Ok. I am not allowed to have an opinion unless everybody agrees with it, or in the case where I should dare to have such I mustn’t voice it. Got it.
Kitarak, just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean that you have to say it.
Sugaree: Ok. Granted. However, just because some people will find an opinion offensive is also not neccesarily a sufficient reason to not say it.
I will also grant that my OP was ill thought out. If Ramanujan is offended by it I will apologise to him for it - my intent was not to attack him, but to make him aware that I percieved a problem. It’s possible that I expressed this badly - I’ve been having experiencing some frustration with various things recently which seems to have made it difficult for me to phrase things in a non-confrontational way, even when no offence was intended.
I am not trying to say that I’m not at all in the wrong here. My point is that to me it seems that most of the other posters in this thread are blowing it way way out of proportion. It was ultimately a relatively trivial issue which people seem to have decided to find far more offensive than it seems to warrant…
There’s definitely other Einsteins out there, dunno if or how they are related to famous guy. The actor Albert Brooks was originally named Albert Einstein, for example.
Yes, but then no matter what opinion you express, you then need to be prepared to take whatever crap people then give you. You offered out the opinion in a public forum. And it seems that everything done in a public forum is fair game for dissection.
Now, I don’t really think anyone has the right to tell anyone else what their user name should be. It’s like telling someone that you don’t think they should wear that color or listen to their favorite music. But maybe if you had a real problem with Ramanujan’s moniker, you could have emailed him and kept it a private matter.
Prepared to take whatever crap people give me for it? Sure: I’m prepared. I knew in advance that there would be plenty of people who didn’t agree (I didn’t expect everyone to disagree, but that’s another matter). Prepared to take it and willing to accept it when I feel it’s unjustified are again two seperate issues.
I agree that I have no right to tell anyone else what their user name should be. Good thing I didn’t do that, isn’t it?
As to e-mailing him… Yes. I could have done that, and considered it. I deliberately chose not to because I thought it would be helpful, one way or another, to see what others thought on the subject. People have made it abundantly clear that I am in fact the only one who holds this opinion, and that wouldn’t have happened if I’d e-mailed him. Would it?
I guess not, but if you are truly offended, then the opinions of others should not matter. If you are not truly offended, well, what’s the point?
Question: do you think Tamerlane, Diogenes, Polycarp, TVeblen, and maybe dozens whom I cannot recall right now should not have chosen those usernames as they were those of well-known people?
*Originally posted by kitarak *
IMHO, I didn’t interpret most people’s responses as constituting a huge outpouring of derision. I just think most people felt that it was rather pointless (to them) to be irritated with someone’s choice of user name because it was pretentious (to you). Given the strong likelihood that most people weren’t aware that Ramanujan was a mathematical genius, I suspect that “oh, how pretentious, his user name is the same as that mathematical genius - he sure thinks highly of his intellect (or whatever)” wasn’t something that they immediately thought when seeing it.
I suppose one could get the impression that I’m pretentious since my username is self-referential. And I’m sure that there are some people who think that I am pretentious - “oh, wow, he’s must think he’s so clever” (then again, there’s probably some people who will read this and think I’m being pretentious for thinking that other people think I’m pretentious!!) 
My advice - just let this thread die. You made your point by airing a minor irritation over a member’s username. In the grand scheme of things, what does it matter?
Of course, you can console youself in that there are people who are irritated with you over the fact that you are irritated over another member’s username. To me, that’s says alot itself - and is quite funny if you think about it
Sugaree: As I said, I wasn’t offended. I was mildly irritated.
Thanks to some of the more considerate posters to this thread, yourself included, who decided to actually adress me instead of attacking me I am now reconsidering my position on the topic somewhat.
As to whether I think those other names are ill thought out? Well, I’ve already been told to drop it, so I’m not going to say. The reason I’m still in this thread is to defend myself, not my position. I’m not a big fan of letting people verbally attack me without response.
Bullshit.
Plain, simple bullshit.
Kitarek didn’t like the fact somebody he didn’t respect had chosen the username of somebody he did. He expressed the opinion. Notice the “minor” in the title? What the hell is so “out of line” about that? That’s what this place is for, expressing an opinion. You don’t like, well, you don’t have to. But you also don’t have to be an asshole about it either.
Would it be a very bad idea at this point for me to announce that I’m not really infectious?
…I’ll get me coat…
I’d guess, kitarak, that other people see respect instead of a problem. One person’s homage is another’s hubris. It isn’t a case of right versus wrong perceptions, just people taking different slants on something. (So unprecedented here)
FWIW, I didn’t adopt this screenname without a dry-as-dust smile of amusement. The real TVeblen would have held someone like me in great contempt, not even for using his name but just for existing: ordinary, not up to intellectual level, female, for god’s sake; a sheep. He hated almost everyone. He was a very small-c catholic misanthrope. I decided that wasn’t crucial. The man saw straight through conventional “wisdom” with extraordinary clarity. He elegantly demolished a lot of dangerous nonsense. His insights are still bitingly relevant but his name is almost unknown. I think that’s a shame. He and his work deserve to be remembered. Invoking his name is a mark of respect rather than a way to glom onto his laurels.
Again, I’m not saying my perspective is right and yours is wrong. FWIW I hesitated and backed up twice before actually registering under this name for exactly the reasons you’ve stated.
If it matters, kitarak, your thread underlines why damned if I don’t love this place. You’ve taken a bit of a buffeting but some of that can be chalked up to standard Pit practices. (Not my favorite thing, but here we are.) I’m flat-out delighted to be in company of folks who not only know of excellent minds and achievers in the first place but actually care about the use of their names and reputations.
I’m not changing my screen-name, because I do view it differently, but IMO your concern was legitimate and polite expressed. No harm, no foul, and rock on.
Veb
No, no, in fact, I for one, hope you do it again.
Otherwise, I would have never found out that TVeblen had absolutely nothing to do with television.
Hamlet: Thanks for the defence, but just a slight corretion - I do respect Ramanujan (the poster), as much as I do anyone else who has not given me cause to do otherwise. More so than some - from what I’ve read from him he seems like an intelligent person and, aside from my minor complaint about capitals, I’ve never had any objection to the content of his posts. My objection to his choice of name wasn’t based on a lack of respect.
TVeblen: Yeah, I see your point and I wouldn’t have suggested you change your screenname. I think there’s a difference there, but I can’t quite define it. Ah well. It doesn’t matter. I have expressed my opinion, acknowledge that it is in a minority, and got my ass thoroughly handed to me on a plate for it. Thanks for your support.
RM Mentock: What, you mean you didn’t know that? I certainly never even dreamed her name was to do with television. Umm… Yeah. ::sheepish look::
I shall now let this thread die. Unless someone makes a really really good point I’m not likely to respond further.
Kit
p.s. “You’re an asshat” is not a really really good point.
p.p.s. I’m not really a giant psychic insect. Nor are those people at nintendo who stole my screenname for their game really me.
Yes, you are.
ALthough I don’t agree with the OP that Ramnujan is anyone insulting pretentious or likewaise I also don’t agree that online monickers are meaningless and no one has any right ever to suggest that it is wrong. What if someone created the name “Hitler Was Right” or “I Rape Little Girls”, how quickly would they be called out in the BBQ Pit?
It’s stunts such as this that prove beyond any doubt what a jerk you are.
Silly Earth People with your names…
I don’t think anyone believes online names are meaningless, Gangster Octopus, but rather we might disagree as to why a person chose a particular name. I’m confused at the OP’s perspective here, but at least it was handled quite nicely (I thought, given the suspicion in question).
Here’s you: Ooh, I’m so sophisticated that I get offended when somebody invokes the name of Ramanujan in vain!
Here’s me: Buh-bye.
Here’s you: Did everyone hear me? Not only do I know who Ramanujan is, but I actually get irritated that someone registered the name on a messageboard! I must be really smart, huh?
Here’s me: Buh bye.