# Reality **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 16, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101 "2011-05-16T16:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/61 "2011-05-16T18:10:22Z")
Did I miss the unicorn? Damnit. I always miss the unicorns. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/62 "2011-05-16T18:11:08Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Except for the flying, fire-breathing, hoarding gold and eating maidens stuff, of course. Which of course YOU can prove never happened in history right? Just try it. > [@](#): > > Except for the riding broomsticks, casting spells, eating children stuff, of course. Levitation, casting spells, and child sacrifice has existed through our entire history. You are very sheltered from the real world, friend. > [@](#): > > Except for the living at the top of a beanstalk, magic harps, smashing villages stuff, of course. I said nothing about beanstalks or magic harps. I think I will avoid you. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/63 "2011-05-16T18:11:38Z")
> [@Rex\_Lex](#): > > With but few exceptions this is the most unfriendly and impatient board I have ever been on. > > Good grief.:rolleyes: Don’t get out much, do ya? If you’d done this at the board I used to moderate, I’d probably have banned you by now. Then I’d leave the thread open for a little while, so people could mock and ridicule you at their leisure. That’s probably what is going to happen here, but it takes a little longer to get to the banning part. They like to build a mod consensus before pulling the trigger, even in obvious cases. Sometimes it takes a while to do that. The process is slow, but inevitable. Like sand through the hourglass…these are the days of our lives. And shit. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/64 "2011-05-16T18:12:13Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Did I miss the unicorn? Damnit. I always miss the unicorns. You sure did. Like the rest of your brilliant,\* reality-minded \*comrades who think they’ve got a grip on the real world.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/65 "2011-05-16T18:13:38Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Don’t get out much, do ya? If you’d done this at the board I used to moderate, I’d probably have banned you by now. Then I’d leave the thread open for a little while, so people could mock and ridicule you at their leisure. > > That’s probably what is going to happen here, but it takes a little longer to get to the banning part. They like to build a mod consensus before pulling the trigger, even in obvious cases. Sometimes it takes a while to do that. The process is slow, but inevitable. Like sand through the hourglass…these are the days of our lives. And shit. The reason I believe what I believe is BECAUSE I ‘get out much’. The problem here is yours. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/66 "2011-05-16T18:13:40Z")
It will definitely take magic to turn this thread into something useful. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/67 "2011-05-16T18:14:08Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If this is intended as a moderating critique, take it to ATMB. Dude…who are you talking to? It can’t be me, because you know full well that I am not subtle about critiques of moderating actions. This was rather obviously a joke, riffing on the infamous \*\*Manhatten \*\* line. C’mon. Work with me here. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/68 "2011-05-16T18:16:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It will definitely take magic to turn this thread into something useful. Really? If it isn’t ‘useful’ then why are you posting here? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/69 "2011-05-16T18:18:47Z")
> [@Rex\_Lex](#): > > You sure did. Like the rest of your brilliant,\* reality-minded \*comrades who think they’ve got a grip on the real world.😉 It hardly matters, but you posted a link to a dinosaur and said it was a dragon. You didn’t post any “cites” for a unicorn. I’m sure the unicorn would have been a rhinocerous or something equally convincing. > [@Oakminster](#): > > Dude…who are you talking to? It can’t be me, because you know full well that I am not subtle about critiques of moderating actions. This was rather obviously a joke, riffing on the infamous \*\*Manhatten \*\* line. C’mon. Work with me here. I recognized that, but I wasn’t sure how the post was intended. Anyway, no offense taken over here. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/70 "2011-05-16T18:20:36Z")
> [@Rex\_Lex](#): > > Really? If it isn’t ‘useful’ then why are you posting here? Look. He told you. He’s not allowed to argue unless you’ve paid. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/71 "2011-05-16T18:21:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It hardly matters, but you posted a link to a dinosaur and said it was a dragon. You didn’t post any “cites” for a unicorn. I’m sure the unicorn would have been a rhinocerous or something equally convincing. > … I’m going with either a narwhal or one of those poor goats with the fused horns. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/72 "2011-05-16T18:22:00Z")
> [@Rex\_Lex](#): > > Really? If it isn’t ‘useful’ then why are you posting here? A lot of us like to post in joke threads. Didn’t you notice? ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/73 "2011-05-16T18:26:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If this is intended as a moderating critique, take it to ATMB. > Again, the problem is that you’re not defining your terms at all - or else you are inviting everyone to expand the terms until they are so vague as to have no meaning. It’s possible that legends like dragons grew out of people seeing fossils of dinosaurs or lizard skeletons, or that stories about giants were based on people with pituitary disorders (or even elephant skeletons). You’ve posted no evidence for your more fantastic claims (like saying that astral projection is real and spells work). > I’m not surprised. You should have taken a few minutes to learn about the place you were posting. > Familiarize yourself with the idea of confirmation bias. > > I’m attempting to be patient here. Post some evidence or I’ll cast a spell on the electrons keeping this thread open. None of them are fantastic and there are witnesses to these things aplenty. But people like you live in your own little rationalistic, boring world of rationalism and I am one who loves to punch holes in your theories. I’ve got a lot more to post but you will just sit there with a skeptical mind and criticize. I’m used to it. By the way; here’s more: Speaking of curses, how about the old Indian curse in which every U.S. president died or was assassinated or shot every 20 yrs from Harrison to Reagan? [http://presidents.qinono.com/tecumseh-curse-and-the-us-presidents.htm](http://presidents.qinono.com/tecumseh-curse-and-the-us-presidents.htm) Then there is the curse on the Kennedy family: [http://www.nowpublic.com/world/kennedy-family-tree-how-many-kennedys-are-left-kennedy-curse](http://www.nowpublic.com/world/kennedy-family-tree-how-many-kennedys-are-left-kennedy-curse) The curse on Bruce Lee and his descendants: [http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~chenj/brucelee/bruce\_curse.html](http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~chenj/brucelee/bruce_curse.html) There are many additional websites that discuss the details of these things. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/74 "2011-05-16T18:30:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > A lot of us like to post in joke threads. Didn’t you notice? Nope. I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/75 "2011-05-16T18:30:51Z")
> [@Rex\_Lex](#): > > By the way; here’s more: > > Speaking of curses, how about the old Indian curse in which every U.S. president died or was assassinated or shot every 20 yrs from Harrison to Reagan? Bah. Reagan broke that one just like he crushed the commies in the First Interplanetary War. Now if you got something to cure the curse on the Chicago Cubs, maybe we can do some bidness… ---
**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:** [May 16, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/76 "2011-05-16T18:32:38Z")
How about the “newbie curse” of the SDMB. Only 1 out of every 10 new posters lasts very long around here. The more they post on their first day, the more likely they are to flame out. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/77 "2011-05-16T18:32:48Z")
> [@Rex\_Lex](#): > > Speaking of curses, how about the old Indian curse in which every U.S. president died or was assassinated or shot every 20 yrs from Harrison to Reagan? [The Straight Dope on that.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/671/was-there-an-indian-curse-that-presidents-elected-in-0-years-would-die-in-office) Your revision (“died or was shot”) is kind of clever, but it overlooks the fact that Reagan lived, nothing happened to Bush (aside from the pretzel thing), and there’s no evidence a curse was made. And you need to familiarize yourself with yet another logical fallacy - _post hoc ergo propter hoc_. The Great Wizard Google will help you with that one. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/78 "2011-05-16T18:33:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It hardly matters, but you posted a link to a dinosaur and said it was a dragon. You didn’t post any “cites” for a unicorn. I’m sure the unicorn would have been a rhinocerous or something equally convincing. I am saying there is NO difference between dragons and dinosaurs. Before the word ‘dinosaur’ was coined in 1841. Before that it was all ‘dragons’. You are the ones who do not live in the real world. You are guided by purely prejudiced thinking. I am one who trusts my perceptions, common sense, and the witnesses who have seen the same things I have seen, and not your skeptical mindset. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Lex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rex\_Lex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Lex)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/79 "2011-05-16T18:34:44Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [The Straight Dope on that.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/671/was-there-an-indian-curse-that-presidents-elected-in-0-years-would-die-in-office) Your revision (“died or was shot”) is kind of clever, but it overlooks the fact that Reagan lived, nothing happened to Bush (aside from the pretzel thing), and there’s no evidence a curse was made. And you need to familiarize yourself with yet another logical fallacy - _post hoc ergo propter hoc_. The Great Wizard Google will help you with that one. The Straight Dope is wrong on that. The curse was broken on Reagan after some Christians visited him and told him about the curse. They prayed and it was broken. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101/80 "2011-05-16T18:37:12Z")
> [@Rex\_Lex](#): > > The Straight Dope is wrong on that. The curse was broken on Reagan after some Christians visited him and told him about the curse. They prayed and it was broken. It’s a shame that no one prayed for Kennedy. The curse might have been broken twenty years earlier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality/582101.md?page=5)