# Marilyn Vos Savant Vs. Cecil **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 9, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923 "2000-04-09T01:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![m3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@m3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/m3)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/1 "2000-04-09T01:46:00Z")
Ok, no rules to this contest yet. But if someone wants to make up a decathalon style contest like the recent Kirk vs. Picard, be my guest. This forum is obviously biased, but I’m hoping there’ll be enough devil’s advocates to make this interesting. ---
**Author:** ![SingleDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SingleDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleDad)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/2 "2000-04-09T01:59:00Z")
Let’s get some other great contests going: Mike Tyson vs. Mr. Whipple Gary Kasparov vs. Homer Simpson Clarence Darrow vs. CalifBoomer Jeff Gordon vs. my Grandmother Lawrence Olivier vs. David Duchovny :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![m3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@m3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/m3)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/3 "2000-04-09T02:05:00Z")
Be nice now, we all know that Kasparov would lose to Homer in the beer drinking contest, but that don’t mean its the same for these two. ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/4 "2000-04-09T02:57:00Z")
I don’t know about that. It would really depend on how used to drinking that Cecil was. Now if his experience was comparable to (or better than) Vos Savant’s, then he would probably end up winning(guys generally have a higher tolerance. But it’s altogether possible that Vos Savant does drink more than Cecil(at least given what I know about the two of them(ie very very little). Seeing as she’s less intelligent than he is, it would make sense(it’s not easy to be second best). I’d still place my money on Cecil, though. I just like him better. * * * Profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate mother-fucker. ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/5 "2000-04-09T02:58:00Z")
Man! I just wasted post #420 there on a post about _drinking_… What was I thinking. * * * Profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate mother-fucker. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/6 "2000-04-09T02:59:00Z")
Isn’t that spelled “Marilyn Faux Savant”? ---
**Author:** ![SingleDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SingleDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleDad)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/7 "2000-04-09T03:27:00Z")
Pshaw! Cecil _has_ to be a drinker, just listen to him! He could drink that prissy tight assed MvosS right under the table without having to get up and take a piss! * * * Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. ---
**Author:** ![m3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@m3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/m3)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/8 "2000-04-09T03:45:00Z")
Ok here’s the pentathlon: 1. Go head to head on Jeopardy! and win the most money 2. First one to actually convince a creation-scientist that they’re wrong (given two equally beligerent creation-scientists and probably measured to the nearest month). 3. Make a puzzle with a solution that the other can’t solve. 4. Seduce an alien of the opposite sex (ok so I borrowed from the Kirk/Picard thread) 5. Convince the teeming millions that they actually are the smartest person in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Occam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Occam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Occam)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/9 "2000-04-10T20:18:00Z")
I think she has already lost. She was wrong a few times. I haven’t seen anyone disprove Cecil yet. * * * * * * “Clatu, Verrata…nector?..neck-tie?” ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@WhiteNight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhiteNight)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/10 "2000-04-10T20:28:00Z")
They do different types of things, so it’s easier to prove her wrong. Cecil researches things other people can’t. Usually all you could end up doing would be prove his source wrong. MvosS provides her own answers to complex puzzles and such. And proof that she ever gave a wrong answer means that she personally was wrong. So that’s not a good metric. ---
**Author:** ![Tominator2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tominator2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tominator2)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/11 "2000-04-10T20:54:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I haven’t seen anyone disprove Cecil yet. There _was_ that ugly “Price is Right” incident. You know, “do you swap doors?” ---
**Author:** ![Lux\_Fiat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lux\_Fiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lux_Fiat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/12 "2000-04-10T21:08:00Z")
[quote] There was that ugly “Price is Right” incident. You know, “do you swap doors?” [\quote] Hey now. It was “Let’s Make a Deal,” and Cecil wasn’t wrong, he was operating under a different set of assumptions (does Monty know where the prize is? How would he act if he did?). * * * “Are you frightened of snakes?” “Only when they dress like werewolves.” -Preacher ---
**Author:** ![Lux\_Fiat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lux\_Fiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lux_Fiat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/13 "2000-04-10T21:11:00Z")
Dammit. Screwed up the quote. That’s what I get for posting all quick and squirrely at work. Oh, and Cecil’s _way_ smarter than Vos Savant. She’s written some pretty dumb-assed things, while the same cannot be said of Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/14 "2000-04-10T21:35:00Z")
Let’s go back to the original challenge – the Pentathlon. 1. Screw Jeopardy. Go on Win Ben Stein’s money. They both have to beat Ben. 2. Assuming they both advance, they would each take the SAT’s. 3. George W. Bush would get to ask them the names of any five world leaders he chooses. 4. Both would subject their columns to review by a group of frustrated high school English teachers. 5. The ultimate test. They would be required to state the -gry riddle CORRECTLY. * * * I understand all the words, they just don’t make sense together like that. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/15 "2000-04-10T22:55:00Z")
Before I post a link to a thread where I had a small hand finding a mistake in one of Cecil’s columns, I 'll say that he’d kick the stuffing out of Mariloon Vos IdiotSavant in just about any contest you’d care to name. Here’s the link; [Why are Manhole Covers Round](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000581.html)? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/16 "2000-04-10T23:17:00Z")
m3 wrote: > [@](#): > > 1. First one to actually convince a creation-scientist that they’re wrong (given two equally beligerent creation-scientists and probably measured to the nearest month). Oh come on, that contest would _never_ end. Have you ever heard a “creation scientist” admit to being wrong about anything? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/17 "2000-04-10T23:26:00Z")
Speaking of Marilyn being wrong, do ya’ll remember some years ago when, shortly after Andrew Wiles proved Fermat’s Last Theorem, Marilyn first wrote a column, and then subsequently a book, analyzing the proof and finding “faults” within the proof? Her arguments had holes large enough for a freight train to pass through. Personally, I think she was kind of jealous of Wiles for proving it, and her jealousy completely clouded her logic. I never did have a whole lot of respect for her, but after that incident, what respect I did have was lost. Anyone know if she’s still “attacking” the proof? * * * …ebius sig. This is a moebius sig. This is a mo… (sig line courtesy of WallyM7) ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2000, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-vs-cecil/17923/18 "2000-04-11T00:22:00Z")
Here’s something to chew on. [Marilyn is Wrong](http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/marilyn.html)!