1. Why are the default margins in LaTeX so wide? It's kind of useful, because it means that there's a lot of space to scribble in when editing, but it seems that by default they're wider than in just about any other program.
2. Why are dissertations usually double-spaced? I associate double-spaced with draft documents, because you can write things between the lines of text. But the dissertation isn't supposed to be a draft. It's supposed to be a final document!