Westom, you're either an idiot or insane

[robby]

I rarely pit, but the clown (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=84565) in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=643892) is either being willfully ignorant or is simply insane. Based on the bizarre asides and general odd affect, I'm going with "insane."

That being said, it takes a special bit of arrogance to repeatedly accuse others of being ignorant of "high school physics" while being simultaneously so ignorant himself. This even after being corrected by numerous people, including physics luminaries such as Chronos.


Also, there are these gems from the thread in question:

...Why do politicians so easily manipulate the naive? The naive forget to define a problem before answering the question - as we have here. Or have brain pain rather than learn how to do the work. Always define a problem long before trying to answer it. Always. Otherwise scammers and politicians seek you out.

Scary that so many do not even know simple high school physics. ...Everyone here should know that. Otherwise scammers and politicians make money and get elected because the public is uneducated and naive. These fundamental facts are taught to everyone in high school to make dishonesty and scams difficult.

...Irishman - if you know that is wrong, then you have posted numbers and equations that says so. Subjective claim or denial suggests outright lying or lack of basic high school education.

...A point I make often because scammers and politicians can only exists when numbers are replaced by subjective denials (also called hearsay or junk science).

...But then every high school graduate is required to know this. Otherwise jobs must go overseas to those who did learn what is critically important – the numbers. Show me your numbers or withdrawal subjective (empty) denials.


It's his latest post, however, where he goes completely out to la-la land:

...When did sleight of hand become part of physics?

...Where is your conservation of momentum?

...Where is conservation of momentum?

...Your own numbers demonstrate that conservation of momentum does not exist.

...I aggressively asked for numbers in every post from every poster. Now that you did, identified is where your numbers only make sense when conservation of momentum is disposed.

...Using your own numbers, if a crash absorbs energy, then momentum is not conserved. ...If velocity decreases, then conservation of momentum does not exist. We intentionally design cars to make inelastic collisions. To not conserve momentum.

...What happened to your conservation of momentum? When did 1000 kg times 100 kg/hr become 2000 times 70.7 km/hr? It didn't. Why. Conservation of momentum here is bogus. Conservation of energy says so.

...But again, using your numbers. Everything works as long as conservation of momentum is bogus. You cannot have it both ways. Either you believe in conservation of energy. Or you believe in conservation of momentum. Both cannot exist – as demonstrated by your numbers.

...Now that you have provided the numbers - finally - I can use your numbers to expose mistakes.You can finally use my numbers to "expose mistakes"? OK, buddy, knock yourself out. :rolleyes:

[gazpacho]

A few years ago I took a course from human resources about how to interview people. One of the pieces of advice that has stayed with me from that course is. Only try three times to ask a question or make your point. If there is no communication after three tries you are just wasting time and should move on. Threads like to one you mention illustrate this point. You are entirely correct he is willfully ignorant. But there is nothing you can do about it. For your sanity you should move on.

[robby]

Here's another gem:

...BTW, I am trying to get you to deal with energy numbers. Once you apply those numbers properly, then conservation of momentum applies. None of this was possible until your every post including the underlying numbers. Without numbers, only lies, propaganda, anger, miscommunication, myths, and even pagan religions occur.

[robby]

A few years ago I took a course from human resources about how to interview people. One of the pieces of advice that has stayed with me from that course is. Only try three times to ask a question or make your point. If there is no communication after three tries you are just wasting time and should move on. Threads like to one you mention illustrate this point. You are entirely correct he is willfully ignorant. But there is nothing you can do about it. For your sanity you should move on.You know, I think you're right. I've wasted hours of my day on this today. :smack: I'm going to bed.

[Inner Stickler]

That was a riot to read. Thank you for alerting me to westom's delicately flavored idiocy.

[Euphonious Polemic]

It's pretty clear that the weston would be correct in that thread only if the cars in question were on a treadmill...

[Cheesesteak]

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

The funniest part of that was Westom telling us how scary it is that folks don't know high school physics. He's a guy who can do some math, but doesn't understand how it all works. You don't need a stitch of math to explain how it works.

[Cheesesteak]

You know, I think you're right. I've wasted hours of my day on this today. :smack: I'm going to bed.
Good choice. I'd also recommend not going back to that mess, it's better for the blood pressure.

[Alka Seltzer]

Well, thanks for answering the question anyway. I'm still confused about KE and frames of reference, so I was going to ask a follow-up question if people aren't completely sick of the subject....

[Baracus]

If you look at his search history, he has only responded to a handful of threads usually using that same know-nothing-know-it-all, insulting style. He really is an ass.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

I would point out that "Scammers And Politicians" would make a capital username.

[Telemark]

I gave up before this latest batch of nonsense. He's clearly emotionally invested in his wrong answer and you're not going to convince him otherwise. You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't use reason to get into.

[FinnAgain]

Robby you did an excellent job, but this is why it's a bit easier to be a physics teacher in a classroom than a physics teacher to a moron on the internet: in the classroom we can fail them and be done with it. :cool:

[ZenBeam]

A few years ago I took a course from human resources about how to interview people. One of the pieces of advice that has stayed with me from that course is. Only try three times to ask a question or make your point. If there is no communication after three tries you are just wasting time and should move on. Threads like to one you mention illustrate this point. You are entirely correct he is willfully ignorant. But there is nothing you can do about it. For your sanity you should move on.I've bookmarked your post. Then I can just quote it when I get to three.

[Nars Glinley]

I never took high school animal science but it's clear that he's a jackass.

[jz78817]

I would point out that "Scammers And Politicians" would make a capital username.

or the title of a Dream Theater album.

[robby]

Now I think it's more likely that he's just a troll. Nobody is that ignorant.
Any decent and honest person post corrections with numbers and equations. Such subjective sentences exist only from extremists, liars, junk scientists, and the least educated. You know the answer has errors? Good. So do I as I was originally hinting at in an earliest post. Now finish what was necessary and not found in your first posts - the numbers and equations. Stop posting subjectively. Stop posting emotions. Post the corrected equations. Explain what happens with all 2,500,000 and 5,000,000 kg km2/hr2. Explain it with numbers; not subjective (junk science) attacks and denials.He's also very insulting for a GQ thread, and it's not the first time (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596065).

[jz78817]

Now I think it's more likely that he's just a troll. Nobody is that ignorant.
He's also very insulting for a GQ thread, and it's not the first time (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=596065).

can't discount the possibility of trolling, but I think it's probably more a fundamental misunderstanding combined with arrogance and lack of self-awareness. He doesn't know what he doesn't know. those people can be dangerous, just like the politicians he claims to detest.

[santorum]

Robby, Thank you for your explanation (as well as FinnAgain and Tangent). I was the OP in that thread, but I won't respond there as I want it to die.

[Morgenstern]

After reading this post, (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14831975&postcount=127) I really wish Tangent had been my HS physics teacher. Well done sir.

[BunnyTVS]

I don't suppose anyone would like to help with this guy. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14830978&postcount=444) He's westom with the added extra of being unable to use the quote function.

[Rachellelogram]

It's pretty clear that the weston would be correct in that thread only if the cars in question were on a treadmill...
The solution to the flying car problem... it's so simple. Just put them on a treadmill and they'll take off! You just advanced scientific progress by decades in a mere sentence. Westom doesn't stand a chance next to you. ;)

[robby]

After reading this post, (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14831975&postcount=127) I really wish Tangent had been my HS physics teacher. Well done sir.Indeed, thanks for the additional supporting equations, Tangent and Half Man Half Wit.

Thanks also to Chronos, Baracus, Machine Elf, Irishman, Terr, and FinnAgain for their contributions. (Sorry if I missed anyone.)

[FinnAgain]

Robby, Thank you for your explanation (as well as FinnAgain and Tangent). I was the OP in that thread, but I won't respond there as I want it to die.

Thanks, but I was really lazy. Just got done entering quarter grades for my students and I'm still a bit exhausted. I figured that since Robby did and Tangent did the heavy lifting, I'd just chime in with a 'yep' :D

[robby]

Robby, Thank you for your explanation (as well as FinnAgain and Tangent). I was the OP in that thread, but I won't respond there as I want it to die.You're very welcome. I hope it helped.

My Pit thread seems to be taking a strange turn here, but that's probably for the best. :D

[FinnAgain]

Well now I feel like an idiot.... I composed a response explaining the role of Pnet in the problem and why depending on the P values in the head on collision you could still have a rolling, combined object. I have the distinct impression that I just tossed pearls before a swine. I need a cup of tea.

[Chessic Sense]

Well, thanks for answering the question anyway. I'm still confused about KE and frames of reference, so I was going to ask a follow-up question if people aren't completely sick of the subject....

Believe me, you won't even begin to touch the blue-eyed-islanders threads on the I-cant-believe-we're-still-doing-this scale. What's your question?

[Shakes]

Sooo... If I don't know the difference between a quark and a lepton, I vote republican?

Ok:
Quark is a bartender of sorts.

Lepton is a creature that if you're lucky enough to catch one; he'll give you a pot of gold.

[John DiFool]

And, while we're at it, this piece of work (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=130282) managed to get a GD thread shut down pretty much all by himself after his endless racist screeds.

[Morgenstern]

And, while we're at it, this piece of work (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=130282) managed to get a GD thread shut down pretty much all by himself after his endless racist screeds.

He's a busy one, that's for sure...
Total Posts: 95
Posts Per Day: 46.82

[JimboJamesJimmersonIII,Esq.]

Holy fuck. Talk about irritating. I usually just lurk, but that asshole compelled me to post twice in that thread... and once here.

I'd say he's a troll, but would a troll really put in that much effort? That guy has to have few screws loose.

How does a person like that actually function in real life? That's some amazing stubborness and stupidity.

[Sudden Kestrel]

This is the first Pit thread that ever made me fall asleep.

[robby]

This is the first Pit thread that ever made me fall asleep.Oh, come on now.

Where else can you read about how "scammers and politicians" are able to "easily manipulate the naive" and "make money and get elected because the public is uneducated," lectures about how others should "learn how to do the work" while opining that it is "[s]cary that so many do not even know simple high school physics," and claims that those who actually know what they are talking about are "outright lying or lack...basic high school education", all while the same poster making these outrageous comments is so jaw-droppingly ignorant and/or deluded with statements like "[y]our own numbers demonstrate that conservation of momentum does not exist." :rolleyes:

Oh, and don't forget the part about how this can lead to "lies, propaganda, anger, miscommunication, myths, and even pagan religions." :confused:

While on the one hand it's like watching a train wreck in action as well as being extremely irritating and frustrating to be lectured ad infinitum by someone who has absolutely no clue what he is talking about, on the other hand much of this is pure comedy gold. :D

[Bryan Ekers]

How does a person like that actually function in real life? That's some amazing stubborness and stupidity.

Well, as long he avoids crashing his car into something, his beliefs never get tested.

[florez]

I wonder how old he is, maybe he took one to many acid trips in the 60's.

[Boyo Jim]

In every transaction, ignorance might be lost.

But not stupidity. It is conserved forever.

[Irishman]

I'm voting troll. The combination of arrogance, insistence of falsity of basic principles, and intentional impugning the motives of the other respondents in the thread combined with political screeds embedded in the responses leads me to believe he's just trying to be irritating. Seriously, arguing that Conservation of Momentum is bogus screams deliberate troll.

[Darth Panda]

I would point out that "Scammers And Politicians" would make a capital username.

No, SCAMMERS AND POLITICIANS would make a capital username.

I'm voting troll.

Yeah, the 2 party system stinks, but that's kind of like throwing your vote away...

[shiftless]

You know, I think you're right. I've wasted hours of my day on this today. :smack: I'm going to bed.

You didn't completely waste that time. I read a lot of that thread, you, and some others, explained things nicely and you knocked some of the rust off my physics. If you had included an example of two cars colliding on a moving treadmill the tale would have been awesome.

Bloody hell, we're in the pit. Piss, fuck.

[Boyo Jim]

I would like to see that discussion -- two cars colliding on a giant treadmill. Supposing they were each driving at a speed slower than the treadmill. Would that be like one car backing away before the collision?

Oh, yeah. Shit, piss.

[FinnAgain]

No, the cars would take off.

[FixMyIgnorance]

Too lazy to read all of this thread (or that one for that matter) but I can tell you that 1 and 2 are equivalent

[SeaDragonTattoo]

I ran across that westom asshole a couple years ago when I asked about whether an a/c unit could cause an old hdmi switch to change channels (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=570121) when the compressor turned on. I got some helpful answers, among this douche's posts. I still have no idea what he was talking about.

I had difficulty not calling him a douchey asshated shitstained motherfucker in my last post.

If anyone actually reads the damn thing, ultimately I just bought a new hdmi switch and the problem resolved. A belated thank you to those who tried to help, and you guys were pretty much right.

[Irishman]

I would like to see that discussion -- two cars colliding on a giant treadmill. Supposing they were each driving at a speed slower than the treadmill. Would that be like one car backing away before the collision?

No, it means one car would be backing into the other car.

[Nars Glinley]

Schrödinger says both.

[Ludovic]

Schrödinger says both.
Like the late Earl Warren.

[zweisamkeit]

can't discount the possibility of trolling, but I think it's probably more a fundamental misunderstanding combined with arrogance and lack of self-awareness. He doesn't know what he doesn't know. those people can be dangerous, just like the politicians he claims to detest.

Ah yes, the Dunning-Kruger effect (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FDunning%25E2%2580%2593Kruger_effect&ei=0upXT5TgN4n02wWxk5CDDw&usg=AFQjCNFwN4SlPOvKHdnFQT0fGqTsPvVMOA). I love having an actual name for the problem.

[Miller]

I had difficulty not calling him a douchey asshated shitstained motherfucker in my last post.


Please don't refer to other posters as motherfuckers.

Douchey shitstained asshat is okay, of course.

No warning issued.

[Derleth]

Please don't refer to other posters as motherfuckers.

Douchey shitstained asshat is okay, of course.

No warning issued.
So... is this something you can actually explain, or were words just chosen for this at random?

I'm not questioning your decision, I'm questioning the linguistics.

[Miller]

So... is this something you can actually explain, or were words just chosen for this at random?

I'm not questioning your decision, I'm questioning the linguistics.

The list of disallowed terms is here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508858). The reasoning behind these rules was discussed in this (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508719&highlight=language) ATMB thread from the same time period that the rule was adopted.

Note that I was not a mod when this rule was put in place.

[Quint]

The list of disallowed terms is here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508858). The reasoning behind these rules was discussed in this (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508719&highlight=language) ATMB thread from the same time period that the rule was adopted.

Note that I was not a mod when this rule was put in place.

Man, those are some of the cunt-lapping mother-fucking stupidest rules I've ever heard of. Whoever came up with them is an asshole dick prick bitch who can kiss my ass.

[Derleth]

Man, those are some of the cunt-lapping mother-fucking stupidest rules I've ever heard of. Whoever came up with them is an asshole dick prick bitch who can kiss my ass.Tough words from someone whose username is technically an incitement to violate board rules.

[XRaeth]

In every transaction, ignorance might be lost.

But not stupidity. It is conserved forever.


I'm stealing this if you don't mind. Funniest thing I've heard all week.