# I've seen the future, and this is it: **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486 "2009-02-26T05:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/121 "2009-02-27T12:44:41Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > And how is this any different from \*\*Starving Artist’s \*\*typical posts? Starving Artist isn’t nearly so literate. > [@](#): > > THIS is your response to a request for a specific textual citation showing the clarity of the OP’s origin? That “it’s obvious”??? I’ve already told you why it should be obvious to anybody with a lick of common sense why the article was junk-mail. Here’s a link to the same article on [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/noabilities.asp). After you’re done reading it, click on the What’s New link in the upper left-hand corner of the page. You’ll find many more articles written in the exact same way. If you compare them, you’ll find a number of similarities, some of which I’ve already made plain to you. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/122 "2009-02-27T13:04:16Z")
How’s this for an experiment then: you PM me a typical piece of junk mail glurge, and I’ll repost it, no quotation marks or other identifying marks, for my 6000th post, about six months or a year from now. We will see how many posters respond to it as if it were my own words, and how many tip to the obvious inauthenticity. If more than half of the first five posters take it for my own, then you will kiss my ass in Macy’s window at high noon, ok? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/123 "2009-02-27T13:52:18Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > At the risk of further embarrassment, where did you find clarity? When someone writes “I have seen…” something in the title, it’s pretty clear that his OP, unless he specifies otherwise explicitly, is going to contain the observations he has made himself. Where did **SA** put any distance between the title’s “I” and the OP which followed? I’d like some specific quotes, please. Hey, fool…remember when I said: "When rock critic Jon Landau wrote, “I have seen the future of rock and roll and his name is Bruce Springsteen”, did that imply that he created Bruce Springsteen? If I say that I’ve seen the future of automobile and it’s name is the 2010 Whizzmobile, does that mean I’m implying I created that car? Of course not. You know as well as I do that in normal discourse **when someone says they’ve seen the future of something it means that they have come upon it and been impressed with its promise**." ---
**Author:** ![Claptree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Claptree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claptree)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/124 "2009-02-27T14:13:44Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Hey, fool…remember when I said: > > "When rock critic Jon Landau wrote, “I have seen the future of rock and roll and his name is Bruce Springsteen”, did that imply that he created Bruce Springsteen? If I say that I’ve seen the future of automobile and it’s name is the 2010 Whizzmobile, does that mean I’m implying I created that car? > > Of course not. You know as well as I do that in normal discourse **when someone says they’ve seen the future of something it means that they have come upon it and been impressed with its promise**." …and then they describe it in their own words. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/125 "2009-02-27T14:15:35Z")
So it’s your impression that I discovered my own article? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/126 "2009-02-27T14:22:53Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Of course not. You know as well as I do that in normal discourse **when someone says they’ve seen the future of something it means that they have come upon it and been impressed with its promise**." I once again call big fat fucking steaming pile of horseshit with flies on it. What fucked up dictionary did you get that definition from? When I opened the OP, I read it as, “I know what the future is going to be like, and here is a funny thing that I’ve written about it.” Then I read about the first paragraph and wrote it off as just more of your inane tripe. It was only after you were busted that I had an inkling that you hadn’t written this. Call me stupid if it fluffs up your wrinkled old cock, but when someone posts something here I assume they wrote it unless they tell me differently. This bullshit about, “whenever someone says they’ve ‘seen the future’ it automatically means they’re impressed with someone else’s work” is utterly retarded. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/127 "2009-02-27T14:30:09Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > Starving Artist isn’t nearly so literate. 😃 Thanks, I think. Seriously though, this goes to a point I made earlier. The OP was obviously written by someone with journalistic training. The style is completely different from anything I’ve ever written here. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/128 "2009-02-27T14:42:05Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > This bullshit about, “whenever someone says they’ve ‘seen the future’ it automatically means they’re impressed with someone else’s work” is utterly retarded. I didn’t say it “automatically” did. Still, it usually does. [Cite](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=i%27ve+seen+the+future+of+) (Can you say, “Sorry, **SA** , I guess it’s me who’s retarded after all”?) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/129 "2009-02-27T14:58:36Z")
Ahem. About your insistence that “Allusions to laziness, physical and mental, appear in virtually every paragraph”. You recall, you were asked to provide proof? Hows that going? Any progress? ---
**Author:** ![Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brad_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/130 "2009-02-27T15:04:09Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Thank you. 🙂 > > But seriously, you think an apology is in order? For what? I got an email, I copied it and posted it. For all I knew it was composed by some clever conservative wit for the express purpose of making email rounds among conservative circles. There was no attempt at dishonesty, plagiarism or anything else I can think of that would warrant an apology. > > Still, I’m willing to listen. With respect, you have been here long enough to know the boards rules as well as it’s culture of fair use and of citing sources. You did neither. For you to say there were no attempts at dishonesty, plagerism or anything else that warrants an appology is a blatant disregard of those. You outright ADMIT to copying, posting and not crediting. Hmmmm, what would that be called? Perhaps you are being honest, and you didn’t attempt to create false impressons. I find it amazing that since 2003 you havne’t realized that when your name appears in the top left of a post, it means you wrote it. It’s your words (unless otherwise credited). I’m pretty sure you realize that though. As in many cases, your attempt at this pathetic cover up is worse than the crime itself. Most people would probably forgive you for a brain fart of attributing someone elses work as your own, if for nothing else than to avoid a big clusterfuck of a thread. Instead, you are attempting to weasle out, which in turn only makes you look more dishonest and rather pathetic as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/131 "2009-02-27T15:06:31Z")
Stanley, Someone with an ounce of common sense and personal accountability would, when confronted with this circumstance, say “Ooops! No, it wasn’t mine. I got it in an email and mindlessly copied it here. Sorry about that.” Instead, we’re heading swiftly to five pages of the most asinine shucking and jiving ever seen. (What the fuck are you on about with this “I’ve seen…” bullshit?) Are you a child? I really don’t know what your malfunction is at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/132 "2009-02-27T15:07:56Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ahem. About your insistence that “Allusions to laziness, physical and mental, appear in virtually every paragraph”. You recall, you were asked to provide proof? Hows that going? Any progress? Nah. The article speaks for itself. If anyone wants to take your view of it…well, they can have at it. In the minds of most people however, I don’t think the article appears to be making fun of people who are genuinely impaired, either mentally or physically. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/133 "2009-02-27T15:08:37Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I didn’t say it “automatically” did. Still, it usually does. [Cite](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=i%27ve+seen+the+future+of+) > > (Can you say, “Sorry, **SA** , I guess it’s me who’s retarded after all”?) Funny. None of those articles went on to plagiarize anybody. What were you trying to prove? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/134 "2009-02-27T15:16:52Z")
> [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](#): > > Instead, you are attempting to weasle out, which in turn only makes you look more dishonest and rather pathetic as well. One man’s weasel is another man’s honest explanation. I’ve explained how the post came to be, what I intended to accomplish by posting it, and what was meant by the title (including cite). Your refusal to give them credit reveals only your own bias toward me. > [@Jack Batty](#): > > Funny. None of those articles went on to plagiarize anybody. What were you trying to prove? I’m proving exactly what I said I was proving, which is that you were wrong when you said _“This bullshit about, “whenever someone says they’ve ‘seen the future’ it automatically means they’re impressed with someone else’s work” is utterly retarded.”_ In other words, the phrase means exactly what I said it did and you were wrong when you claimed it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Claptree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Claptree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claptree)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/135 "2009-02-27T15:17:50Z")
Indeed. The first three hits were about a screen, newsfeeds and something called PizzaShare. On each page, the author of the title - the person who had seen the future, as it were - was also the person responsible for the following article, describing for the readers the future he or she had seen. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/136 "2009-02-27T15:21:36Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I’m proving exactly what I said I was proving, which is that you were wrong when you said _“This bullshit about, “whenever someone says they’ve ‘seen the future’ it automatically means they’re impressed with someone else’s work” is utterly retarded.”_ > > In other words, the phrase means exactly what I said it did and you were wrong when you claimed it didn’t. Keep digging, douch-bag. In everyone of those articles, the author did indeed say something along the lines of, “I have seen the future,” at which point they went on to write, in their own words, about the thing they have seen the future in. They didn’t, however, cut and paste and email they got from the sisters and try to pass it off as their own. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/137 "2009-02-27T15:23:44Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Stanley, > > Someone with an ounce of common sense and personal accountability would, when confronted with this circumstance, say “Ooops! No, it wasn’t mine. I got it in an email and mindlessly copied it here. Sorry about that.” > > Instead, we’re heading swiftly to five pages of the most asinine shucking and jiving ever seen. (What the fuck are you on about with this “I’ve seen…” bullshit?) > > Are you a child? I really don’t know what your malfunction is at this point. Now, now, **Hector**. Calm down. There’s a reasonable explanation for everything. When people are jumping my shit and accusing me of things I haven’t done, i.e., “plagiarism”, and insulting me and mine, I’m not gonna respond with "Gee, sorry, guys. Mea fuckup, huh?) And I did say that it wasn’t mine and I got it in an email. And I’m on about “I’ve seen…” because people have used that phrase to claim I was trying to take credit for the parody’s composition, rather than it’s true intent which was that I discovered it and thought it prescient. Anything else, **Hector** , old chum? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/138 "2009-02-27T15:31:02Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Nah. The article speaks for itself. If anyone wants to take your view of it…well, they can have at it. In the minds of most people however, I don’t think the article appears to be making fun of people who are genuinely impaired, either mentally or physically. YMMV. Well, gosh, **SA** , you tell me that “allusions to laziness, physical and mental, appear in virtually every paragraph”, and yet, for some reason as yet unrevealed, are unable or unwilling to point to any. And you are entirely correct that the article does not appear to be “making fun of people who are genuinely impaired, either mentally or physically”. You would also be correct to assert that it was written in English. Neither is relevant to the question at hand. Let me make this easier, as your time is precious. Rather than point out all the many, many “allusions to laziness” which “appear in virtually every paragraph”, howzabout just a couple? Howzabout one? Or, howzabout you shrug your shoulders and say “Yeah, I was full of it with that one”? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/139 "2009-02-27T15:33:31Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Keep digging, douch-bag. That would be “douchebag”. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > In everyone of those articles, the author did indeed say something along the lines of, “I have seen the future,” at which point they went on to write, in their own words, about the thing they have seen the future in. And in every one the phrase was meant exactly the way I said it was: they discovered something they thought defined the future. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > They didn’t, however, cut and paste and email they got from the sisters and try to pass it off as their own. Nor did I. Having said that, however, it is also a fact that what they were writing about was not their composition but the subject of it. In this case, the composition itself was the subject and was what foretold the future. Therefore, the phrase “I have seen…” indicates that the written itself foretells the future and not that I have written an article describing it. I’m sure the distinction is lost on you, but there it is nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Claptree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Claptree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claptree)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486/140 "2009-02-27T15:35:18Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > \ > And I’m on about “I’ve seen…” because people have used that phrase to claim I was trying to take credit for the parody’s composition, rather than it’s true intent which was that I discovered it and thought it prescient. > \ So the future you saw and took delight in pointing out to us was the sparkly new use of e-mail for sharing funny pieces of writing? Or was this particular funny so funny that it redefined e-mail funnies? Yeah, sure, I’ll buy that. It makes perfect sense, really. ETA: I have to go drop someone off, but I’ll be back later. Be excellent to each other while I’m away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-future-and-this-is-it/487486.md?page=8)