# People who don't think like you do **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195 "2005-02-21T16:39:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/21 "2005-02-21T20:16:26Z")
> [@pasunejen](#): > > One that gets me every time is: people who feel that they’re entitled to an opinion on factual matters. I had to deal with this recently. In a post on another message board, I said that someone “welshed” on a bet. Well, I got an anonymous email (in that I don’t know which user sent it), stating that “Catherine Zeta-Jones is _Welsh_, you **welch** on a bet.” So I replied that they were both acceptable, and sent him a link to the definition at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com). He then said, “I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.” Ok, then…you go right ahead and disagree with the dictionary. More power to ya. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/22 "2005-02-21T20:36:30Z")
Two words: **Atkins Diet**. :rolleyes: That is all. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/23 "2005-02-21T20:53:26Z")
> [@pasunejen](#): > > One that gets me every time is: people who feel that they’re entitled to an opinion on factual matters. Funny…I had that same opinion regarding several of the posts on [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=302523) thread. What is particularly irritating is in a discussion in which there may be room for a legitimate difference of opinions someone pops in which complete ignorance and starts making definitive statements that are based upon mistruths, like arguements based upon nonsensical interpretation of thermodynamics or misinterpretation of radiological dating methods. See every discussion every conducted on New Earth Creationism for examples of this. :rolleyes: Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/24 "2005-02-21T21:04:32Z")
One of my big red flags is the moon landing. If someone says they don’t believe it happened, I immediately file them in my mental “too stupid to deal with” category, and walk away. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/25 "2005-02-21T21:09:35Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Two words: > > **Atkins Diet**. > > :rolleyes: > > That is all. > > Stranger Can I ask what you mean? You don’t believe it works? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/26 "2005-02-21T21:52:55Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Can I ask what you mean? You don’t believe it works? Or what? Oh, the Atkins Diet “_works_”, all right. It works by starving your body of nutrients needed to properly digest the protein- and saturated fat-heavy diet it recommends. You’ll lose weight, but heck, you’ll lose weight if you swallow a tapeworm, too. That doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Decades of clinical research have demonstrated that carbohydrates fill an important role in good health. Overly refined carbs and especially starches and sugars aren’t very good for you (they tend to muck up your blood sugar regulation), but that doesn’t mean that a greasy, cheese covered 1/2 pounder is more healthy for you if served between two leaves of lettuce rather than a bun. Humans are omnivores, to be sure, and the most rich source of _most_ nutrients comes from meat, but we didn’t evolve eating only, or even mostly, meat. You get every vitamin you need (I think) from raw red meat…but you’re not going to live a long, healthy, heart-disease free life. But yeah, if you eat nothing but burgers sans bun, you’ll lose weight. You’ll also spend half the time on the pot trying to \*\*\*\* your intestines out, like many of my cow-orkers. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/27 "2005-02-21T22:04:02Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > One of my big red flags is the moon landing. If someone says they don’t believe it happened, I immediately file them in my mental “too stupid to deal with” category, and walk away. There’s a woman like that here. The conversation went like this. Her: “I don’t beleive that people walked on the moon” Me: "Why? Her: “Because I beleive in the Bible” Me: “And the Bible says you can’t walk on the moon?” Her: “Well no, but I just don’t beleive the moon is anything you can land on. It’s a light in the sky.” Me: “So you don’t think the moon is a big rock orbiting the Earth?” Her: “I don’t know what it is, but I know you can’t go there.” Me: “Why?” Her: “It’s like when you go in a submarine. If you go too far down you get crushed, the same thing would happen if you go too far up.” I pointed her to [Badastonomy.com](http://Badastonomy.com), but it didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/28 "2005-02-21T22:19:19Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > I had to deal with this recently. In a post on another message board, I said that someone “welshed” on a bet. Well, I got an anonymous email (in that I don’t know which user sent it), stating that “Catherine Zeta-Jones is _Welsh_, you **welch** on a bet.” So I replied that they were both acceptable, and sent him a link to the definition at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com). He then said, “I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.” Ok, then…you go right ahead and disagree with the dictionary. More power to ya. Unfortunately, [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) is not a publisher, but a service that uses many different dictionaries, some of which contradict each other. Unless I know exactly what the source is, I don’t trust it. In the “welch/welsh” case, you are correct Susie, at least, according to _my_ dictionary, the Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition. Under “welch” it lists only: vi. [Slang] var. of WELSH. Under “welsh” it lists: [19th-c, slang, prob. \< fol., with reference to alleged character traits of the Welsh] [Slang] 1. to cheat or swindle by failing to pay a bet or other debt 2. to evade (an obligation) But because of the different definitions in various dictionaries, this _may_ be a gray area. In other words, either of you may be correct. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/29 "2005-02-21T22:24:26Z")
> [@START](#): > > Most people I know are religous in some way not neccescarily Christian or any other organized religion but they atleast believe in God so coming to the SDMB was a shocker being that I never saw so many straight up athiests and then besides this message board I have met a few people who don’t believe in anything and that is always different for me because like I said most people I encounter believe in some type of Higher Power if not God himself. And how shocked are you that most of us use punctuation? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/30 "2005-02-21T22:30:34Z")
> [@](#): > > If I sound elitist…It is because of they have a way of thinking that I consider closeminded or backward and, right or wrong, I have come to associate that type of thinking with that region. Yup, sounds elitist to me. 'Course I’m just a backwards Southerner, so you probably don’t want my input. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/31 "2005-02-21T22:49:08Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > If I sound elitist, it is not meant to be towards people because they are from a certain region. It is because of they have a way of thinking that I consider closeminded or backward and, right or wrong, I have come to associate that type of thinking with that region. > > In any event, I think I’m more inclined to change my view of the Bible Belt than the Bible Belt is inclined to change their view on evolution. Gee, I suppose me (the soon-to-be lawyer) and my engineer husband should get together with our friends the doctor, the computer engineer, the French and Russian translator, the graphic designer (hi **PinkMaribou**!), the nurse, the museum director, the environmental engineer, and the other attorneys I know. Then we can get together with your _educated friends_ (only “Yankees” are educated you know) and have a huge pissing match to find out just which group is better. I am sure they all will be highly delighted to be called closeminded and backwards because they live in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, you enormous :wally ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/32 "2005-02-21T22:52:11Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > But yeah, if you eat nothing but burgers sans bun, you’ll lose weight. You’ll also spend half the time on the pot trying to \*\*\*\* your intestines out, like many of my cow-orkers. > > Stranger But if you’re eating nothing but burgers sans buns, you’re not really doing Atkins properly. I did it, and lost nearly 80 pounds, and I’ve kept it off for over a year. I ate plenty of fresh veggies with my burgers. FWIW, I ate mostly chicken and fish, rather then red meat. I didn’t eat all the pre-packaged crap that screams “LO-CARB!!!” on the label. I never had to spend half my time on the pot, \*\*\*\* my intestines out. I was under the care of a doctor, and I had all the bloodwork done. The ones who think, “All the burgers and fried eggs and bacon I can stuff down!” are wrong, sure. But don’t be so quick to judge. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/33 "2005-02-21T22:54:51Z")
> [@Large Marge](#): > > In the “welch/welsh” case, you are correct Susie, at least, according to _my_ dictionary, the Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition. Yes, it was in my home dictionary as well, but I linked to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) for convenience. > [@](#): > > But because of the different definitions in various dictionaries, this _may_ be a gray area. In other words, either of you may be correct. I know that “welch” is valid as well, but my issue was with him telling me that I used the word incorrectly when I didn’t. He was wrong when he said that I’d misused the word, but still didn’t want to admit it. Just a minor annoyance. I swear I’m over it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/34 "2005-02-21T23:05:32Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I’m all for intelligent discussion and debate, but I choose not to associate with those who are so closeminded that they cling to beliefs that are unsupportable. If people in the Bible Belt and Deep South want to not be considered backward anachronistic hicks by us Yankees here in the North, I suspect they should stop acting that way. **msmith537** , you might want to consider offering up an apology. I give you myself as [an example](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=5813392#post5813392), though you might want to spellcheck and copyedit the thing a little better than I did. We all shoot from the hip occasionally, and sometimes we hit an innocent bystander. Be big enough to admit it. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/35 "2005-02-21T23:11:53Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Oh, the Atkins Diet “_works_”, all right. It works by starving your body of nutrients needed to properly digest the protein- and saturated fat-heavy diet it recommends. You’ll lose weight, but heck, you’ll lose weight if you swallow a tapeworm, too. That doesn’t mean it’s good for you. > But yeah, if you eat nothing but burgers sans bun, you’ll lose weight. You’ll also spend half the time on the pot trying to \*\*\*\* your intestines out, like many of my cow-orkers. > > Stranger Do the world a really big favor and actually READ the book before you blast Atkins. It doesn’t say to eat nothing but meat and fat. It wants you to eat fresh vegetables, and unprocessed/lightly processed carbs like whole grains and avoid garbage foods of processed rice, overprocessed flour, and starches that do not have a favorable proportion of fiber to sugars like potatoes. I eat 10 portions of veggies a day, I do get 25-35 grams of dietary fiber without suppliments…most people eating a regular food pyramid diet seem to need food and fiber suppliments more than I do…and I am not untypical of someone who _has_ read the book and is working the diet correctly. And oddly enough, my bloodwork is excellent, and I don’t have to take meds to control my type 2 diabetes. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/36 "2005-02-21T23:24:35Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > But if you’re eating nothing but burgers sans buns, you’re not really doing Atkins properly. I did it, and lost nearly 80 pounds, and I’ve kept it off for over a year. I ate plenty of fresh veggies with my burgers. FWIW, I ate mostly chicken and fish, rather then red meat. I didn’t eat all the pre-packaged crap that screams “LO-CARB!!!” on the label. > I never had to spend half my time on the pot, \*\*\*\* my intestines out. I was under the care of a doctor, and I had all the bloodwork done. > The ones who think, “All the burgers and fried eggs and bacon I can stuff down!” are wrong, sure. But don’t be so quick to judge. I’ve read through the Atkins literature, and yes, while it does suggest (well, the diet actually mandates) a certain amount of vegatable matter, the whole “carbs are absolutely bad” thing is right off the wall, and the idea that red meat is good for you, from a longevity standpoint, is contradicted by mountains of peer-reviewed studies. The thing that Atkins et al get right is the fact that Americans (and the industrialized world in general) eat way to many refined carbohydrates with no nutritional value aside from raw calories. Because they digest quickly, they make you feel more hungry, causing you to eat more carbs…and thus you get the people who eat a family-size back of crisps in one sitting. Hello, diabetes. You’re right; a diet with moderate portions of meat, espeically fish protein (I’m not so excited about fowl though from a culinary standpoint it is easier to store and prepare) combined with sufficient servings of fruits and vegetables is very healthy, and will make you feel less hungry than eating a bunch of junk food, or white toast and cheerios, et cetera. But the emphasis (from what I’ve read on his own literature) in the Atkins plan is on the protein, which is wrong. The emphasis should be on a well-rounded diet with a minimal amount of processed sugars and saturated fats. If you want to lose weight, you eat less and exercise more (the former being the more effective of the two, but both are important.) Sorry about being a little blunt on the subject, but as a former SCUBA instructor, I’m sick of seeing these grossly overweight (and therefore extremely risk prone) divers chowing down on plate after plate of eggs and bacon, but refusing toast, and claiming, “Oh yeah, I’m on the Atkins plan, and I’ve lost 30 pounds already. Can’t you tell?” Gads, no, and I don’t want to try to haul you up the swim step after you’ve had a heart attack or suffered a massive DCI from nitrogen oversaturation. Lay off the fried eggs and take a walk, will ya? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/37 "2005-02-21T23:25:37Z")
This is a little different, but… I went to a movie once with a friend of mine. I forget the name of it, but it had a character who was kind of psychologicaly tormented, somewhat self-destructive, full of angst… And after the movie when we were driving home, my friend said to me that she just had a hard time understanding there are people out there who feel that way, because she had never felt that way and it just seemed really weird to her. She had no first-hand knowledge or empathy for that state of mind. And I just thought to myself how lucky she was to not have experienced it. And I had a hard time believing that there were people who did NOT have those feelings! ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/38 "2005-02-21T23:37:38Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > Yes, it was in my home dictionary as well, but I linked to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) for convenience. > > I know that “welch” is valid as well, but my issue was with him telling me that I used the word incorrectly when I didn’t. He was wrong when he said that I’d misused the word, but still didn’t want to admit it. Just a minor annoyance. I swear I’m over it. 🙂 Send him in here; I’ll smack him around with my dictionary for ya. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/39 "2005-02-21T23:42:53Z")
My mother refuses to believe that light travels… You turn on a light and its just on, instantly, everywhere. She says that she’s waiting for the day when my own kids come home from school and tell me that “the whole light traveling thing” has been disproven. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195/40 "2005-02-21T23:55:47Z")
> [@Sevo](#): > > Actually–I kinda like it more as an office worker. But imagine he really does have an axe. Then the story gets _really_ interesting. I thought it was an executioner. Paging Dr. Freud… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-dont-think-like-you-do/291195.md?page=3)