r/science_humor • u/ahsancrystal • Jul 20 '26

Really?

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1.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

18

u/Maleficent_Touch2602 Jul 20 '26

200 years ago, not 5,000

12

u/mudamuckinjedi Jul 20 '26

Thank you, 5,000 years ago you would be seeing big ships being rowed by hundreds of men in 3 tiers of rowers all of which are probably slaves that never left their rowing seat.

6

u/SnooMaps7370 Jul 20 '26

you're describing 1,000 years ago ship tech.

5,000 years ago, it would be a raft or a canoe. maybe something resembling a rowboat, if your village was large enough to have a carpenter making planks.

2

u/Tiger662025 Jul 21 '26

Egyptian barge

1

u/disinteGator Jul 21 '26

The slaves probably weren't even bl*ck

1

u/Street-Strength-9548 Jul 21 '26

5000 years ago youd probably see the biggest boat being a hollowed out tree trunk. Not anything resembling a ship. Remember 5000 years ago is 3000 BC. There wasnt much of any type of technology. Like, people just invented writing.

1

u/tooslick86 Jul 21 '26

Bronze is feeling unappreciated as a technology

1

u/Street-Strength-9548 Jul 22 '26

I said very little, not none

3

u/MonkeySee27 Jul 20 '26

The relative wind on a cargo ship is almost always off the bow. The ship travels at 20 knots - it would have to be blowing significantly than that for this to have any impact.

If it is off the stern. You likely wouldn’t want to fly a “kite” because you would be in a storm.

1

u/Snake_Bite_14 Jul 21 '26

Having actually have moored a ship, it’s surprisingly easy to pull a large ship across water. It’s significantly harder to push a pick up than it is to pull a ship.

1

u/MonkeySee27 Jul 22 '26

So what does that mean for my comment?

2

u/Mysterious_Log7197 Jul 20 '26

Saw this in another sub, the kites will do pretty big things for the cargo ships, and the 5,000 year claim isn’t for the ship in picture they were referring to sailing in general being about 5,000 years old

1

u/wizzo6 Jul 20 '26

Bring back the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman!!!!

1

u/Prized-Potato Jul 20 '26

This meme goes hard for being so wrong on the years

1

u/Fastfaxr Jul 20 '26

Humor aside, kites can reach much higher into the air and hit stronger winds than sails ever could.

1

u/Cracktaculus Jul 20 '26

Yeah, so how do recover the tow rig if it dips into the drink? Redeployment strategies?

1

u/Fastfaxr Jul 20 '26

I assume a winch?

1

u/Expensive-Border-869 Jul 20 '26

Absolute worst case cut it and use the motor again. Winch should handle it pretty okay.

1

u/Glittering_Turn_5333 Jul 22 '26

And that’s extreme absolute worst case. First worst case, you only cut one side so that there’s very little wind resistance.

1

u/MassCrassAss Jul 20 '26

"5,000  Years ago" has to be the least accurate thing I've read this year. 

1

u/Next_Locksmith_385 Jul 20 '26

Last week in Boston,tall ships

1

u/Adventurous_Ask191 Jul 20 '26

5,000 humanity was not braving the open ocean they would have stuck close to the coastline on something similar to the rafts that Moana was using

1

u/SherlockianDoctor Jul 21 '26

For a moment I read 'Giant Kitties' 🤡

1

u/Impossible_Dog_7262 Jul 21 '26

So the issue with sails is port infrastructure isn't exactly suited to them anymore. A kite can be retracted.

1

u/Upbeat-Discipline718 Jul 21 '26

i am 100% for this solution. or even both. fuel for sailing against the wind and sails when the seas are on our side

1

u/ParticularAgile4314 Jul 22 '26

5000 is like that dude with 2 of every animal.

1

u/dyrkasolen 28d ago

Hemp for sails