# Do any of you know what "science" is? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298 "2009-07-26T05:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/121 "2009-07-27T15:54:53Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > Pshaw. You “science” types with your germ _ **theory** _. Earlier tonight as I was putting my daughter to bed at a family gathering she asked me what time it was, and I replied “Does anybody really know what time it is?”, because I am a jerk and a smartass, and my father, from another room, answered “Does anybody really care?”. I told her it was 9:32, and dismissed it as a coincidence, and also partly because Dad is a jerk and a smartass too. If I believed in the your so-called “nature-nurture” debate rather than the quantum Platonic revelation of archetype as nurature, I’d suspect a pattern. I know better, though. There’s no such thing as a pattern. > > Hours later, I came here, and saw this thread, and it was revealed to me that time and Chicago are inextricably intertwined, due to time being a word contained in both the phrase “the end times” and the Chicago song containing the lyrics “does anybody really know what time it is”, and then it was revealed to me that since Obama taught in Chicago and was elected to the senate (in part) by people from Chicago, then Obama and time, or the end times, are also related, which resulted in the revelation that infections are actually caused by proximity to trace elements and vibrations which cannot be detected by your “science”. > > Revelation. Put that in your thermodynamics and smoke it. > > Honestly, the lack of respect around here for different ways of knowing is just staggering. I am **mswas** and I approve this message. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/122 "2009-07-27T15:58:30Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > This part of StS’s original post struck me as rather NON-scientific. > > From what I understand of scientific method, you consider all of the evidence – you don’t search for only that which “supports my claim”. > > I think that’s called ‘cherry-picking’ or ‘observation bias’. And is consider an error in scientific research. In all fairness that’s the point of a debate. He presents his citations, and then you rebut and point out your citations. The result is that multiple perspectives are brought to bear and the confirmation bias that each individual labors under is weakened if they are willing to peruse the evidence provided by others. So while in scientific experimentation it is necessary to look at both sides, that’s not the proper way to form a debate. You are trying to diminish his point by saying that he didn’t have the debate all by himself and then present you with the results, when what he wanted was for people to participate. It was shown to him that the requests for ‘cites’ were actually disingenuous because those who did the requesting did not actually read his cites, so they were not willing to reach beyond their own confirmation bias in order to have a serious debate. What **SmashtheState** is upset about is that people pretended like they wanted to have a debate with him, but they really didn’t they just wanted to make fun of him for believing something different from what they believe. They didn’t even give his viewpoint enough respect to actually try to understand what he was saying before they dismissed it, and that’s what upset him. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/123 "2009-07-27T16:30:21Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Der Trihs’s schtick Fairly rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/124 "2009-07-27T16:32:06Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > It was shown to him that the requests for ‘cites’ were actually disingenuous because those who did the requesting did not actually read his cites In most cases he provided simple names of books without bothering to provide a single quote. In at least one he admitted that the claim had pretty much been pulled out of someone’s ass and once he was caught at his game, he dropped it (but of course, not before). Then it was pointed out that the sources for several of his cites were hardly authorities or, for that matter, people who should be cited at all. > [@mswas](#): > > What **SmashtheState** is upset about is that people pretended like they wanted to have a debate with him, but they really didn’t they just wanted to make fun of him for believing something different from what they believe. Smashy could have, at any time, proven that he wasn’t just bullshitting everybody and given links to peer reviewed research. It didn’t exist, of course, because he’s full of shit. And when people pointed this out, he got huffy. It’d be like making claims and then linking to Carlos Castaneda and getting upset when someone asked for a real cite. > [@mswas](#): > > They didn’t even give his viewpoint enough respect to actually try to understand what he was saying before they dismissed it, and that’s what upset him. We all understood him quite fine. It’s just that he was stupid and spouting new-age bullshit pablum and expecting people to choke it down. He was called on the carpet for bullshitting in GD. He offered some truly weaksauce support for his woo bullshit with shitty quasi-cites. And when he had his cites challenged, he went off to the Pit to have a good angry cry. Like a whiny little bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/125 "2009-07-27T16:33:24Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > What **SmashtheState** is upset about is that people pretended like they wanted to have a debate with him, but they really didn’t they just wanted to make fun of him for believing something different from what they believe. In all fairness, he has way too many moments of self-evident stupidity, undercutting his chances of being taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/126 "2009-07-27T16:36:33Z")
I just thought of something. I’ve never had anything published in a fancy peer reviewed scientific journal. I am full of … EPIC FAIL! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/127 "2009-07-27T16:38:16Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > In most cases he provided simple names of books without bothering to provide a single quote. In at least one he admitted that the claim had pretty much been pulled out of someone’s ass and once he was caught at his game, he dropped it (but of course, not before). Then it was pointed out that the sources for several of his cites were hardly authorities or, for that matter, people who should be cited at all. Ok, and that’s part of how a debate unfolds. > [@](#): > > Smashy could have, at any time, proven that he wasn’t just bullshitting everybody and given links to peer reviewed research. It didn’t exist, of course, because he’s full of shit. And when people pointed this out, he got huffy. It’d be like making claims and then linking to Carlos Castaneda and getting upset when someone asked for a real cite. Well clearly there is a disagreement about what a ‘real’ cite constitutes. It’s a minority but others like **Kimmy\_Gibbler** who are familiar with the works cited didn’t think that this cites were full of shit. What resulted was people jumping on Kimmy too. > [@](#): > > We all understood him quite fine. It’s just that he was stupid and spouting new-age bullshit pablum and expecting people to choke it down. He was called on the carpet for bullshitting in GD. He offered some truly weaksauce support for his woo bullshit with shitty quasi-cites. And when he had his cites challenged, he went off to the Pit to have a good angry cry. Like a whiny little bitch. Postmodernist bullshit pablum. Calling it New Age is stretching it a little. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/128 "2009-07-27T16:54:42Z")
I’d like to point out that [David Icke](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b4/David_Icke_cropped%29.jpg) looks decidedly [chameleonoid](http://www.wildherps.com/images/herps/standard/009313_graceful_chameleon.jpg). :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/129 "2009-07-27T17:08:24Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I’d like to point out that [David Icke](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b4/David_Icke_cropped%29.jpg) looks decidedly [chameleonoid](http://www.wildherps.com/images/herps/standard/009313_graceful_chameleon.jpg). > > :dubious: He _does_ look decidedly ickey, doesn’t he. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/130 "2009-07-27T19:42:10Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Sooooo…his pencil hadn’t fallen where he thought it had, and that’s revelatory how? It reveals he’s woowoo. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/131 "2009-07-27T20:01:09Z")
The OP is an idiot, but this bit was pretty accurate for a decent slice of the SDMB population: > [@SmashTheState](#): > > What I have seen is an old boys’ network of neckbeards and aspies jerking off to the worst sort of Mythbusters populism. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/132 "2009-07-27T21:00:49Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Apparently he decided that it meant that reality was inconsistent. Because it’s just unthinkable that he could have been wrong as a child about where a pencil fell, you see. Der Trihs, you stupid fool, didn’t you read where he says he was just testing us to see if our minds were open enough to not be sheeple? Obviously, you don’t measure up to the brain capacity of our resident state-smasher. But even better than that thread is the “I think it should be legal to drive drunk because only _maybe_ they’ll kill someone” followed by “I think we should only punish people if they kill someone”, and the coup de grace post of “Punishment is stupid. It’s only a tool of the state to appease the masses.” You gotta love that trifecta of stupid right there. I, for one, would love it if Smashy stayed around. I mean, one more person bringing down the average means I’m relatively closer to being the smartest person on the SDMB! But can we settle this once and for all: Is it going to be **Smashy** or the boring **StS**? A house divided cannot stand. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/133 "2009-07-27T21:15:11Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > The OP is an idiot, but this bit was pretty accurate for a decent slice of the SDMB population: Agreed about the Neckbeards part but I don’t know what an aspie is. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/134 "2009-07-27T21:17:37Z")
Dear SmashTheState: I was going to reply to your brilliant post, but I’m afraid I must fix my Dean Drive so I can visit the Bermuda Triangle with Count Dracula. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/135 "2009-07-27T21:26:05Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > I have been contributing to SD for about two months now, and I have to say that anyone coming here looking for science is going to be sadly disappointed. What I have seen is an old boys’ network of neckbeards and aspies jerking off to the worst sort of Mythbusters populism. Anyone who brings a fresh perspective to this vile den of basement-dwelling cretins is either ignored or mocked. > > A typical thread for me goes like this: > > [ul] > [li]I post something provocative – provocative not because it’s untrue or ridiculous, but because it falls outside the comfort zone of the myopic ass-burger turds whose knowledge of science seems to come entirely from Richard Dawkins and old episodes of Nova.[/li] > [li]Like a pack of retarded howler monkeys, the Usual Suspects burst out with a chorus of “CITE CITE CITE!!!”[/li] > [li]I spend several hours researching citations to support my claim. In the mean time, a half-dozen ass-burger clowns and other antisocial rejects have made drive-by mockings on the basis that maybe they’ll feel less inferior if they dogpile someone they believe is lower on the totem pole than them.[/li] > [li]I post my citations.[/li] > [li]At this point, either my citations are completely ignored and everyone pretends I don’t exist because their attention span is limited by the 20 second porn clips to which they have become accusted in their miserable, lonely lives, or they proclaims my citations to be worthless because those I am citing are not in agreement with their preconceptions.[/li] > [li]If I protest that science does not work this way, that it is the philosophy of pure empiricism and cannot make truth claims, I am told, and I quote, “[Science cannot invoke an absolute truth in the matter; it can only point fingers and laugh.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11377781#post11377781)”[/li][/ul] > > For people who conceit themselves to be the so much smarter than everyone else, you are some of the stupidest, most ignorant, and poorly-read dipshits I have yet to encounter anywhere on the Internet. Or off it, for that matter. > > _“I have only made but one prayer in my life: ‘O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it.”_ – **Voltaire** I’d agree with certain points of this (there’s plenty of smugness here, that’s for sure), but your posts are generally misinformed nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Salix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Salix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salix)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/136 "2009-07-27T21:39:44Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Agreed about the Neckbeards part but I don’t know what an aspie is. It means someone with [Asperger syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome). Many people with Asperger syndrome believe that it’s simply a different brain configuration that provides a legitimate alternative view of the world rather than a disease that needs to be cured, which is the exact same argument that **SmashTheState** is making about schizophrenia in the other thread. In that light, it seems kind of hypocritical that he would use the term “aspie” as an epithet to imply mental defectiveness in people who disagree with him. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/137 "2009-07-27T21:54:19Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Der Trihs, you stupid fool, didn’t you read where he says he was just testing us to see if our minds were open enough to not be sheeple? Obviously, you don’t measure up to the brain capacity of our resident state-smasher. > > But even better than that thread is the “I think it should be legal to drive drunk because only _maybe_ they’ll kill someone” followed by “I think we should only punish people if they kill someone”, and the coup de grace post of “Punishment is stupid. It’s only a tool of the state to appease the masses.” You gotta love that trifecta of stupid right there. > > I, for one, would love it if Smashy stayed around. I mean, one more person bringing down the average means I’m relatively closer to being the smartest person on the SDMB! But can we settle this once and for all: Is it going to be **Smashy** or the boring **StS**? A house divided cannot stand. Were the SDMB to get what it deserves, posters like **Smash** would leave and posters like you would be legion. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/138 "2009-07-27T22:06:59Z")
> [@Salix](#): > > It means someone with [Asperger syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome). Many people with Asperger syndrome believe that it’s simply a different brain configuration that provides a legitimate alternative view of the world rather than a disease that needs to be cured, which is the exact same argument that **SmashTheState** is making about schizophrenia in the other thread. In that light, it seems kind of hypocritical that he would use the term “aspie” as an epithet to imply mental defectiveness in people who disagree with him. Actually in internet speak “aspie” means the sort of people who obsessively edit wikipedia and write erotic fan fiction about Sonic the Hedgehog and weigh 400 pounds and don’t bathe and claim they’re poor at interacting with others because they’ve self-diagnosed themselves with Aspegers after reading about it on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/139 "2009-07-27T22:26:43Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Agreed about the Neckbeards part but I don’t know what an aspie is. I know what an aspie is, but I’m not sure what a neckbeard is. Help? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298/140 "2009-07-27T22:32:47Z")
A beard. On your neck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-of-you-know-what-science-is/504298.md?page=8)