# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/121 "2004-01-02T21:25:11Z")
I think there’s a RHCP song about **Question** ’s location. ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/122 "2004-01-02T21:25:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > \*\*You know, I hope when I die I don’t discover that life was just one big joke. Because I just don’t get it. \*\* No, dude, you DON’T get it. You already know what’s going to happen when you die, dude, because we are all one mind. Dude. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/123 "2004-01-02T21:26:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > \*\*You know, I hope when I die I don’t discover that life was just one big joke. Because I just don’t get it. \*\* Get serious! And keep swimming! ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/124 "2004-01-02T21:29:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gluteus maximus \* > \*\*I think there’s a RHCP song about **Question** ’s location. \*\* What is that? For the life of me, all I can think of is Right Hand Circular Polarization, which I don’t think is right. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Green\_Feather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@The\_Green\_Feather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Green_Feather)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/125 "2004-01-02T21:38:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*How do you do that? By plugging your wave form generator into the point on the back of your head? \*\* Yes, That is it exactly, not unlike the **Rock** and the **Bunny** following the same path to different places arriving at the same comclusion which continues forever in **Blue** only to find we are lost… Oops… Acid Flashback… Move along. Nothing to see here. ---
**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, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/126 "2004-01-02T21:39:21Z")
The planet gitchigoomee, right? (Rocky Horror Picture Show, **carrot** ) Daniel ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/127 "2004-01-02T21:45:15Z")
[RHCP](http://www.redhotchilipeppers.com/) **Left Hand of Dorkness** , RHCP = Rocky Horror Cicture Phow. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/128 "2004-01-02T22:02:29Z")
The (apparently more obscure than I had thought) [song](http://www.spynets.com/lyrics/lyrics_details.php?ID=1128) . ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/129 "2004-01-02T22:05:15Z")
Aren’t Quantum Antioxidants used to scrub the Tardis clean after getting Timebugs squished on the windows? They come in a pyramid shaped box. ---
**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, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/130 "2004-01-02T22:25:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gluteus maximus \* > \*\*[RHCP](http://www.redhotchilipeppers.com/) > **Left Hand of Dorkness** , RHCP = Rocky Horror Cicture Phow. > > :rolleyes: \*\* :smack: Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/131 "2004-01-02T23:07:51Z")
::: wanders into the pit and discovers this thread ::: Gonna be an interesting year. I cannot wait for tomorrow’s new thread. ::: wanders off ::: ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/132 "2004-01-02T23:17:00Z")
All right, 'fess up. Who programmed it? **Question** is clearly some sort of Dr. Freud-esque software that’s been filled with a cross between hippiespeak and fortune cookies. It isn’t even listening to anything that posted before it. “Why do you think you earned the award?” “the nature of duality is chocolate and peanut butter. think about it. visualize a prefectly round square with 7 sides.” “What does that have to do with it?” “only a coward would deny the artificiality of gray. how can i know that time stand still, but i/you/we move forward through matter, which is energy.” “Look, you’re not making any sense.” “what is the sound of one foot clapping?” You know, this is kind of fun. – Justin ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/133 "2004-01-02T23:19:19Z")
It really bothers me that some people think not only that 1) they can gain an understanding of the universe merely my taking psychedelic drugs, but that 2) it’s the ONLY way to understand the universe. Foolishness. The universe can be understood in precisely one way: absolute dedication, backbreaking discipline, and tireless effort. As **gobear** said, take a calculus course. Study thermodynamics. Dedicate your life to the study of combinatorics and number theory. While you’re studying all the higher math you can get your hands on, delve into philosophy. And I mean the classics. Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Kant, Freud, Nietzche, Skinner. A casual reading of _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ does not count. Carlos Castaneda, that huge fucking fraud, most definitely does not count. And don’t forget religion. You must read the texts of the holy writings of each major religion, at a bare minimum, not counting major mythological traditions. Then to balance all that out, read James G. Frazer, Joseph Campbell, and Bertrand Russell. Don’t forget history and geography either. How else can you understand man’s place in the universe unless you understand where he comes from and what has happened to him in the past? Then there’s art. Literature, music, painting, poetry. There’s more to this than saying “that’s purty.” You have to try to understand why art is merely (pardon the expression…I know that there’s nothing “mere” about it) mathematics expressed differently, and then you pass beyond a superficial appreciation of aesthetic value to a realm where artistry is breathtaking, because it really does reflect a deeper understanding of the universe. This is the quest of a _lifetime_. No mere chemical can possibly take the place of pure, adamantine self-discipline and desire for knowledge. Drugs may have their place as a means to gain a different perspective, but to think that drugs offer the key to complete understanding is venal at best, and self-destructive at worst. For example, **Question** , you keep asserting that “my mind is your mind,” etc., but with no basis for your statement. This makes you look extraordinarily foolish. What you’re missing is context. Philosophically, the idea that we are all one and the same is well-founded, but you have no idea where to look for it, except in your superficial experience with drugs. Try looking, for starters, in the bible. Cain asks God (allegorically, y’all. I’m an atheist.) “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God’s answer and subsequent curse of Cain strongly implies that the answer is, “Of course you are, you idiot.” The idea is called empathy. You are your brother’s keeper because he is fundamentally the same as you. The idea of empathy also neatly ties into the development of ethical systems and moral codes (and ultimately, law.) The basic idea is always the same: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” See also, “unconscious, collective.” The threads of understanding weave into each other from every field of study, and there is simply no way to easily untangle them. Such a thing is certainly beyond the power of a relatively simple little organic chemical like LSD. In short, as my esteemed colleagues have so wisely put it, go read a fucking book, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/134 "2004-01-02T23:19:21Z")
Doh-dee-doh-dee-doh. Oh, hi there, folks! I was just passing through with this big basket of links, but… _Oh, no! I’ve spilled them!_ ./{ . [http://www.johntitor.com/](http://www.johntitor.com/) … …( . … [http://www.cuddlespice.com/](http://www.cuddlespice.com/) … #$% [http://naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN\_14940\_2547066,00.html](http://naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_2547066,00.html) . …^# [http://www.assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/](http://www.assassinationresearch.com/zfilm/) @$ \>\<{{{{(@\> [http://www.mrc.org.uk/flyers.htm](http://www.mrc.org.uk/flyers.htm) Stop it! Don’t pick those up. They are _mine_, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/135 "2004-01-02T23:31:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ogre \* > \*\* > In short, as my esteemed colleagues have so wisely put it, go read a fucking book, OK? \*\* **YEAH!** :mad: Like _Penthouse Forum_… … oh, wait… that would be a _masturbating_ book, wouldn’t it? _Never mind…_ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/136 "2004-01-02T23:47:02Z")
WILL THE POSTER NAMED **ANSWER** PLEASE COME HERE AND STRAIGHTEN THIS GUY OUT? Actually,he’ll be back;right now he’s shape-shifting. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/137 "2004-01-03T01:25:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > **the furniture is not discussing Nietszche** Of course not, don’t be silly. Furniture can’t _read._ Not even Cliff’s Notes. Nuh uh. My ottoman really likes _C.S.I._, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/138 "2004-01-03T01:28:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > **It will all end in tears** I hope he shoots his eye out. Then he can quit yanking all of our chains and go back to yanking only what he can find with his two hands. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/139 "2004-01-03T01:47:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JSexton \* > \*\*All right, 'fess up. Who programmed it? \*\* IIRC, **Mangetout** was talking about unleashing a little AI chatbot at the SDMB a few months back. Question could be an alpha version of same. Nothing to pass the Turing test mind you, but man must learn to walk before he can dance. ---
**Author:** ![Question](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Question](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Question)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246/140 "2004-01-03T02:31:28Z")
i love skeptics… keep trying to sound smart but know that you are educted stupid. how dense can you be? [http://superstringtheory.com/basics/basic2.html](http://superstringtheory.com/basics/basic2.html) do you see that graphic? that is the flow of energy that is your reality. it is the collapse of the wavefunction. before and after the collapse is beyond our perception but ALL OF REALITY is capable of being understood. you must comprehend the flow in and out of your body to know truth. your doubt is all that prevents anything that can be conceptualized. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-randi-owes-me-1-000-000-czarcasm-closed-my-thread-without-reason/222246.md?page=8)