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Category: Weirdness
Posted on: July 10, 2009 10:34 AM, by PZ Myers
You all recall Ray's amusing video in which he praises the 'design' of the banana, with it's pop-top for easy opening. Well, somebody watched how banana-opening experts, monkeys, peel bananas, and we've been doing it all wrong.
I just tried it, and it works. It's a revelation, and my life is changed forever. Praise be unto the wise monkey!
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Comments
Posted by: Mozglubov | July 10, 2009 10:43 AM
I had actually heard that monkeys do this a number of years ago... but I didn't know about the pinching, so it never made much sense to me. Amazing...
Posted by: Geds | July 10, 2009 10:44 AM
A couple years ago I was first exposed to the banana argument and the stupid, stupid video. I was in a discussion somewhere (I think it was over at Slacktivist, actually) and the idea of opening the banana from the other end came up.
I've been doing it that way ever since. It works so beautifully. And I still sometimes think, "Take that, Ray Comfort!"
Posted by: Tor A H | July 10, 2009 10:44 AM
Nice little trick, but I have never struggled with the stem like he says he does. I can't believe he has to bite it.
I'll have to use this tomorrow at work and impress everyone.
Posted by: BaldySlaphead | July 10, 2009 10:44 AM
A key is smarter than Ray Comfort, let along a monkey...
Can't wait to get home and try this!
Posted by: Alverant | July 10, 2009 10:46 AM
If Comfort's idea that the banana is intelligently designed, then one should ask about the pawpaw fruit. It's very nutritious but has such a short shelf life and is so hard to harvest in mass quantities that it will never be popular (or even widely known). One would think an intelligent designer wouldn't put such a fruit so far out of reach.
(It's also worth pointing out that the bananas we eat most of the time are from cloned plants.)
Posted by: BaldySlaphead | July 10, 2009 10:46 AM
It turns out that I can't spell 'alone', so I am apparently dumber than Ray.
Arseholes.
Posted by: PGPWNIT
|
July 10, 2009 10:47 AM
I've always opened banana from the 'bottom'. People always called me weird. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, HUH???
Posted by: SciencePundit
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July 10, 2009 10:48 AM
Clearly this means that the designer of the universe is a baboon.
Posted by: notedscholar | July 10, 2009 10:50 AM
Like most of your posts, this one assumes that the only legitimate human value is laziness. Obviously the proper way is the way Ray Comfort was doing it, if and only if it is valuable to do real work, and get exercise. This is why scientists like you should avoid forays into philosophy.
NS
Posted by: Joven | July 10, 2009 10:53 AM
#2, me too, been doing it about 2 years.
Ray Comfort IS a valuable tool for learning, if hes doing or thinking something, its probably wrong, so we can find a better way.
Posted by: MikeS29 | July 10, 2009 10:54 AM
Easy to divide a banana by three people, too...just stick your finger in one end and push the length of the banana...divides perfectly in thirds!
Posted by: KI | July 10, 2009 10:55 AM
I had heard about opening bananas from the "wrong" end but hadn't gotten it to work. Pinch it first! I learn so much here.
Posted by: AJ Milne | July 10, 2009 10:56 AM
Indeed. While it's a neat trick, I dunno about the salesmanship. Saying 'you can be smarter than Ray Comfort--just watch this video' is a bit like saying 'you can direct better movies than Uwe Boll...'
Posted by: daveau
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July 10, 2009 11:00 AM
Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle.
Posted by: Ken | July 10, 2009 11:02 AM
Ray Comfort IS a valuable tool for learning
Oh, he's a tool alright
Posted by: JefFlyingV | July 10, 2009 11:03 AM
You mean to say Ray Comfort doesn't rely on divine intervention open his banana? I'm appalled.
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
|
July 10, 2009 11:03 AM
Notedscholar, your post showed us clear proof why you are neither noted nor a scholar. But then, we knew that from your previous inane posts.
Posted by: Leslie in Canada | July 10, 2009 11:05 AM
I actually read about this way of opening bananas years ago in a cycling magazine. Since many cyclists carry bananas, it is a safe and efficient way to open them one-handed after you take one out of your jersey pocket by pinching the riper end.
Posted by: EricJuve | July 10, 2009 11:05 AM
This surprises me, I've never done it any other way.
Posted by: Marion Delgado | July 10, 2009 11:05 AM
Ray was just trying to get into Kirk Cameron's pants using a fairly heavy-handed metaphor.
;)
Posted by: xebecs | July 10, 2009 11:07 AM
Thats doesnt Prove antyhing! Maybe banaaams were SPCEIALY DESIGNED to be opened th hard way!!!
Posted by: daveau
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July 10, 2009 11:08 AM
notedscholar@9
Laziness is the father of invention.
Posted by: jpf | July 10, 2009 11:12 AM
If you're obstinate about wanting to open the banana from the stem (like God intended) and struggle with it like the guy in the video, here's a protip: hold the banana in your hand stem-side up with the curve aimed toward you and the bottom of the stem at the level of your bent thumb. Now make a quick lateral slash of the peel with your thumbnail. The slash doesn't have to be deep, just enough to create a weak point that will make the peel split open easily when you pull the stem back.
The whole procedure can be done in one fluid movement while picking the banana up, and you don't have to reposition it as much in your hands to eat like with the monkey method.
Posted by: Kevin B | July 10, 2009 11:16 AM
I always peel bananas from the middle.
Grip it firmly in both hands, overhand, about an inch apart or less. Snap the banana in half. Peel from the middle.
It's also an impressive way share a banana (much like crushing beer cans on your forehead is an impressive way to recycle).
Posted by: unicow | July 10, 2009 11:17 AM
Obviously, Comfort avoids opening bananas from the bottom because of its sinful nature.
I'd imagine he already experiences some discomfort just eating them from the top. Pinching their bottoms first and going in the "back door" can't possibly be allowed.
Posted by: mr P | July 10, 2009 11:18 AM
Happy Monkey!!!
Posted by: Kevin B | July 10, 2009 11:18 AM
God designed monkeys to teach us how to peel bananas.
Posted by: SciencePundit
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July 10, 2009 11:19 AM
@jpf (#23)
Some of us keep our cuticles groomed; your method would fail for us.
Posted by: hi | July 10, 2009 11:21 AM
opening the banana this way pinches the fruit at that end and leaves that gross, hard. center stemmy bit in the end. peeling it from the main stem end doesn't do this and you can gently pull the last bit of fruit out of the other end when you get to it, without that black center hard bit coming with it. i'll stick to my non-simian method thx!
Posted by: amon | July 10, 2009 11:22 AM
It's never easy to accept advice from men in their underwear - especially about bananas /:
Posted by: Haruhiist | July 10, 2009 11:23 AM
@Nerd of Readhead, #17
Notedscholar's comment read as sarcasm to me. And he's right too, if and only if it is valuable to do real work and get exercise (more so than it is valuable to be lazy), then Comfort's way is better. Of course, the premise can very much be debated, but hey:)
Posted by: Haruhiist | July 10, 2009 11:26 AM
That should have been redhead in #31 o/c
Posted by: Somnolent Aphid | July 10, 2009 11:26 AM
I often pray for my bananas to open themselves.
Posted by: Mena | July 10, 2009 11:26 AM
Nice skivvies...
I usually just do the jam the thumbnail into the side and pull method. I do prefer them a bit more ripe than most people so sometimes that gets a bit sloppy. Next time, though, I am going to try this method.
Posted by: Geds | July 10, 2009 11:27 AM
opening the banana this way pinches the fruit at that end and leaves that gross, hard. center stemmy bit in the end.
Actually, I don't pinch it. If you look at the tip of the banana you'll see that it's segmented. I just peel it apart and usually end up with three peel segments. Then I pull the stemmy bit right out and toss it in the trash.
Posted by: AJ Milne | July 10, 2009 11:28 AM
Re #28:
I generally use a knife, actually, for just that reason. (Nails kinda have to be short if you play strings.)
Posted by: frank | July 10, 2009 11:28 AM
I too have now seen the light from the monkeys. I ate a bana and used that method. Truly life-changing.
Posted by: jpf | July 10, 2009 11:29 AM
@TSP(#28)
It'll work just fine no matter how you keep your cuticles groomed (unless you have rediculously long nails or something). All you need to do is create a weaker point in the otherwise uniform peel, so it doesn't require an actual cut.
Posted by: HoleyHands | July 10, 2009 11:31 AM
The Creationist Nightmare: Banana Man 2.0
Posted by: Carlie | July 10, 2009 11:34 AM
If you just wait until it's ripe, it opens from the top end very easily. Impatient people.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 10, 2009 11:35 AM
that banana is smarter than Ray Comfort.
Posted by: Savior Breath | July 10, 2009 11:35 AM
Since Ray Comfart can see the godliness in foods that have proverbial pop-tops, I suppose he thinks that god is therefore urging us not to eat certain things by making them hard to grow, harvest, prepare, or swallow.
No more coconuts for sure.
Yessir. Foods that present difficulties are demon-infested. Don't eat anything that doesn't grow instantly at your feet, jettison its husk, and leap right into your mouth at the strike of the dinner bell.
I'm sure Ray finds M&Ms waaaaay too hard to peel.
Posted by: Dahan | July 10, 2009 11:40 AM
Ha! I've known about his since I was a teenager. One of my friends noticed the monkeys at the zoo doing it, tired it, then showed me.
Posted by: KemaTheAtheist | July 10, 2009 11:42 AM
That's funny. I heard a long time ago that we're the only animal that opens a banana from the top, so I embraced my genetic roots and switched, I've been opening my bananas that way ever since.
I'm proud to be an animal and eat my food the proper way... from the bottom as nature intended before people thought of God and changed it just to be less like an animal.
Posted by: catgirl | July 10, 2009 11:44 AM
I've always wondered what Comfort's thoughts are about oranges. Oranges are the most delicious fruit, even better than bananas. Yet someone designed them to be so messy that I'm embarrassed to eat them in public. Why would the designer make a fruit that is the most delicious but also the most difficult? Is it actually sinful to eat oranges? Was this the work of the devil?
As for bananas, I only like them when they are pretty ripe, and by that time they are easy to open in the correct, God-mandated way. Obviously it's sinful to eat a banana that has not started to turn brown.
Posted by: Martin_z | July 10, 2009 11:46 AM
Actually, last time I was at the zoo I watched a gorilla with a bunch of bananas. He just ate them, peel and all.
Posted by: Desert Son
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July 10, 2009 11:49 AM
lol, I love stuff like this.
Banana just got added to my lunch menu so I can try this!
No kings,
Robert
Posted by: Alfonso | July 10, 2009 11:55 AM
lol, all my life I've opened bananas this way :P
Posted by: Savior Breath | July 10, 2009 11:58 AM
OT
I just heard that Rick Perry nominated Gail Lowe to the SBOE chair. I am trying to verify...
Posted by: bobxxxx | July 10, 2009 12:01 PM
I once watched a gorilla (at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo) eat a large carrot. For the first bite he used all his teeth on one side of his mouth.
At the same zoo I was a victim of a gorilla's well thought out practical joke (terror was involved).
I've seen videos of tests that showed chimpanzee apes have a short term memory that is much better than human apes.
The Christian retards who think the human species are a big deal because they were magically created by their god fairy should wonder why other species are so much better than we are at so many things (flying, living under water, climbing trees, being able to survive in jungles, being able to survive in extreme cold, etc).
Posted by: Qwerty | July 10, 2009 12:01 PM
Wow, even monkeys are smarter than Ray Comfort!
Posted by: Desert Son
|
July 10, 2009 12:01 PM
A couple of years ago I was at the zoo in Seattle and happened along to the primate area at feeding time. Lunch for the gorilla family that day was a wide variety of raw vegetables and some fruits (though no bananas that particular feeding).
It was so cool to watch. The gorillas emerged from the brush of their area, gathered not close, but in a sort of loose grouping, and the food was tossed in small bunches. It was just so cool to watch them eat.
I have sort of mixed feelings about zoos, and had a mixture of feelings as I watched the gorillas eat. Was I intruding into someone's home at meal time, gawking? There was a definite sense of that. It was beautiful, too, though, and the kind of thing I'm never likely to see otherwise than a zoo setting. So awesome.
It also reminded me how hard it is not to see the common ancestry that would produce primates, including humans! C'mon! Behavioral and morphological similarities! Attention: evolution deniers! We have met the primates, and they are us!
No kings,
Robert
Posted by: Isaac Alec Mills
|
July 10, 2009 12:02 PM
We are speaking of Ray Comfort? Well at least it isn't as bad as the video.
Here: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/09/bananas-are-atheist.html
Guess they were doing it wrong.
Posted by: anomaly | July 10, 2009 12:04 PM
well this just shows the most Godly fruit is obviously the berry...boisen, straw, rasp, blue, dingle
Posted by: Steven Carr | July 10, 2009 12:05 PM
Now if we can only get you to pronounce it ba-nar-na , as God intended the word to be pronounced....
Posted by: Sclerophanax | July 10, 2009 12:07 PM
All this time I've been opening bananas the right way, and I didn't even know there was a wrong one! Surely this proves I not only came from a monkey but still am one (a catarrhine, that is).
Posted by: anomaly | July 10, 2009 12:07 PM
check that, boysen...or boy's-n
Posted by: 'Tis Himself
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July 10, 2009 12:08 PM
I don't have a problem opening banananannananas. I have the same problem that Nanny Ogg, in Witches Abroad, has. I know how to start spelling bananananana but I'm not sure where to stop.
Posted by: Jojo | July 10, 2009 12:08 PM
Why are these comments making me blush...
Posted by: MissPrism | July 10, 2009 12:09 PM
I once saw a chimp eat bananas by holding them firmly at both ends, squeezing hard, then licking the resultant projectile puree off his hands, feet, floor and enclosure wall.
Posted by: Desert Son
|
July 10, 2009 12:09 PM
As a young child, I wondered furiously why anyone would eat poisonberries.
Dad explained; an early lesson in plosive sound discrimination was enjoyed by all.
No kings,
Robert
Posted by: Wildflower | July 10, 2009 12:18 PM
@Alverant (#5)
And not just selectively breed and cloned... often, there doesn't even exist a full plant since the seeds aren't fertile or completely missing and the twigs of a certain breed need to be fused with a host plant.
Tracie Harris wrote an excellent blog post that borders on these issues.
Posted by: Roland Branconnier | July 10, 2009 12:21 PM
As Albert Szent-Gyorgyi said:
"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought."
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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July 10, 2009 12:25 PM
, Nerd is fine, the Redhead is my wife.Notedscholar is a troll who drops his excrement on this blog every so often. So he is well beyond the 3 post rule.
Posted by: David Ratnasabapathy | July 10, 2009 12:30 PM
Carlie #40
Ya, if opening the banana is that hard, it's not ripe. It won't taste nice and it'll leave a funny dry taste in the mouth.
Tasty bananas open easily top or bottom. Nasty ones don't.
Posted by: Sherry
|
July 10, 2009 12:34 PM
Paw-paws are the best, and uniquely American.
"Pickin' up paw-paws, put 'em in your pocket"
Some of my clearest childhood memories involve eating paw-paws in Clay County Kentucky with my "kin".
They are tastier than any banana I've ever ate here in the U.S. (There are some tiny bananas in the Philippines that are awfully good too.)
Posted by: Spanish Inquisitor | July 10, 2009 12:35 PM
Sonofabitch! I'll bet it was designed that way.
Posted by: Steve_C | July 10, 2009 12:38 PM
Ha. I've known this for years. Taught my son to open a banana that way too.
Posted by: TLP | July 10, 2009 12:38 PM
I've always opened banas like that. Ha! I'm smarter than Ray Comfort.
In fact, if you twist the skin a little off the middle of the banana you don't need to pinch at all (and don't risk getting banana goo all over your fingers).
Posted by: aratina cage
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July 10, 2009 12:40 PM
This right here is why I am an atheist. When you can go most of your life in a believer-infested land and never know about something as simple and elegant as this, it disproves that believers have all the facts, the right facts, or even any knowledge of the facts at all.
I couldn't wait to try opening a banana in that way, and sure enough a slightly green Dole banana split right open with a gentle pinch. It reminds me of when I first saw bananas growing "upside-down" on a tree in Hawaii. The bananas were not hanging like apples by the stem (or "tab" as Ray likes to call it). Instead, the bananas were anchored by the stem and growing upwards pointing towards the sky.
Posted by: Southern Comfort | July 10, 2009 12:42 PM
Damn! Evolution in reverse! Ya learn something new everyday.
p.s. Hope to see you in Columbus next month, P.Z.
Posted by: IBY | July 10, 2009 12:55 PM
D'oh! It would have saved me quiet some time if I had thought of this a long time ago. I think it is time we learn something from the monkeys. ^_^
Posted by: Michelle R
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July 10, 2009 12:56 PM
Holy smokes, it'S actually way easier that way!
I learned something! From monkeys!
Posted by: Greg F. | July 10, 2009 12:58 PM
I've always been opening bananas from the top. Just never made sense to me to open it upside down. Apparently the monkey ancestry is strong in me.
Now I'm off to groom, defend my territory and fish for termites with a thin little branch...
Posted by: 'Tis Himself
|
July 10, 2009 1:06 PM
Note to self: Wear nice boxer shorts when making next video.
Posted by: Singular | July 10, 2009 1:07 PM
Gods damn. And you know it takes a lot for an atheist to say that!
Posted by: tsg | July 10, 2009 1:14 PM
I'd try it, but that would mean having to eat the banana.
Posted by: jdhuey | July 10, 2009 1:16 PM
Was this insight gained from a monkey that was in someones pants? Another example of how our lives are improved by religion.
Posted by: Person253 | July 10, 2009 1:22 PM
So let me get this straight.........people have trouble.....opening bananas, i understand some might like cyclists as mentioned about but seriously who the hell cares the difference in effort is miniscule.
Posted by: chrisD | July 10, 2009 1:23 PM
And with a single post from PZ Myers the world's banana stocks did plummet, and the chiquita lady could finally retire off to a frozen tundra where bananas were unheard of.
Posted by: JamesBrown | July 10, 2009 1:28 PM
God
This after just learning the proper way to open a potato chip package (always used to tear the damn thing open and have chips fly all over the place).
I am such a slow learner
Posted by: Thanny
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July 10, 2009 1:31 PM
Those bananas are not ripe. There must be brown specks all over, and then it will open easily, as a couple of others have said.
I can't imagine how many people don't even know what a ripe banana tastes like.
Posted by: Colin | July 10, 2009 1:33 PM
I much prefer Alex Comfort's insights (outdated as it may be) to Ray Comfort's babbling incoherence. I'll leave it at that, because I need to go find a banana to try this out! Way cool!
Posted by: Colin | July 10, 2009 1:33 PM
I much prefer Alex Comfort's insights (outdated as they may be) to Ray Comfort's babbling incoherence. I'll leave it at that, because I need to go find a banana to try this out! Way cool!
Posted by: shonny
|
July 10, 2009 1:33 PM
Is it just that notedscholar has confused 'being on notice' with being noted?
Posted by: Somnolent Aphid | July 10, 2009 1:36 PM
'cept in the summer, frozen bananas don't peel either way worth a dang. but then again, neither do monkeys i expect. is there some way to get ray comfort in the freezer too? oh god does this break pz's "no threats of violence" policy?
Posted by: Somnolent Aphid | July 10, 2009 1:39 PM
and banana slicers? what are those about?
Posted by: jimmiraybob | July 10, 2009 1:41 PM
Sure. Fine. If ya'll want to go with the Monkey worldview (Satanic) of banana peeling go right ahead. I would remind you however, that it does not answer the Big Questions and provides no frame with which to bridge and, henceforth, will only provide a distraction.
Damned New Monkeyists
Posted by: Paleos | July 10, 2009 1:45 PM
HAPPY MONKEY!!
I have heard of this before too, but never tried it, and it does work spectacularly well!
Posted by: Tom | July 10, 2009 1:54 PM
Just to clarify as there seems to be some confusion... monkeys open the banana at the top. Bananas grow with the stem on the bottom.
http://www.davidmacd.com/images/barbados_st_lucia/100_4807_banana_tree.jpg
Posted by: SC, OM | July 10, 2009 1:54 PM
Is there video anywhere of monkeys actually opening bananas this way?
Posted by: JBlilie | July 10, 2009 1:55 PM
I've been all over the world (and eaten a lot of bananas there). Most people use the "tab" as a handle for holding the banana.
Roy Comfort, besides his other failings, thinks the only banana is the Cavendish cultivar and that Cavendish bananas are found in nature. Amazing display of ignorance and complete lack of research and inquisitiveness. (Any wonder he isn't a scientist?!)
Posted by: pvrugg | July 10, 2009 1:58 PM
For me, a perfectly ripe banana is completely yellow - if there are any brown specks on it at all, I won't touch it - it's beyond the peak of ripeness for me.
That being said, I now feel much better armed when confronted with an obstinate banana: I can peel from either end or the middle, and I can probably dispose of my old way of freezing it in liquid nitrogen then shattering it to get at the fruit inside, as it was getting rather expensive.
Also, does this change the way in which you defend yourself when attacked by a man armed with a banana? Can you just cut to the chase and drop the 16 ton weight on him...?
Posted by: pvrugg | July 10, 2009 2:01 PM
Oddly, it's the only fruit I'm anal about...
um... NOT LIKE THAT!!!
Posted by: 'Tis Himself
|
July 10, 2009 2:08 PM
Next, using a spoon to eat soup instead of slurping it directly from the bowl (and having half the soup end up in one's lap).
Posted by: dogmeatIB | July 10, 2009 2:09 PM
Anyone know if this works with non-modified wild bananas?
Posted by: Spiro Keat | July 10, 2009 2:11 PM
Monkeys have opposable thumbs?
Posted by: Die Anyway | July 10, 2009 2:14 PM
@44: "I'm proud to be an animal and eat my food the proper way... from the bottom "
Well, the way bananas grow, what you are calling the bottom is actually the top. I have to admit though that I never thought to try opening one from the "top". I learned the stem method as a child and just stuck with it. As someone noted above, it's not as difficult as the video guy made it out to be. Still, I've got to try the monkey method.
Posted by: Aspentroll | July 10, 2009 2:14 PM
Hey you're all bananas:>} Ray and Kirk have been using bananas differently than most for years. Ray hangs one down
the front of his pants for effect and Kirk......well you know.
Posted by: Newfie | July 10, 2009 2:25 PM
I don't eat many bananas, but I did as a child, and would open them "monkey style".
I likely saw this method on the CBC Childrens Show, Mr. Dressup, over 30 years ago.
Posted by: SciencePundit
|
July 10, 2009 2:42 PM
So if Ray Comfort was wrong about which end to open a banana, could he also have been wrong about which end to open a coke can? I seem to recall something about that from college, although I think it actually involved beer cans.
Posted by: Mena | July 10, 2009 2:43 PM
But Newfie, was Mr. Dressup wearing cool monkey boxers?
Posted by: Newfie | July 10, 2009 2:49 PM
Mena, he was likely wearing a monkey costume, from his "tickle trunk".
Posted by: AdamK | July 10, 2009 2:54 PM
I don't care. I refuse to eat a banana backwards.
Young people these days, with their innovations! Bah!
Posted by: Mark | July 10, 2009 3:05 PM
Ray Comfort is a total moron. The Cavendish banana variety was created by MAN. It is a cultivar. His god did NOT create it. The original banana variety that started the banana craze went EXTINCT in the 20th century. The Cavendish variety is a poor replacement because it barely tastes banana-y in comparison.
Ray, you are a fool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavendish_banana
Posted by: mathyoo | July 10, 2009 3:17 PM
I learned this a few years ago. We taught it to our daughter, too, because it's easier for a small child to peel a banana that way, and she thinks it's pretty cool to peel a banana the same way that monkeys do.
Posted by: Aspentroll | July 10, 2009 3:20 PM
Hey you're all bananas:>} Ray and Kirk have been using bananas differently than most for years. Ray hangs one down
the front of his pants for effect and Kirk......well you know.
Posted by: Alex Besogonov | July 10, 2009 3:31 PM
I first saw a banana when I was like 13, and it hadn't even occurred to me that you can open it from the stem! It's so much easier to open it from the 'bottom'.
Hm... I actually never even saw it being opened from the bottom!
Posted by: BlueMonday | July 10, 2009 3:32 PM
When I saw the infamous Ray Comfort video, that was actually one of the first things I thought of (once the shock wore off and I was capable of articulate thought). I learned that method while I was living in Germany. It gets rid of that weird little nubbin AND it gives you an excellent handle (the stem) so you don't accidentally smash the fruit. I've been trying to spread the gospel for the last 9 years. Thank you, PZ, for joining the fight.
Posted by: John M | July 10, 2009 3:42 PM
@82"I can't imagine how many people don't even know what a ripe banana tastes like."
As most bananas seem to be picked too early, in order to increase shelf-life I suppose, very few people would know how a ripe banana really tastes. When they develop brown spots on the outside they should be ripe, but these days all seem to be in an intermediate state somewhere between raw and rotten.
To enjoy a ripe banana one needs to be in a producing area and make sure they've only come off the tree when ready.
Posted by: John | July 10, 2009 3:47 PM
If you want to really impress the ladies with your banana eating skills kneed the banana till insides go mushy, then slice of the top and squeeze out like toothpaste :)
Posted by: Don't Panic | July 10, 2009 3:49 PM
Kevin@24,
My son mysteriously started peeling bananas this way (snapping them in half and peeling the halves) recently. I don't know where he learned that trick but it amazes me that the banana just cleanly snaps in half with no muss. My wife and I both do the fingernail slash at the stem.
Posted by: William McBrine
|
July 10, 2009 4:02 PM
I hate to belabor the obvious, but notedscholar is a parodist. Not a Poe, either -- he's way too blatant. Seriously, check out his web site.
Posted by: Wehaf | July 10, 2009 4:14 PM
Mark @105 - actually the page for the previous cultivar, the Gros Michel (or Big Mike) cultivar, indicates that it is not extinct. "The Honduras Foundation for Agricultural Research cultivates several varieties of the Gros Michel." I find that information comforting!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gros_Michel_banana
Posted by: Inky | July 10, 2009 4:17 PM
I've always opened it from the non-stem end, with my fingernail puncturing one side, then grabbing the very end of the peel plus a bit of the edible end inside and pulling it down. I hate the bananus, that black part of the edible banana, so I get it out of the way first thing.
The stem is good as a handle as you munch your way down.
Posted by: Sili
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July 10, 2009 4:30 PM
But why would you want to eat bananas? It's ze froot off ze debil!
"My whole life I didn't know the right way to open a banana. And now you do too."
That's sounds like one for LanguageLog. Shades of "I am America. And so can you."
Posted by: Pat | July 10, 2009 4:37 PM
Can't help but mention that in the Mario Kart games, the bananas used for the banana peel weapons are clearly opened this way too, as the stem is on top. Yet another example of fun things to be learned from video games!
Posted by: Stardrake
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July 10, 2009 4:38 PM
"Also, does this change the way in which you defend yourself when attacked by a man armed with a banana? Can you just cut to the chase and drop the 16 ton weight on him...?"
No, no, NO! You deal with the banana killer by shootin' 'im, thus forcin' 'im to drop the banana! The 16-ton weight is used for dealing with the raspberry fiend!
Back on topic--I must obtain a banana and try this!
Posted by: Xenithrys | July 10, 2009 4:44 PM
As a botanist, I can say "how disappointing not to have thought of that!" A banana is a berry made up of three fused carpels, and of course the carpels are going to easily split apart at the stigma end. That's an interpretation based on homology and descent with modification. It both works and it's consistent with everything else we know; unlike Comfort's explanation, which doesn't work and is consistent only with some of the myths that were made up several thousand years ago to manipulate people.
Posted by: Wallace turner | July 10, 2009 5:06 PM
... this just proves that Ray Comfort is absolutely right - we couldn't have evolved from monkeys, otherwise we'd know this already ...
Posted by: littlejohn | July 10, 2009 5:10 PM
No. "Monkeys are smarter than I." Or at least they have better grammar.
Posted by: Anonymous Coward | July 10, 2009 5:28 PM
When I was a little kid, I opened bananas on the non-tip side (because they wouldn't open at the seemingly obvious way of entry). I was soon corrected by adults who amused themselves marvelling at how much trouble I had opening bananas. Kids don't have as much dexterity and strength, that isn't their fault, stop laughing. A few years back (~2003?) I was told by someone that the non-tip end is easier. Now I'm a bit of a ‘habit person’, and buying bananas wasn't one of my little habits so I probably hadn't eaten a banana in years, but his remark made me try them again. I love bananas. Not just as a snack, but you can also put them in curry, pancakes, desserts, chicken Hawai‘i (instead of or in addition to pineapple) and so on. Also, submerging a banana in liquid nitrogen and watching it shatter on the table is fun, but remember to collect the pieces before they thaw.
Posted by: whitebird | July 10, 2009 5:33 PM
Well, this just makes me wonder WWHD? (what would Hanuman do?)
Posted by: GMacs | July 10, 2009 5:44 PM
I have totally struggled with the stem. Tried this today and it soooooo worked.
Posted by: JJR | July 10, 2009 5:45 PM
I can't think of a better occasion to say "Happy Monkey!"
Posted by: Rrr | July 10, 2009 5:50 PM
It's common for people break off the stem?! Why?? Isn't it easier to eat the banana while holding the stem? :-/
Posted by: Ryan Egesdahl
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July 10, 2009 5:51 PM
No, Ray Comfort is just a tool; there is no purpose to Ray Comfort at all.
Posted by: ppb
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July 10, 2009 5:55 PM
This explains why all the monkeys point at me and laugh when I try to eat a banana.
Posted by: Carole | July 10, 2009 6:13 PM
I saw people peeling their bananas this way in Lesotho (Africa) many years ago.... Where folks get the idea that working from the stem end is the only way to peel a banana is beyond me.
Posted by: mirshafie | July 10, 2009 6:17 PM
This is one of those funny habits that just seem to stick, generation after generation. It may not work well to open a banana from the stem, but it works, so people don't question the practice. I was taught to open bananas from the top, and even when people see me do it that way they may just mention something about how odd it is, and continue smushing the good stuff without even trying to do it the "right" way. (When I was a kid and didn't have strong enough nails and fingers I used to bite them open. Not really pleasant, but still manageable even for a four year old.)
I can just imagine what it was like when these exotic fruits came to the West. Just like with kiwis, I imagine that there were knives involved in the "project" to open the banana.
About a year ago I realized how ridiculous it is to cut kiwis open and try to get to the juicy stuff with a spoon. It's a waste of time and dishes, and chances are you'll spill all over yourself. Kiwis don't need cutting. Just rinse them and take a big bite.
Posted by: eigenvector | July 10, 2009 6:24 PM
OMG I feel like a complete idiot. 60 years of physics and I can't compete with a monkey! Good one PZ!
Posted by: ad | July 10, 2009 6:33 PM
Well, if that ain't just the monkey's undies.
Posted by: Nacho | July 10, 2009 6:41 PM
Then, you eat the banana. Thus, desarming him.
Posted by: Nacho | July 10, 2009 6:43 PM
Or, even better, disarming him.
Posted by: jellay
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July 10, 2009 6:44 PM
Happy Monkey!
Opening from the bottom also allows one to quickly remove the little inedible black speck that's attached to the banana-flesh there - you remove it as you open the banana and your work is complete: you are free to enjoy the banana with no fear or second thought until the very end - the opposite tip of the banana is perfect.
Posted by: Dorkman | July 10, 2009 7:35 PM
I came here to post exactly what was said in #120.
I really wonder if he might try to play that angle.
Posted by: Last Hussar | July 10, 2009 7:50 PM
Hold on- isn't all this proving Ray Bumfart right...
"cloned"
Hold on- that is scientist speak for DESIGNED OMG!!!1!!!1!!!
Plus Look how easy they open- ALMOST AS IF IT WAS DESIGNED TO DO IT.
PLUS THIS WAY YOU GET A NICE HANDLE AND HAND GUARD to keep your hand clean (monkeys are big on hygene- always with the anti-bac soap, especially after faeces slinging)
MAYBE IT WAS DESIGNED!!!11!. Like any design it came with instructions, which we should read. That is it - the bible is like a set of IKEA instructions- the opening is just the parts list "One moon, check. One sun, check, one set of waters, check..."
And it STILL CURVES towards your mouth. OMG!!1!!1!!!!!11!
QUICK, get me an emergency creationist-R-U kit- I need a font- STAT.
Many years ago I saw a trick in a book. If you take a length of cotton and a needle, you can (alledgedly) push the needle in through the edge where two sides of the skin meet, and out through another edge. Do this correctly along the length then the cotton will slice the 'nana inside the skin, so later you can impress people with a pre sliced banananananananananananana.
No idea if it works, never had the patience to try.
Posted by: Primewonk | July 10, 2009 8:01 PM
John @111 said, "If you want to really impress the ladies with your banana eating skills kneed the banana till insides go mushy, then slice of the top and squeeze out like toothpaste :)"
What's even better is - after you've kneaded it, use a 50 cc syringe and inject rum into the fruit. Knead gently and chill. Slice the top and squeeze right into the mouth of the young lady you're trying to impress.
Posted by: atomjack | July 10, 2009 8:35 PM
@137, this is an old trick I first saw almost 20 years ago in one of my son's Cub Scout magic trick books. It really does work. If you're careful the needle holes are not obvious, and the closer to green it is the nicer the slices come out.
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | July 10, 2009 8:46 PM
I figured this out when I was four or five. I'm reported by my elders to have been inventive and unpredictable as a tot and to this day I am a bit contrarian. I clearly recall a moment when my mother showed me a banana, demonstrated how to open it from the stem end and then handed it to me. I recognized it as the real incarnation of the puree I had previously been offered (and craved even more of. More!). It was so much better tasting but what fascinated me was the way it could be opened. Then I noticed that the banana has two ends. My second banana I opened chimp style. So it is told.
What could be more human?
Posted by: Lancelot Link | July 10, 2009 9:26 PM
You know what they say;
"human see, human do"
Posted by: Skeptical | July 10, 2009 9:28 PM
Funny...I thought monkeys ate bananas like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYvJWj5QQuc
Guess there is no "right" way to eat a banana.
Posted by: Blondin | July 10, 2009 9:29 PM
How appealing!
(Unlike Ray Comfort)
Posted by: James F | July 10, 2009 10:29 PM
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring bananaphone
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring bananaphone
I've got this feeling, so appealing
For us to get together and sing...sing!
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring bananaphone
Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding donanaphone
It grows in bunches
I've got my hunches
It's the best, beats the rest
Cellular, modular, Interactive-odular
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring bananaphone
Ping pong ping pong ping pong ping pananaphone
It’s no baloney
It ain’t a phony
My cellular, bananular phone!
Posted by: Frank Lovell
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July 10, 2009 10:39 PM
Holy Shiite -- Arizona senator says "Earth has been around 6,000 years"! Hear her for yourself:
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80688411/
WHAT are voters THINKING when they go to the polls???
Folks, we are SO screwed!
Posted by: Epikt
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July 10, 2009 10:47 PM
If you've ingested enough alcohol, opening bananas using a circular saw
can seem like a good idea. Works on beer cans, too.
Posted by: Marion Delgado | July 10, 2009 11:17 PM
Kevin B #27 wins the thread.
Posted by: The Artful Nudger | July 10, 2009 11:24 PM
I couldn't help it. After watching the video, I had to open a banana. I've been opening them wrong all my life. Gah. Outpaced by our evolutionary cousins in the world of fruit peeling.
Posted by: Viadd | July 10, 2009 11:41 PM
Another life-changing revelation for about 5% of you: the 5% whose shoelaces keep coming untied.
For those people, you are probably tying a "granny knot" bow in your shoelaces. See
this slipping shoelace site
Posted by: Gruesome Rob | July 11, 2009 12:25 AM
Oh god, bring on the brain bleach.
Expelled 2, written by Ray Comfort, directed by Uwe Boll.
Make the hurting stop
Posted by: OtherMemory | July 11, 2009 12:55 AM
I never struggled. But Holy SHIT! haha! my fav part! "My whole adult life... I never the right way to open a banana." LOL
Posted by: Mr.Man | July 11, 2009 1:31 AM
...I can't wait to spread the Word!
Posted by: Maltodextrin | July 11, 2009 1:45 AM
Man, after seeing this I went to the store to scare up some bananas to test it, but all they had were banana-bread quality bananas. So disappointed.
Posted by: may | July 11, 2009 2:35 AM
well i never!
i love this site.
i'm going to show my creeping jesus brother and then tell him i learned it from a hairy primate.
Posted by: AttemptingReason | July 11, 2009 2:56 AM
I always do it that way. . .
Posted by: mo | July 11, 2009 3:38 AM
But, if monkeys are more intelligent than Ray Comfort, why is there still Ray Comfort?
Posted by: Geoff | July 11, 2009 4:38 AM
Is a seedless banana still called a fruit?
Posted by: A. M. Unkie | July 11, 2009 4:46 AM
So, the banana marketing people got to you, too, huh PZ? I hope that lifetime supply of bananas helps you to sleep at night...
Posted by: Jambe | July 11, 2009 5:13 AM
As William McBrine has pointed out, NotedScholar is a parodist, and a damn good one at that (seriously, check out the glossary of terms at his website).
As to bananas: monkeys may well pell them efficiently, but I abhor them.
Posted by: shonny
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July 11, 2009 5:24 AM
B-b-b-b-but the discomfort isn't even a bananabender!
And you know of the little girl who was so shy and prim that she ate bananas sideways?
Posted by: Steven Carr | July 11, 2009 6:37 AM
Isn't God wonderful?
He designs bananas to be opened by creatures with opposable thumbs.
And he designs in a second way for those creatures without opposable thumbs.
Posted by: Ian | July 11, 2009 8:29 AM
You know this video is of the same quality as the creationist video about bananas, don't you? Note how at the start, he makes it look like it's pretty much impossible to open the banana at the stem end? Well it isn't. If you bend the stem far enough it will split the banana nicely and you can peel it just fine - provided that the banana is truly ready for eating.
The demonstrator isn't selecting such a banana. The yellow ones are harder to open. The best bananas - the sweetest, the most ideal - are the ones which are starting to speckle brown. And they're readily splittable at either end.
Let's not get carried away in the same fervent blind belief in which the creationists are mired.
Posted by: Wallace Finch | July 11, 2009 10:18 AM
We just interviewed Ray Comfort's banana for our YouTube toon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3VvrlAVrT0
Posted by: Owen | July 11, 2009 11:03 AM
I'm going out and buying a bunch right now!
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 11, 2009 11:29 AM
Dude, it's a video about opening a banana.
Lighten up.
Posted by: amphiox | July 11, 2009 11:47 AM
Ha! The only reason we upright apes ever left the trees in the first place is because we got our evolutionary asses kicked right out of the tree climbing fruit eating niche by those superior monkeys. And this is why.
You see, all the ancient, now extinct, apes peeled bananas the "human" way. (See why they're extinct?) Modern apes managed to hang on, just barely, by adopting the monkey banana ways. We humans, on the other hand, waved the white flag, surrendered the playing field, and got the hell out of Dodge.
It remains to be seen which strategy will prove to be the optimal.
Point in favor of the chimps and gorillas: no other ape lineage ever produced a Ray Comfort.
Posted by: AJ Milne | July 11, 2009 12:00 PM
Oh, sure. Make light of this shocking display of directorial license. You know who else exaggerated how hard it was to open a banana from the stem end?
Hitler. That's who.
Posted by: Charie E | July 11, 2009 12:38 PM
Well, monkeys and apes have been eating bananas longer than we've been homo sapiens... we would have figured it out eventually.
Oh wait, we just did!
Posted by: BK | July 11, 2009 1:28 PM
If fruits and vegetables were designed, then maybe some of the more phallic looking ones were intended more as "entertainment devices" for gays and women. No one can say they KNOW what their favorite god intended for it. No where in the bible was it mentioned that one shouldn't hump the phallic looking fruits and vegetables.
I don't know why, but it's just what popped into my head when thinking about the concept of a banana being "designed." People can just as easily eat something that is round, like an apple, so why bother with a different shape unless it has a different function?
Posted by: claudia | July 11, 2009 1:39 PM
When we lived in Romania, our nanny gently corrected me and showed it that it's much easier for kids to open bananas from the bottom, as it were.
We've been doing it ever since.
I leave the conclusion to you guys.
Posted by: claudia | July 11, 2009 1:43 PM
.... "showed me"....
Geez. Long rainy weekend day with the kids. Ruins your brains, it does.
Posted by: arachnophilia
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July 11, 2009 2:11 PM
speaking of ray comfort, did anyone notice that he's apparently going to "discuss" with thunderf00t at some point?
Posted by: Sili
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July 11, 2009 4:59 PM
FUCK YOU!, JAMES F!
FUCK. YOU. HARD.
SIDEWAYS.
Posted by: Jeanette
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July 11, 2009 5:56 PM
It took until middle age for me to learn this? I feel so cheated. They should teach that in elementary school! Maybe (for schools that allow sex ed rather than the trial and/by error sex ed method) mention it at the same time they're demonstrating how to put a condom on a banana... that way kids will know how to do a variety of things with a banana, LOL.
Posted by: Lynna | July 11, 2009 6:28 PM
arachnophilia @172: I saw that Thunderf00t video in which he announced that Ray Comfort had accepted his challenge. Can't wait to see the results. This should be good.
Posted by: bwv | July 11, 2009 9:38 PM
It is true that bananas were intelligently designed and have only been around in their current form for a few thousand years
However humans are the intelligent designer - bananas were one of the first domesticated plants. Their current human-friendly form is the result of thousands of years of genetic engineering. The modern banana's wild ancestors were small and seed-filled
Posted by: Melody | July 12, 2009 8:59 AM
One time I was opening a banana from the stem, and the whole banana ripped in two! I think I'll try this technique.
Posted by: amphiox | July 12, 2009 12:18 PM
#168 - while it may be true that monkeys and apes have been peeling bananas this way for a very long time, they certainly could not have been peeling Cavendish bananas for such a long time.
Thus we need to see how they peeled the original seed-filled, inedible to humans, natural banana (if they ate it at all).
Posted by: Jorg Willekens | July 13, 2009 7:56 AM
Funny... I've been opening bananas like that ever since I discovered that monkeys did it that way. :-)