Just as my screen name implies, I've been just pretty much reading all the threads (except for topics that don't interest me) for a little over three months now. Egad! What a strange, sometimes entertaining, sometimes depressing place these forums are!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! For a place that's supposedly dedicated to science, judging by it's name, it probably contains less science (and more BAD science) than the majority of places I've visited on the web. Another very unusual feature here is that it seems to consist of an exceptionally high number of purely uneducated people. Probably the highest number per square centimeter of screen space in all of cyberspace. Thankfully, there are also a few highly intelligent posters and a moderate number of plain, average people. But to see so many simple dolts in just one place is what's so depressing. I'm talking about several individuals and I've also read enough to see that it's not considered good form to name names. But I'm sure you already know who they are anyway, right? It would appear that besides the know-nothings that think that somehow they've managed to figure out just how WRONG professional scientists are (like the one who proclaimed that black holes cannot exist, another that insisted the surface of Earth is warmed by heat leaking upward from the core rather than the Sun, another - who claimed to be privately tutored by a high-ranking military officer - that the core of the Earth is practically at absolute zero(!), there's one that stands out as being the absolute worst, and dumbest, of all. And he interjects himself into practically every real scientific discussion with his innate stupidity. Who is he? Well, I've seen him all over the place. At one point he readily admits to having been bullied in school. And he wasn't even smart enough to realize that it was he himself, and his attitude, that attracted the bullies. Even the kids that would never dream of picking on someone cannot resist having a go at someone who tries to claim he's intelligent when he really isn't and makes himself stick out like a sore thumb by constantly whining just as he does here. In one thread, he tried to claim that heat pumps could not work because they violated the second law of thermodynamics. (Never mind that there are millions of them working just fine the world over.) And two rather patient people tried at great lengths to explain to him the principles involved. One became rather disgusted with the idiot because once something was made clear he would then try to claim that he knew it all along! Wow, just how dumb can you make yourself look? And all the time still trying to claim that they STILL simply could not work. Amazing. He also regularly accuses the moderators of deleting his threads, of moving valid (actually garbage) threads to the Cesspool, claiming they are on the payroll of 'someone?' and the like. His latest big adventure was claiming that AIDS is not caused by HIV. He also says it's a myth created by the major drug makers so that they can continue to sell their "poison" and make tremendous profits from AIDS. Of course, he chooses to ignore the literal mountains of data and research that clearly proves him wrong. And besides that, the poor fool doesn't even seem to realize that practically all of that research and data collection was done by groups and agencies with absolutely no connection to the drug companies. Truly sad individual, this guy. I'm afraid that if he lived next door to me his paranoia would be true. Because I'd be trying to find a safe (meaning not getting caught) way to end his miserable existence. Don't be concerned that I might become a regular poster here, because I won't. There's only a few - maybe eight or ten, at the most - people I'd be interested in interacting with. And the experience would be ruined because the woo-woos (a term I learned here) would insist on getting involved. I'd spend more time updating my ignore list than I would in actual conversations. No thanks, very little. So, back to just reading again and finding the 3% of real science presented here.
From my observations people who are stuck-up are more often bullied than those who simply express thoughts that others may not agree with.
I'm not entirely sure why having someone as a member who can string sentences together in a comprehensible fashion should be a concern. Indeed, the fact that you think it may be a concern is itself quite concerning. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! A simple experiment will reveal if I am one of the eight or ten. The experiment is now in motion. I have never perceived the forums as a place to find real science. A forum is, after all, a place where discussion takes place. In constructing a reply, as part of a discussion, I am forced to consider my position, perhaps carry out some library research, and generally improve my state of knowledge, or clarity of beliefs. These are the positive elements of sciforums, from my perspective. By restricting yourself to a read-only position I think you are missing the greater part of their value.
Thank you, I take that as a rather nice compliment.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Don't be concerned, I simply prefer to avoid the abuse that genuine scientists attract here. (Yes, I am one and have a very solid background of 30 years but I'd rather not even mention my specialty due to likely garnering said responses.) This is actually the part that motivated me to respond.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! You might (or might not)Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! be surprised to know that in fact you ARE not only on that short list but at the very top. It's not difficult at all to tell the genuine personalities and professionalism here. Separating the wheat from the chaff, as it were. And I agree completely! In fact, I'm not only a regular contributor on another forum, I was also a moderator there for years before becoming one of the two administrators about a year ago. Unlike this site, the people there are very knowledgeable in what they discuss and the "woo-woos", as they are called here, never stay around for more than a day or two. So I have a place that's filled with respectable people where we can discuss any topic in a relaxed atmosphere without being bothered by those with scrambled eggs for brains. It's just when things slow down there that I come here and walk through the threads. I won't mention the name of the site or the URL because that would probably be considered spamming - and I don't want to draw fire for that, either.
Thank you, I take that as a rather nice compliment.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Don't be concerned, I simply prefer to avoid the abuse that genuine scientists attract here. (Yes, I am one and have a very solid background of 30 years but I'd rather not even mention my specialty due to likely garnering said responses.) This is actually the part that motivated me to respond.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! You might (or might not)Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! be surprised to know that in fact you ARE not only on that short list but at the very top. It's not difficult at all to tell the genuine personalities and professionalism here. Separating the wheat from the chaff, as it were. And I agree completely! In fact, I'm not only a regular contributor on another forum, I was also a moderator there for years before becoming one of the two administrators about a year ago. Unlike this site, the people there are very knowledgeable in what they discuss and the "woo-woos", as they are called here, never stay around for more than a day or two. So I have a place that's filled with respectable people where we can discuss any topic in a relaxed atmosphere without being bothered by those with scrambled eggs for brains. It's just when things slow down there that I come here and walk through the threads. I won't mention the name of the site or the URL because that would probably be considered spamming - and I don't want to draw fire for that, either.
Glad to hear that something here keeps you coming back, Read-Only. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Read-Only, I need to know... Am I one of the dumbasses? I feel that I might be. I think the fact that I'm not sure just confirms it for me. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks.
Read-only, Take a look at the numder of ads on this forum and that should tell you why us dimwits are allowed to stick around. I for one am glad to have a place to discuss a variety of topics without someome being condesending and arrogant. If I were a "scientist", I would go to the forums where my superiors were in hopes of furthering my knowledge. But then It sounds like you already know it all, so you prefer to come here and put down most of the people. Or do you just like to pick arguments. Some people seem to find fun in that. Don't worry about puting me on an ignore list because I won't waste anymore time reading your posts.
Thanks for the info James. I try not to post unless I have something to ad to the discussion. Read only came across as arrogant and that just rubs me the wrong way.
Dragon, If your assuming that I am of the religous type you are dead wrong. I've never accepted any fairytales as real as long as I can remember. You should not assume that because I dislike some people who call themselves scientist, that I don't have a deep respect for science. I've followed man's quest to understand the universe for more than 40 years. While I'm begining to doubt if man can develope a theory of everything, that doesn't stop me from cheering him on.
funny...I though I replied to James R. Of course this world exists for everyone to believe what they want so that all is as it is supposed to be.
