of spiders living within a mile radius of me. No one can ever tabulate this number, but it DOES exist.

There are tons of such numbers and absolutes that exist that we will never know. The amount of information we will never know totally dwarfs the amount that we do know.

Your list includes lots of unknowable facts, how cool is that?

[Ghoulish Delight]

This made me think of a passage from The Phantom Tollbooth. Actually, two passages. And I happen to have the book sitting right in front of me, so I'll transcribe one of them (anyone who knows the book I'm sure can guess the other I'm thinking of):

"Pardon me," said Milo to the first man who happened by; "can you tell me where I am?"
"Pardon me," replied the man; "can you tell me who I am?"
The man was dressed in a shaggy tweed jacket and knickers with long woolen stockings and a cap that had a peak both front and back, and he seemed as confused as he could be.
"You must know who you are," said Milo impatiently.
"You must know where you are," he replied with equal annoyance.
"Oh dear, this is going to be difficult," Milo whispered to Tock. "I wonder if we can help him."
They conferred for a few minutes and finallt the bug looked up and said, "Can you descripe yourself?"
"Yes, indeed," the man replied happily. "I'm as tall as can be" --and he grew straight up until all that could be seen of him were his shoes and stockings--"and I'm as short as can be"--and he shrank down to the size of a pebble. "I'm as generous as can be," he said, handing each of them a large red apple, "and I'm as selfish as can be," he snarled, grabbing them back again.
"I'm as strong as can be," he roared, lifting an enourmous boulder over his head, "and I'm as weak as can be," he gasped, staggering under the weight of his hat. "I'm as smart as can be, he remarked in tweve different languages, "and I'm as stupid as can be," he admitted, putting both feet in one shoe.
"I'm as graceful as can be," he hummed, balancing on one toe, "and I'm as clumsy as can be," he cried, sticking his thumb in his eye. "I'm as fast as can be," he announced, running around the island twice in no time at all, "and I'm as slow as can be," he complained, waving good-by to a snail. "Is that any help to you?"
Once again they conferred in busy whispers until all three agreed.
"It's really very simple," said the Humbug, twirling his cane.
"If everything you say is true," added Tock.
"Then, without a doubt," Milo concluded brightly, "you must be Canby."

[Motorboat Cruiser]

You sure you're not doobin' out, GC?

Just as fascinating to me is that there are plenty of facts that we didn't know in the past that we do now. Slowly but surely, we get answers, at least to some of our questions. We learn a little more every day, just not as quickly as we would sometimes like. I mean, who's to say that one day we won't have the means technologically to know how many spiders are in a one-mile radius.

Great thread, GC!

[lizziebith]

I should probably mention here that I have, as pets, 7 spiders.

Carry on...