# James Randi Owes Me $1,000,000 & Czarcasm Closed My Thread Without Reason **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 2, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246 "2004-01-02T07:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/21 "2004-01-02T13:08:49Z")
I remember reading that there is something in the order of 80 million sperm in an average male ejaculation. Now, I find that fact pretty amazing in and of itself, but what is really astonishing to me is that the particular reproductive cell that managed to yield the OP managed to beat out the other 79.99 million sperm involved in the race. I simply can’t imagine what _those_ would have been like. ---
**Author:** ![Question](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Question)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/22 "2004-01-02T13:35:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RedFury \* > \*\*I remember reading that there is something in the order of 80 million sperm in an average male ejaculation. Now, I find that fact pretty amazing in and of itself, but what is really astonishing to me is that the particular reproductive cell that managed to yield the OP managed to beat out the other 79.99 million sperm involved in the race. > > I simply can’t imagine what _those_ would have been like. \*\* skeptical frightened child, that is what you are. you have answered your own question, coward. quit being a fucking idiot. the reason i exist is because i won the race; i was the most viable fish in the river and thus the most enlightened. none of those other 80,000,000 sperm were more fit to survive than me. ---
**Author:** ![Question](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Question)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/23 "2004-01-02T13:37:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RedFury \* > \*\*I remember reading that there is something in the order of 80 million sperm in an average male ejaculation. Now, I find that fact pretty amazing in and of itself, but what is really astonishing to me is that the particular reproductive cell that managed to yield the OP managed to beat out the other 79.99 million sperm involved in the race. > > I simply can’t imagine what _those_ would have been like. \*\* think about this, coward : i was sperm 80,000,001 … ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/24 "2004-01-02T13:41:32Z")
Yeah, but what were the odds that the whole load would be so darn weak? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/25 "2004-01-02T13:42:28Z")
Come on people **Question** may as well be living under a bridge being harassed by Billy Goats Gruff. Lets starve the bugger out ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/26 "2004-01-02T13:48:56Z")
> [@](#): > > quit being a fucking idiot. the reason i exist is because i won the race; i was the most viable fish in the river and thus the most enlightened. none of those other 80,000,000 sperm were more fit to survive than me. I wonder what the pollution levels in that river are? Is anyone else getting the impression that it’s DNFTT time? ---
**Author:** ![Question](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Question)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/27 "2004-01-02T13:49:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SimonX \* > \*\*For me, tears of laughter. > > What a nutter. > > **Question** , > Personal revelaions are just that _personal_ revelations. The task that seperates the “called” from the loonies is the ability to commmunicate that revelation in universal terms. > You’ve not yet acquired that ability. > Just keep your mouth shut and pay attention. > > If you’re going to do drugs, go out and do something. Don’t sit @ home jacked to the box. 😉 \*\* SimonX … i apologized… i let my anger get the best of me… still … please read the threads i have created on this server and if you could try to cast aside your doubt for a moment and pretend that what i have said is valid … ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/28 "2004-01-02T13:57:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Question \* > \*\*quit being a fucking idiot. the reason i exist is because i won the race; i was the most viable fish in the river and thus the most enlightened. none of those other 80,000,000 sperm were more fit to survive than me. \*\* Methinks that’s precisely the origin of the old sayin’ “you’re one load your Momma should have swallowed.” And if it is isn’t, it _should_ be. Anyhoo…not interested in feeding you any additional morsels of wisdom. And your kind dies off rather quickly without nourishment. So, later – as in _much_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/29 "2004-01-02T14:01:26Z")
**Question** , your mind and **Czarcasm** ’s mind are the same. You already KNOW why you closed the thread. Just collapse the waveform, and you’ll see. Daniel whose fingers just turned into Ho-Hos ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/30 "2004-01-02T14:05:07Z")
**Question** , Aw, too bad you didn’t listen. You seem to be following the self-destruct pattern, right on schedule. What about if you look at this a different way. People here, especially the mods are just sadly, _not_ as _enlightened_ as you are. Accept that we are all so different in our sameness.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/31 "2004-01-02T14:08:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RedFury \* > \*\*I remember reading that there is something in the order of 80 million sperm in an average male ejaculation. Now, I find that fact pretty amazing in and of itself, but what is really astonishing to me is that the particular reproductive cell that managed to yield the OP managed to beat out the other 79.99 million sperm involved in the race. > > I simply can’t imagine what _those_ would have been like. \*\* IIRC, some of those sperm are sperm-killer sperm. They exist just to kill other guy’s sperm. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/32 "2004-01-02T14:10:02Z")
It looks like our pal Hiryuu / Dan Winter is back for a visit, and this time he is huffing paint thinner. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/33 "2004-01-02T14:13:16Z")
To be serious: **Question** , I used to live with a guy who thought very similarly to you. He was a very sweet, friendly guy, and I really enjoyed his company, even though I thought he was hopelessly stupid when it came to the issue of psychoactive substances (he, for example, defended LSD use by saying that every ingested substance, from broccoli to white flour, was psychoactive). When we deny the idea that hallucinogens enlighten you, we’re not just doing it from knee-jerk anti-drug fervor: some of us are doing it after long reflection on the subject. You say that you’ve experienced enlightenment through hallucinogens, _but you’re not an objective obervor_. The fact that you’ve taken so many hallucinogens makes you uniquely UN-qualified to make any observation about their effects, paradoxically. Consider, for a moment, just as a thought exercise, the idea that hallucinogens drive people barking mad. If this is true, then you’re barking mad, right? Why, then, would you trust your perceptions as to what hallucinogens have done? I’ve met plenty of folks who’ve done lots of Alduous-Huxley-style tripping. Not one of them struck me as especially, or even moderately, enlightened. I’ve met plenty of folks who struck me as enlightened: gentle, wise souls who could get right to the heart of an issue with a few well-chosen words or gestures. None of them had spent much time taking hallucinogens. From where you stand, the drugs might make you feel enlightened. From where I stand, they make you look self-absorbed, arrogant, and singularly unconcerned with the truth. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/34 "2004-01-02T14:17:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Question \* > \*\*listen to me. all that exists is energy. the words that you read now are a part of the totality of existance. examine these words closely and you will see that they are the same as you and me. i speak the truth; to deny it is to remain a coward forever stuck in a corner that is a creation of doubt. \*\* Anyone else reminded of [this guy](http://www.timecube.com)? ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/35 "2004-01-02T14:22:35Z")
**Why** does James Randi owe you $1,000,000? **What** makes you think that saying it’s “self-evident” is enough to win the JREF Challenge? **Did** you fill out, notarize, and sign the application for the challenge? **Did** you in fact understand the conditions required to win the challenge? **Can** you [show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event?](http://www.randi.org/research/index.html) **Did** you pass both the preliminary and final testing stages, as outlined at [http://www.randi.org/research/challenge.html](http://www.randi.org/research/challenge.html)? **When?** **Why** am I writing as if I was a headline writer for the Watchtower?:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Question](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Question)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/36 "2004-01-02T14:23:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Left Hand of Dorkness \* > \*\*To be serious: > > **Question** , I used to live with a guy who thought very similarly to you. He was a very sweet, friendly guy, and I really enjoyed his company, even though I thought he was hopelessly stupid when it came to the issue of psychoactive substances (he, for example, defended LSD use by saying that every ingested substance, from broccoli to white flour, was psychoactive). > > When we deny the idea that hallucinogens enlighten you, we’re not just doing it from knee-jerk anti-drug fervor: some of us are doing it after long reflection on the subject. You say that you’ve experienced enlightenment through hallucinogens, _but you’re not an objective obervor_. The fact that you’ve taken so many hallucinogens makes you uniquely UN-qualified to make any observation about their effects, paradoxically. > > Consider, for a moment, just as a thought exercise, the idea that hallucinogens drive people barking mad. If this is true, then you’re barking mad, right? Why, then, would you trust your perceptions as to what hallucinogens have done? > > I’ve met plenty of folks who’ve done lots of Alduous-Huxley-style tripping. Not one of them struck me as especially, or even moderately, enlightened. I’ve met plenty of folks who struck me as enlightened: gentle, wise souls who could get right to the heart of an issue with a few well-chosen words or gestures. None of them had spent much time taking hallucinogens. > > From where you stand, the drugs might make you feel enlightened. From where I stand, they make you look self-absorbed, arrogant, and singularly unconcerned with the truth. > > Daniel \*\* you are asbolutely right, Daniel … i am as much under the influence of the ying and yang of existance as anyone else and for a moment there i let darkness and hate take control. why? because all the energy of the universe must be kept in state of balance. my hate was overriding my love and until the moment that i recognized that i was doomed to repeat the same mistake for eternity. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/37 "2004-01-02T14:25:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Question \* > \*\* > please read the threads i have created on this server and if you could try to cast aside your doubt for a moment and pretend that what i have said is valid … \*\* Please note that your diction, _at best_, consists of many specially defined words for which you provide not appropriate definition. You say things that are very vague. The rule that I learned sometime ago is, “The more vague, the more true.” Even if what you’ve said is “valid” that doesn’t mean that it actually conveys any useful meaning, (or information). Essentially, you’re speaking in some sort of **Question** code that only you have the key to crack. What I told other revelationists, “_ **Do** _ something with your insight.” If you can’t translate your insight into some sort of action, (opposed to just ranting about it), what use is it? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/38 "2004-01-02T14:36:10Z")
FWIW, I’m of the opinion that the use psychedelics for “enlightenment” is limited to reducing the rigidity of one’s world-view. They don’t appear to do much in the way of _constructing_ anything new in it’s place. The trip is neither the goal nor the process. The fact that one’s mindset _can_ be so pronouncedly changed, (albeit temporarily), is the useful part. How it has changed and what it’s changed to are mostly just interesting footnotes. The traditional uses of psychotropics involve a **great deal of crucial context** that’s absent in personal “field experiments.” ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/39 "2004-01-02T14:41:36Z")
Oh, we have a new fucking loon on the SDMB! And best of all, he’s entertaining! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/40 "2004-01-02T14:56:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Waverly \* > \*\*It looks like our pal Hiryuu / Dan Winter is back for a visit, and this time he is huffing paint thinner. \*\* It’s not Hiryuu. Hiryuu’s elocution was awe inspiring. He was a master of double-speak. Compared to Hiryuu, Question just mumbles and grunts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246.md?page=3)