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Economic Analysis of Toilet Seat Position
Ant writes "The Science Creative Quarterly has published an economic analysis of The Social Norm of Leaving the Toilet Down, employing game theory. This analysis is more thorough than preceding ones cited (from 2002 and 2005), as it factors in the cost of yelling. Both men and women can take some comfort in the conclusion though neither may in the end be satisfied.
As an American male I never understood this in even the slightest. The main reason being that I always close the damn toilet when I'm done using it. I mean, isn't that the very reason why there's a lid on it in the first place?
If I want to use the toilet, for whatever reason, I have to lift up the lid. If desired the seat goes up at the same time. When I'm done they both go down. I've never been in such a hurry (either before or after) that I couldn't be bothered to not leave an open toilet in my house.
Likewise I never understood how someone could use a toilet without actually looking at it. Are we to believe that people out there are so stupid that they're just blindly sitting down on toilets without even glancing at them?
Oddly enough this has sparked, though never an argument, a slightly altered problem in my household. My girlfriend sometimes, but her friends almost infallibly, leave the lid up.
It's not just my fear that something will fall in the toilet unless the lid is closed, but also the fact that it's unsightly, ignores the basic design of the device, and seems vaguely unsanitary.
Seriously, end this argument (real or imagined) for all time (not to mention the idea that dogs will apparently drink from it) by simply closing your toilet after you're done using it.