Not true. Just last week I saw his playing poker with Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and an honest lawyer.
Ok, the last doesn’t exist, but the others do.
Well, Cecil didn’t write speeches for Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon. That in itself makes him smarter than Ben Stein in my book.
Heeeyyy, Pancho! Heeeyyy, Cisco!
Let’s look at this logically, shall we? We have two “givens” in this logic problem:
A) Cecil is the world’s smartest human
B) Ben Stein is not
Ergo, according to 4 out of 5 dentists, Cecil is smarter than Ben.
Now, for a tougher logic problem. If you have 5 white guys with three black hats and 2 red kings…no, wait, it’s 4 black guys with two white hats and a half dozen red…no, that’s not it either. Anyway, the answer is 7. See? It’s simple, really.
Gasp! That’s sacrilege. I mean, the second part about Ben Stein isn’t so bad, I love Ben and all…
But Cecil must be real!! Damnit, he is, I can FEEL it. It’s an AURA. And if Cecil ain’t real, then who does Mrs. Adams sleep with every night? Hmm? A group of researchers? Yeah- right.
Here’s another question:
Who’s the quirkier sidekick? Jimmy Kimmel or Ed Zotti? (I know Jimmy’s been replaced by that nancy girl, but she doesn’t count.)
Au contrare, mon frere.
Look at it this way…Cecil picks whichever questions he feels like answering, takes his damn sweet time about it, and provides a dose of condescension to boot.
If he wasn’t the world’s smartest human, do you think he could get away with that?
And I’ve said it before: If Cecil answered a question wrong (which he wouldn’t), he would never put on that pop-eyed, jaw-dropped, someone-just-stuck-a-furze-bush-up-my-ass look that Ben does.
Actually, Ben Stein is a committee. The geeky guy with the funny voice is just a front. The committee is in back feeding answers to him through a specially adapted cochliar implant.
Cecil wouldn’t accept answers from a committee. If he can’t get the answer from the sweat of his staff’s brows, he won’t go there.
I think it’s endearing and sort of sexy.
So have we come to a conclusion yet?
Actually, Ben doesnt give away his own money either. “Ben Stein’s money” is the prize furnished by Comedy Central. Ben just gets to keep whatever isn’t won.
That furze-bushes up the ass are sexy? No.
Pardon my ignorance (that is why I’m here, you know), but what is a furze-brush?
Damn typos. Furze-bush.
It’s a very prickly type of evergreen.
I have a fondness for Ben Stein, BUT… you don’t see Cecil pimping eye drops 
Cecil +1, Ben -1
'Nuff said.
I revive this thread only to point out that it contains the most-recent post of one Cecil Adams. It was made on October 12, 2000. Apparently, the “Perfect Master” has been busy.
That, or even He is fed up with the board’s slowness.
Cecil Adams is smarter than Ben Stein. Heck, even Nietzsche and Plato were smarter than Ben Stein.
Historical figures who may have been smarter than Cecil:
Al-Farabi
Spinoza
Aristotle
Isaac Newton
Leibniz
Kant
Da Vinci
(though I don’t think there have been too many others)
Thinking about it, I have two questions
[ul]
Doesn’t Cecil research all his stuff, and then forget it? I mean, look at how many things he has to look up!
Where could I find a picture of Cecil?
[/ul]
Technically, you don’t see Cecil at all.
Easy, buy the books or check out the illlustrations on the main page. The ineffable* Slug has characterized Cecil as a turkey sporting a mortar-board. (* Cece is less than entranced with the idea but rumor has it ripe 4-letter Anglo-Saxon curses haven’t had much effect so I guess Slug is truly “ineffable”.)
Kinda lends a certain tragic nobility, huh? We may assume Ben Stein chooses to wear red high-top sneakers but not even Dorian Gray got immortalized with tail feathers and wattles.
Veb