# Qin Curtis Shi Lemay Huangdi is a FAKE? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061 "2012-01-01T18:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/61 "2012-01-02T02:06:24Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > But why Chomsky in particular? Is he just the only anarchist-type Qin knows of with enough reputation to be taken seriously? > > I mean, really, he’s a\* linguist.\* Personally, I worry more about Benjamin Lee Whorf taking over. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/62 "2012-01-02T02:10:50Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > American conservatism at this point is pretty much a diagnosis instead of a political position. fucking brilliant, that! I totally Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there’d! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/63 "2012-01-02T02:14:19Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I totally Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there’d! I see you post this phrase a lot. What the hell does it mean? I googled it, and all I found was that it was a line used on a popular sitcom a bunch of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/64 "2012-01-02T02:20:54Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I see you post this phrase a lot. What the hell does it mean? I googled it, and all I found was that it was a line used on a popular sitcom a bunch of years ago. > **["Let's go down to the quarry and throw stuff in there!"](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=635786)** > > Can someone give me the background on this phrase? I’ve been interpreting it as a newer equivalent of “I like turtles” - something an ADD and not-terribly bright boy would say. Is there some meaning I’m missing? Where does it come from? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14568298&postcount=30](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14568298&postcount=30) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/65 "2012-01-02T02:23:12Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > As someone who disagrees with Chomsky on pretty much everything and thinks he engages in some really shameful rhetorical sleight-of-hand in his political writings, I will give him credit for absolutely living up to his pledge to keep his work in linguistics and his political commentary separate. A good thing; if his politics stunk as bad as his linguistics, he’d be completely sunk. (For the uninitiated: Chomsky’s linguistic theories are based around the idea of a ‘Universal Grammar’, or the idea that everyone has innate within them a grammar that allows them to learn language as fast as humans tend to. The problem is that he has no evidence of this beyond a handwave like “Humans learn language too quickly and from too little input! I must be right!” and in particular he cannot explain the _huge, vast diversity_ we observe in the grammars of different languages. Basically, it’s crap because there is nothing we could do or discover to get Chomsky to change his mind about it; every new piece of evidence that goes against it in its current form is met with more _ad hoc_ modifications to the theory and handwaving. It’s unscientific.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/66 "2012-01-02T02:54:21Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > (For the uninitiated: Chomsky’s linguistic theories are based around the idea of a ‘Universal Grammar’, or the idea that everyone has innate within them a grammar that allows them to learn language as fast as humans tend to. The problem is that he has no evidence of this beyond a handwave like “Humans learn language too quickly and from too little input! I must be right!” and in particular he cannot explain the _huge, vast diversity_ we observe in the grammars of different languages. Basically, it’s crap because there is nothing we could do or discover to get Chomsky to change his mind about it; every new piece of evidence that goes against it in its current form is met with more _ad hoc_ modifications to the theory and handwaving. It’s unscientific.) You don’t know much about linguistics, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/67 "2012-01-02T04:02:17Z")
I thought the “is Curtis really a kid?” thing was like asking about Cecil. Possible? Yes. Do some Dopers come up with all sorts of rational and p tlausiblehe he really eaxist? Are some others unconvinced? But bottom line: whatever. His posts are bland and lack any insight and so are wholly skippable (unless you’re interested in stock right-wing glurge). ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/68 "2012-01-02T04:15:26Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I see you post this phrase a lot. What the hell does it mean? It means that **Snowboarder Bo** is a numbskull. In one of the threads **Lamar Mundane** linked to, he states that he’s so excited by it that he’ll post it anywhere appropriate. Instead, he’s just posting it anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/69 "2012-01-02T04:20:26Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Basically, it’s crap because there is nothing we could do or discover to get Chomsky to change his mind about it; … Whaddya mean we, kemo sabe? You’ve got somebody in your pocket? I suppose you could be a linguistics professor who has published at the same level as Chomsky. Are you? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/70 "2012-01-02T04:23:45Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I thought the “is Curtis really a kid?” thing was like asking about Cecil. Possible? Yes. Do some Dopers come up with all sorts of rational and p tlausiblehe he really eaxist? Are some others unconvinced? After Qin Shi Huangdi, who? ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/71 "2012-01-02T04:37:24Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I don’t really buy that someone is “fake” just because they’re under the age of 18 and know things that happened in the past. I consider myself extremely well informed about WWII and I wasn’t alive during that time. > > When I was a teenager I read about history almost obsessively. At that age I latched on to certain historical figures as well. Especially some of the “bad guys/conqueror” types of history (Napoleon, Hitler, Genghis Khan…and some other egregious figures like Nero and etc.) I think that’s really pretty common for a teenage boy, you read about a person who basically conquered all of Europe in a few years time and it’s hard with a boy’s mind to not be fascinated by that. As you get older I think that fascination goes away and you start to focus a lot more on the failures of these historical figures and then eventually you evolve to a point where you recognize that any great figure of history is a collection of disparate recollections, successes and failures and that there are no “supermen” figures just men who achieved a lot through a combination of luck and aptitude. > > When I was in Jr. High I thought Hitler was basically an “evil genius” who was supremely gifted at running a country and waging war but obviously a bad guy. As I got older I learned that Hitler was good at seizing and maintaining political power, but much of Germany’s military success had nothing to do with Hitler and in fact many of Hitler’s decisions were key in Germany’s downfall. As for running the country, that was a combination of alliances with big industrialists and later good management by figures such as Speer, but it was all sort of an illusion built on a foundation of shaky financing that even if not for the military defeats would have lead to massive government financial collapse. Cool story, brah. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/72 "2012-01-02T06:09:23Z")
Good lord, this is a weak pitting. So the kid knows about one of the right’s most persistent boogeymen, that’s hardly surprising. What you need to understand is that Chomsky is to rightist politics what Michael Moore is to rightist propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/73 "2012-01-02T06:22:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Anybody who thinks highly enough of Curtis Lemay to take his name as a username is fucked in the head from the get-go. Fucking asshole nearly took us into WWIII without even blinking. I think he should have switched his username to Buck Turgidson myself. As for Chomsky, he must be ancient, because he wasn’t all that young when he was making speeches when I was at MIT during the Cambodian invasion _large mumble_ years ago. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/74 "2012-01-02T08:04:04Z")
I’m an FB friend of Qin. Believe me, he is a High Schooler. And I don’t mean that disparagingly. It’s just that he has enough discussions of high school matters with his friends. I’m sure it will surprise no one that when I say that I see some resemblances between him & my High School self. In fact, he has a bit more on the ball, not being dragged down with Rapturism. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/75 "2012-01-02T12:00:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Anybody who thinks highly enough of Curtis Lemay to take his name as a username is fucked in the head from the get-go. Fucking asshole nearly took us into WWIII without even blinking. I suspect he chose the name more because LeMay killed a lot of Japanese in WW2, and not so much for his Cold War activities. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/76 "2012-01-02T12:36:40Z")
If you pick up any of Chomsky’s political books, like say _Deterring Democracy_, you’ll see they are fairly routine liberal screeds that hideously overuse scare quotes. If you’re a conservative it’s a logical conclusion that he’d “ruin the country” or whatever. That being said, Chomsky is about as proportionally relevant to politics as Saul Alinsky, and thus anybody who identifies him as a liberal bête noire is a seriously clueless wingnut. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/77 "2012-01-02T13:01:33Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > I will also note that annoys me when people still call him Curtis. He changed his name. I can’t think of anybody else who changed their name on the SDMB who regularly gets called by their old name this long after the change. It’s childish and intentionally disrespectful. Just like most of Curtis’ posts. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/78 "2012-01-02T13:15:54Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I’m an FB friend of Qin. Believe me, he is a High Schooler. And I don’t mean that disparagingly. It’s just that he has enough discussions of high school matters with his friends. > > I’m sure it will surprise no one that when I say that I see some resemblances between him & my High School self. In fact, he has a bit more on the ball, not being dragged down with Rapturism. I believe that he is a high schooler, but I can only get _my_ impression of him from his postings here. He comes across as an alien trying to fit into American Society, but whose guidebook is 30 years out of date and heavily influenced by the Republicans of that era. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/79 "2012-01-02T13:59:42Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You don’t know much about linguistics, do you? All I know is what I read at the college level. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061/80 "2012-01-02T14:45:35Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > Your first mistake was thinking that he’s bright. He can memorize and regurgitate events and biographies from history books quite well, but he’s never struck me as insightful. This is exactly why I’m fully prepared to believe he is a teenager. He thinks like a teenager. He \*is \*bright, but bright when you’re a teenager without fully developed frontal lobes means you can memorize and regurgitate events and biographies from history books quite well. Insightful may (or may not) come with time and physical, mental and emotional maturity. And getting your heart stomped on a few times. My young cousin is the teenage libertarian counterpoint to Quin. Our Christmas dinner was charmingly full of talk about how the country’s going to heck, politicians are so bizarrely set against gay people and he’s the head of his school’s gay straight alliance and amendments against gay marriage are wrong headed an unconstitutional and the second he’s out of the Navy (he’s entering in a couple of months), he’s moving to Canada and never, ever coming back to the USA, man. …I mean, most of that, I actually agree with. But these were not the insightful musings of thoughtful person. They were passionate diatribes memorized and regurgitated by a very, very bright young man whose biggest struggle in life so far is choosing between Red Bull and Monster. My cousin and Quin are both bright. Time will tell whether or not they become wise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qin-curtis-shi-lemay-huangdi-is-a-fake/608061.md?page=5)