The Explainer column at Slate, which answers questions submitted by readers, has posted the 30 best unanswered questions from the past year. Slate is running a poll to determine the “Question of the Year,” which they will then answer in the column. Winners from previous years include “Why do boys like sticks?” and “Can a bar of soap get dirty, or is it self-cleaning because it’s soap?”

Here are a few in the running for 2011*:

Why aren’t there any topless casinos in Las Vegas? There are plenty of casinos and plenty of strip clubs in Vegas but there aren’t any combinations of the two. It seems like someone would create a casino where the dealers were topless.

Why are smart people usually ugly? I get this isn’t always the case, but there does seem to be a correlation. Attractiveness doesn’t predict intelligence (not all ugly people are smart), but it seems like intelligence can be a good predictor for attractiveness (smart people are usually on the ugly side). Keep in mind, I have nothing against people who are really brilliant, I’ve just always wondered.

Vote for the question that most deserves an answer here.

*Slow news day, amirite?

5 replies on ““Can You Text 911?” and Other Unanswered Questions from 2011”

  2. Re: “Can a bar of soap get dirty?”—I’m surprised someone didn’t quote this bit from Friends:

    Joey: Hey, why can’t we use the same toothbrush, but we can use the same soap?
    Chandler: Because soap is soap. It’s self-cleaning.
    Joey: All right, well next time you take a shower, think about the last thing I wash and the first thing you wash.
    [Chandler: O_o]

  4. Tall people are generally rated as more attractive, and they tend to have higher IQs. Richard Feynman was a tall, charming son of a bitch.

    Life’s not fair.

    Also, for fuck’s sake, you notice people’s most obvious characteristic. Attractive people are attractive, so you pay the most attention to it. Smart people who are attractive are labeled attractive people. Smart people who aren’t attractive are labeled smart people. People who are neither, you probably don’t notice, unless you’re one too in which case you’re all just people and smart and/or attractive people are probably snobs to you. Most of the human condition can be attributed to selective perception and attribution bias.

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