# Honestly, Honesty **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 4, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289 "2013-08-04T01:22:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/1 "2013-08-04T01:22:37Z")
WARNING: The Following message is overly serious and lacking in a proper humor or appreciation for human decency. The target probably doesn’t deserve anything this serious or unpleasant, but earned a pitting on sheer obnoxiousness and uselessness. Dear Honesty, You’re a goddamn idiot. I mean, you’re not even entertaining. **Der Trihs**? Yeah, he’s an ass but he’s fun. **Evil Captor** ’s a bit of a stick all in all, but he does respond. Hell, I even liked **Diogenes** back before he got so darn bitter. But you? Dude, have you noticed that even people who probably agree with some of your principles largely ignore you? It’s because you’re just one half-step away from being a raving conspiracy theorist. You’re also _remarkably_ naive. I mean, for the love of all that is holy, you’ll swallow any bullshit no matter how moronic as long as its labeled anti-corporate. But I think what I love\* about you is your ability to write long posts without the slightest similarity to anything remotely resembling reality, instead filling the verbiage with a montage of irrelevancies, simpering emotional engineering, and a complete lack of any objective facts that might be useful to the discussion at hand. But even more fascinating is your ability to do this with no trace of irony or self-awareness whatsoever. You are truly a monument to the Delusion of Adequacy, and no doubt a proud product of the finest elementary schools our nation’s Special Ed programs can deliver. A few sample posts include: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16537742&postcount=26](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16537742&postcount=26) -Here, **Honesty** takes what could, in theory, be a valid point (I would argue he’s wrong, but have no problem with the argument being made, and manages to make an utterly moronic argument with it. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696772&page=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696772&page=2) - **Honesty** may know nothing whatsoever about genetics, but I’m proud that he never let a complete lack of good judgement, decent respect for other posters, or basic common sense stop him from making an ass of himself. Later on, he apparently manages to completely fail statistics. I would link to his debt thread, but frankly every post I read from him in that thread causes a sharp, stinging pain in the back of my eye. Dunno why, really - seems to happen all the time when complete fucking morons try to act as if they understood subjects like finance and budgeting. Funny really. Probably no connection there at all. \*For certain very flexible values of love. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/2 "2013-08-04T02:42:36Z")
That was a very honest rant. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/3 "2013-08-04T09:17:44Z")
Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/4 "2013-08-04T18:45:14Z")
Honesty is such a lonely turd, Everybody knows it’s true Honesty makes arguments absurd, and hasn’t got a fucking clue. (my sincerest apologies to Billy Joel) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/5 "2013-08-05T22:25:18Z")
**Honesty** often spouts nonsense but neither of those threads seem to be particularly egregious examples. Maybe I didn’t follow the second one far enough. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/6 "2013-08-05T22:48:51Z")
C’mon, if you want me to get behind this pitting I need some more concrete examples of idiocy. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/7 "2013-08-06T01:19:53Z")
From what I’ve seen, **Honesty** has been an excellent example of how to soberly analyze genetic research. Post #54 points out the flaws of a lot of genetic association studies: weak correlations that are often not replicated, over-interpretation by the research’s cheerleaders, and no connect the dots between the expression of polymorphic genes and differences in a phenotype. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/8 "2013-08-08T00:39:42Z")
Meatless ribs…a grudge at being bestest? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/9 "2013-08-08T03:28:13Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696772&page=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696772&page=2) > - **Honesty** may know nothing whatsoever about genetics, but I’m proud that he never let a complete lack of good judgement, decent respect for other posters, or basic common sense stop him from making an ass of himself. Wait, because he doesn’t agree with racist-in-residence Chief Pedant? You’re hanging your hat on _his_ scientific credentials? Lordy. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/10 "2013-08-08T03:53:20Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16537742&postcount=26](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16537742&postcount=26) > -Here, **Honesty** takes what could, in theory, be a valid point (I would argue he’s wrong, but have no problem with the argument being made, and manages to make an utterly moronic argument with it. Your second link is useless (page number? :smack: ) but I clicked on the one shown above. **Honesty** makes grave charges about the behavior of Michigan against Detroit. If the charges _are_ valid we should all be scandalized; in that case it would be confused to focus on the messenger’s exaggerations or even “moronic argument.” (And I fail to see what’s “moronic” about his argument, nor did anyone in that thread.) I know nothing about the Detroit bankruptcy, but have enough understanding of the corruption and hypocrisy in present-day American politics to understand that **Honesty** ’s charges may very well be true. By Pitting the messenger, rather than attempting any rebuttal, **smiling bandit** only _increases_ my concern that **Honesty** ’s indictment of Michigan authorities may be valid. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/11 "2013-08-09T06:29:54Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Wait, because he doesn’t agree with racist-in-residence Chief Pedant? Lol, no. **Honesty** went a lot further than that. If I recall correctly, he seriously argued that DNA differences among people do not result in differences in the proteins which are synthesized. ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/12 "2013-08-10T02:23:38Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > Lol, no. **Honesty** went a lot further than that. > > If I recall correctly, he seriously argued that DNA differences among people do not result in differences in the proteins which are synthesized. It can happen, but this is extraordinarily rare and I can only think of a handful of examples where this is the case (e.g. Hemoglobin S, Huntington’s Disease, et al.). Why? It’s called the redundancy genetic code. Minor changes and variations among individuals do not change the overall function, activity, or protein sequence of the protein. Let me put on my teacher’s hat on for a second: Blacks Gene X: GCCGCAGAT Whites Gene X: GCAGCCAAC Look different right? Well, lets look at the final protein. Blacks Gene X: GCCGCAGAT Protein: Ala-Ala-Asx Whites Gene X: GCAGCCAAC Protein: Ala-Ala-Asx See? No change. Try putting yourself in the cell’s perspective: say you have 30,000 genes that encode for over 100,000 protein products that need to do important stuff: burn lipids, break sugars, build proteins. Wouldn’t a change in one gene muck up the whole works? Say if a change in sequence is found in intron-coding region of DNA rather than the exon-coding region? If it’s the latter, introns aren’t included in the final protein product, so what meaningful purpose would that mutation serve? What many of you don’t get, grasp, or understand is that mutations that change protein sequence usually are lethal or lead to a disease; I can think of only one mutation (e.g Tetrachromacy) that’s 100% beneficial and better than wild-type. Can you (or anyone else) think of any others? But listen, I don’t mind getting into a scientific debate with you, but I’m not interested in having it in the BBQ Pit. Sorry. There’s a thread about Racism in GD that you can resurrect that I would participate in. Have a good weekend. - Honesty ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/13 "2013-08-10T08:49:42Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > . . . By the way, I do not engage with **Honesty** due to his past dishonesty. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/14 "2013-08-10T11:18:03Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > It can happen, but this is extraordinarily rare and I can only think of a handful of examples where this is the case (e.g. Hemoglobin S, Huntington’s Disease, et al.). Why? It’s called the redundancy genetic code. Minor changes and variations among individuals do not change the overall function, activity, or protein sequence of the protein. Let me put on my teacher’s hat on for a second: > > Blacks > Gene X: GCCGCAGAT > Whites > Gene X: GCAGCCAAC > > Look different right? Well, lets look at the final protein. > > Blacks > Gene X: GCCGCAGAT > Protein: Ala-Ala-Asx > Whites > Gene X: GCAGCCAAC > Protein: Ala-Ala-Asx > > See? No change. Try putting yourself in the cell’s perspective: say you have 30,000 genes that encode for over 100,000 protein products that need to do important stuff: burn lipids, break sugars, build proteins. Wouldn’t a change in one gene muck up the whole works? Say if a change in sequence is found in intron-coding region of DNA rather than the exon-coding region? If it’s the latter, introns aren’t included in the final protein product, so what meaningful purpose would that mutation serve? What many of you don’t get, grasp, or understand is that mutations that change protein sequence usually are lethal or lead to a disease; I can think of only one mutation (e.g Tetrachromacy) that’s 100% beneficial and better than wild-type. Can you (or anyone else) think of any others? > > But listen, I don’t mind getting into a scientific debate with you, but I’m not interested in having it in the BBQ Pit. Sorry. There’s a thread about Racism in GD that you can resurrect that I would participate in. > > Have a good weekend. > > - Honesty Which is the gene that allows black people to smell bullshit that white people can’t? Or was that another lie? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/15 "2013-08-10T17:02:04Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > By the way, I do not engage with **Honesty** due to his past dishonesty. If you don’t engage with him then maybe you shouldn’t be posting in a thread about him, you stupid fucking douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/16 "2013-08-10T17:33:04Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > . . . I don’t engage with this poster because of his insistence on hiding his position behind a cloak of ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/17 "2013-08-10T18:08:04Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > By the way, I do not engage with **Honesty** due to his past dishonesty. If you’re going to do this every time someone bets you in a debate, you might as well stop posting here. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/18 "2013-08-10T18:33:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > If you’re going to do this every time someone bets you in a debate, I do it when people break my rules of debate – not when they bet me. But even if you were right, it wouldn’t change the fact that **Honesty** is dumber than a sack of rocks. That’s he’s a toxic mix of self esteem and utter incompetence. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/19 "2013-08-10T18:37:48Z")
Is one of those rules “My opponent must not be more correct than I am?” ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289/20 "2013-08-10T18:40:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Is one of those rules “My opponent must not be more correct than I am?” Nope. Nice attempt at meta though. I take it you concede that **Honesty** is dumb as shit? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honestly-honesty/665289.md?page=2)