Hmm… I thought you ran away. 
We need a name for this phenomenon, where the mention of the disappearance of a Doper’s from a conversation will instantly summon said Doper to simulpost with said mention.
(I think that’s clear, isn’t it?)
The problem with a question like the treadmill one is that it is ripe for any physicist or engineer to step in and flex their brains to impress us all. While they may exist, I have yet to meet a physicist or engineer who wasn’t remarkably vain. So, when a question like this arises, even if the answer is clear to anyone whose intelligence falls anywhere this side of a retarded monkey, every one of them has to step in and try to be “The One Who Answered That Physics Question.” So that’s why it happens. Let me know if you find a way to prevent it.
If we put Bouv on a horse, on a treadmill, which is attached to the back of a 707 and the 707 is also on a treadmill, and there’s a 20% chance of partly cloudy weather, and it’s the last Tuesday in March in leap year, will there be a trian wreck when the two trains meet in Dayton?
Show your work.
Not such a clear-cut analogy. Most people don’t have a background in law or medicine, and even if a legal answer is counter-intuitive, they’ll just think, “huh, so that’s the way it is” and leave be.
However, even though most people don’t have a formal background in engineering or physics, everyone has an intuitive understanding of friction and mass and acceleration and those basic concepts–just from, literally, walking around and driving and carrying things and doing what people ordinarily do every day. So when the answer to a problem seems counter-intuitive, alarm bells go off, because it doesn’t match intuitive understanding.
And then it gets tough, because to explain the discrepancy between the strong intuitive understanding and the real physics requires a detailed explanation–citation of case law or the Physician’s Desk Reference ain’t gonna cut it.
I suppose I could extend that thought to why people have an intuitive understanding that 0.99…<1, but I’ve got a Physics Question that really needs Answering. 
Just showing off the sigline:
Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn:
:dubious:
never mind :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
You’re welcome.
Thanks !
I would think the easiest way to prevent it would be to find councel with one final source, who’s judgement and accuracy are trusted, to mediate the final outcome. This seems a logical solution, however, when the trusted source of this column/board/anti-ignorance sub-culture weighed in his reply he was instantly blasted (a common occurance) and the whole issue restarted in another epic thread. Two things occur to me at this point:
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I would very much not like to be Cecil Adams, the target on his shiney lil’ head is as big as Texas. In the rare instances that he seems incorrect, it is usually a matter of being incomplete and the expanded answer is usually forthcoming for those who didn’t “get it” the first time.
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Being a relative newbee around these parts, I often have to refer to ATMB for insights on little references to death rays, the mariannas trench and penis ensues. In this case I was right here for the formation of the treadmill bit. It is immensly interesting to wittness the birth of and “-ism”.
That said, please excuse me while I grab a lawn chair and continue to enjoy the show.
N8
Shouldn’t that be “trained physicists”? 
You simply must resist the urge to read all the extra junk. I popped into the original thread, had an idea of the correct answer, saw it confirmed and I moved on. I never went back to that dreaded plane/treadmill thread…even though it grew and grew.
I think **KeithT ** should pit his inability to have self control.
Not if you pronounce it right, no. Emphasis on the “ed”.
Personally, I’m just shocked (shocked! I tell you) at how sloppy Cecil’s Monty Hall column was. I’ve got to tell you, it shakes my faith a little. (He said, giving the horse a prod for old times’ sake…)
“Trained physicians” was a reference to the AOL SDMB.
click here & scroll down to “Wilson/Lockean/trained statistcians”
:smack: “Trained physicists”, of course.
As in Mr. Ed?
A physicist horse?
I get it, we should beat the talking horse with the pHd.
<hijack>
Actually, it’s not that physicists or engineers are vain, compared to the normal run of people, rather they so rarely get to display their skills in front of laypersons. So, when such an opportunity appears they grab it with both hands.
</hijack>
What kind of horse? Clydedale? Falabella? Is the plane flying empty except for the pilot, or is load to the gill with winter Fattened Northern Passengers heading for their annual pilgrimage to Disney Mecca? Are the passengers all constipated ?
There are so many variables, I’m just going to say that my answer is this: Horses don’t fly, you moran! Pigs, yes. Monkeys out of my rectum, yes. But not horses!!!11!!
And no one ever voluntarily goes to Dayton anyways.
This effect is multiplied when an engineer or physicist gets to say that another engineer or physicist is wrong.