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Topic: Stick Shift or Automatic? (Read 1364 times) |
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rloginunix
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Stick Shift or Automatic?
« on: Jun 7th, 2014, 7:55am » |
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Stick Shift or Automatic?
This is a true event that occurred in real life.
Once, during a workday, I had to come down and meet a female campus visitor at the main entrance to our multistory office building in order to escort her to our offices area on the higher floors. I've never met that person before or since, so this was the first, the only and the last time I've seen her (and no - I didn't see where she parked).
- Hi, how are you?
- Good, thanks.
- This way, please.
As we were approaching the elevators, for a brief moment, I walked behind the visitor, and when we stepped inside the elevator I said:
- How do you like driving a stick shift?
Instead of answering my question her reply was: "How did you know?"
So, the question is - how did I know?
This is not a trick question. Mostly logic, a bit of luck. Put your Sherlock Holmes hat on for this one.
Terms clarification:
"Stick shift" and "automatic" are vehicle transmission types. A "stick shift" or simply a "stick" refers to a passenger car with a manual transmission, "automatic" refers to a passenger car with an automatic transmission.
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Grimbal
wu::riddles Moderator
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #1 on: Jun 7th, 2014, 11:09am » |
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Maybe she rested her hand a long time on the stick, and the diagram showing which gear is where was imprinted in her palm.
Maybe you knew she came by airplane, so she rented a car, and the only rental car company rents cars with manual shift.
Or she came for a precise purpose that has to do with the car, so you know the exact model of her car.
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rloginunix
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #2 on: Jun 7th, 2014, 12:34pm » |
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When Sherlock Holmes accepted visitors in his room on Baker Street he paid a special attention to the visitor's appearance.
In his first suggestion Grimbal nailed that one. Very observational and very close but not exactly what I saw.
I didn't mention it in the problem statement, sorry, but since I work as a programmer the person's visit had solely programming/IT purpose. And I wasn't really told where the person is coming from. When you solve it you will see that it doesn't really matter.
So let's discard the last two versions and concentrate on the first one.
Hint: aside from the transmission's lever (that you manipulate with your hand) what other differences between the transmission types affect you directly?
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #3 on: Jun 7th, 2014, 1:32pm » |
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My guess:
In an automatic car there is no clutch. So the driver does all of their pedal-pressing with one foot. This driver had leg muscles which appeared to be equally well-maintained by pedal pressing.
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rloginunix
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #4 on: Jun 7th, 2014, 1:45pm » |
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dudiobugtron is getting closer but the lady's business attire included trousers, amongst other things.
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #5 on: Jun 7th, 2014, 5:33pm » |
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Here are some more (probably further from correct) guesses:
1) She had some creases in her clothing on the (right?) side corresponding to her having to change gears a lot.
2) You saw the keys to her car, which gave you the clue you needed to identify the type of car she drive.
3) She was wearing something on her (left?) hand side which was conspicuously absent from the (right?) hand side, to avoid getting in the way of the gear stick. Perhaps, for example, you expected her to wear her watch on her right wrist, since she pressed the elevator button with her left hand and is therefore (probably) left handed. Or, perhaps, her sleeve was rolled up a bit on only one side
4) You saw the soles of both of her shoes were worn in the places you would press the pedals, instead of only being worn on one shoe (as you might see in an automatic with no clutch).
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| « Last Edit: Jun 7th, 2014, 5:36pm by dudiobugtron » |
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alien2
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #6 on: Jun 8th, 2014, 5:18am » |
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She was mimicking with her hand the moves of a driver shifting gears in the car.
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rloginunix
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #7 on: Jun 8th, 2014, 10:06am » |
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OK, guys, you are almost there.
dudiobugtron's idea 4) puts you one step closer to the intended answer.
The only objection there is that while walking behind a person in close proximity (especially if you are a bit taller) you can't really see the bottom of the person's shoes too well. However, you can see some other part of the shoe.
Combine that with the operational mechanics (as it relates to the driver's feet) of constantly driving a stick shift ...
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #8 on: Jun 8th, 2014, 11:48pm » |
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Those clues do rule out a lot of potential answers, so it's probably a good bet we can get the answer now with trial and error.
Here are a few trials (and errors) to get started:
a) The toes on her 'clutch pedal' foot were marked in such a way as to suggest she was using the pedal often (eg: worn nails or nail polish, calluses, etc...
b) She had her clothing 'tucked away' sensibly to avoid interference with the clutch pedal (eg: pants tucked in to her sock, shoe lace tucked into her shoe etc...)
c) She wore sensible driving shoes on both feet, and carried her dress shoes with her.
d) Her clutch-pedal footwear(eg: shoe or sock) was stained with something (sweat, oil, etc...) caused by frequent operation of the clutch pedal.
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rloginunix
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #9 on: Jun 9th, 2014, 9:21am » |
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Good job, dudiobugtron. Choice d) is close enough to declare it an intended answer:
While walking behind the person I couldn't help but notice two characteristic contrasting color stains on the (facing me) outer back portion of the shoes just above the heel area - off to the right on the right shoe and off to the left on the left shoe. The stain on the right shoe, I reasoned, came from the constant "wear and tear" of (left-to-right) shoe swinging on its heel as a pivot while operating the "gas" and the "break" pedals - automatic. The stain on the left shoe came from the constant "wear and tear" of depressing the clutch pedal (back and forth) - stick.
As I added at the end of the problem statement there was some amount of "luck" that on that day that person was wearing her driving shoes. The rest was (I hope) pure reasoning: shoe stains -> pedals -> transmission type.
You can also experiment with this yourself.
I was wondering. Is it possible to apply this logic to detect where the steering column is - on the left or on the right? I've never driven a car with the steering column on the right side so don't really know its pedals' configuration.
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dudiobugtron
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #10 on: Jun 9th, 2014, 5:47pm » |
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The setup for right-side steering column vehicles is the same in terms of the pedals. You use your left foot to operate the clutch, and your right foot to operate the brake and accelerator..
So, you couldn't use that to work out the side of the car that the steering column is in.
However, you could probably just guess that the steering column is on the side closest to the middle of the road when you are driving the correct way (for your locality). You would almost certainly be correct.
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| « Last Edit: Jun 9th, 2014, 5:48pm by dudiobugtron » |
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Grimbal
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #11 on: Jun 11th, 2014, 6:06am » |
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In summer she could have more sun tan on the arm near the window. Especially if she winds the window down and rests her arm on the door frame.
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EdwardSmith
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #12 on: Jul 7th, 2014, 11:42am » |
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Her shoes were creased due to her bending her toes when pressing the pedal.
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thechickster
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Re: Stick Shift or Automatic?
« Reply #13 on: Aug 3rd, 2014, 4:52pm » |
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Automatic, less bs, and makes life easier.
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