# Technology doesn't work that way - SamuelA's Pit Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420 "2017-12-03T00:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 44
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/861 "2018-01-29T22:44:46Z")
Thanks, both. I was looking for cites on the last couple-three posts, but didn’t actually say so. Much obliged! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/862 "2018-10-30T18:14:33Z")
In case anyone was wondering if **SamuelA** has been cured of his propensity for egomaniacal bloviation – or at the very least has taken some of the input in this thread to heart – the answer is “no” to both. His utter lack of self-awareness is really rather astonishing. The most recent case in point: someone [started a thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=864547) asking about technology to potentially block sunlight or remove carbon from the atmosphere as methods for mitigating climate change. These are questions that have been well studied and we were having an informative conversation about it until **SamuelA** unfortunately stumbled across the thread and barged in to explain to everyone exactly how it can be done. It turns out, like everything else in **SamuelA** ’s peculiar world, to be extremely easy, and doesn’t even involve an army of self-replicating robots as far as I can tell. Climate change turns to be quite an easy problem to solve, and only appears difficult because, unlike **SamuelA** , we are all idiots, including the expert contributors in the IPCC Working Group 3 on climate change mitigation. If only **SamuelA** were in charge, the whole thing would be over and done with before you knew it. I was going to let the matter drop but he pissed me off further by making some delusional comment about something I allegedly said about the computational theory of mind. One can find in this very thread evidence that on that subject, like most subjects, **SamuelA** hasn’t the vaguest fucking clue about anything he bloviates about. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/863 "2018-10-31T00:03:27Z")
**wolfpup** and **RaftPeople** thank you for putting those resources together. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/864 "2019-03-26T11:47:24Z")
[He’s at it again](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872935), sciencesplaining to Strangers on a Train. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/865 "2019-03-27T03:12:46Z")
Over the course of considering our hero’s year of [misogynistic,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21099603&postcount=265) and [racist](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20743007&postcount=73) predispositions, I must ask if you are really surprised by his abject religion of [a _Deus Ex Machina_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina) solution to everything? Tripler He reads too much of John Scalzi. . . ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/866 "2019-04-15T20:22:37Z")
Listening to Dotard, the First of Individuals this morning made me realize: SamuelA is our President. All they have to do is FIX the airplanes! All they have to do is DROP the water! HURRY! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/867 "2019-04-16T08:46:32Z")
Kill all the sickies! Of course we can save their brains later - no problem. Trust me, just sign here, initial here, and make the check out to: Brains R Us. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/868 "2019-04-16T09:26:50Z")
Wait, SamuelA wrote Altered Carbon? Whomever did the review of the script certainly improved it… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/869 "2019-04-16T19:59:44Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Listening to Dotard, the First of Individuals this morning made me realize: SamuelA is our President. All they have to do is FIX the airplanes! All they have to do is DROP the water! HURRY! It never occurred to me before, but Individual 1 really is very much like **SamuelA** – an instant solution for everything! Health care? Simply replace Obamacare with Something Terrific™. Done! Crime and violence in Central America and Mexico? Here he gets his inspiration from Pink Floyd: The Wall™. Done! Fire in the Notre Dame cathedral? Just water-bomb the living beejesus out of it! Although here I think **SamuelA** would differ in the proposed methodology, preferring instead to send in a massive swarm of intelligent flying nanobots, each one bearing a micro-droplet of water that it would basically pee onto the flames. You’d never run out of them because they’re self-replicating. Sadly, French officials didn’t think of either of these solutions. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/870 "2019-04-16T20:48:11Z")
In his new thread [“Proposing hypotheses in the scientific method : better approaches?”](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=874126), he suggests that he’s come up with a better way to do science, even thought it’s obvious he doesn’t have any real idea of what the scientific method consists of or what a hypothesis is. The combination of ignorance and arrogance is truly breathtaking. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/871 "2019-04-16T21:23:13Z")
Well, once you’ve solved the small problems – like how to make humans immortal through cryogenics and brain uploading, the creation of superhuman intelligence, and of course designing the ubiquitous self-replicating nanobots we hear about so much – you have the confidence and knowledge required to tackle the really big ones, like science itself, and how the scientific method is a piss-poor way of conducting scientific inquiry. **SamuelA** has this confidence. He’s got it by the bucketful. Actual knowledge, not so much. But that’s never stopped him before. I didn’t start this thread but I did think that it might serve a humane and actually useful purpose in curbing the flaming ball of hubris that is **SamuelA**. It hasn’t worked. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/872 "2019-04-16T23:51:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In his new thread [“Proposing hypotheses in the scientific method : better approaches?”](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=874126), he suggests that he’s come up with a better way to do science, even thought it’s obvious he doesn’t have any real idea of what the scientific method consists of or what a hypothesis is. > > The combination of ignorance and arrogance is truly breathtaking. Well, it\* does\* include his “superhuman AI will solve everything” theme. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/873 "2019-04-17T11:31:11Z")
There’s been another individual in the news recently that bears a strong resemblance . . . Another “individual”, who dropped out of [Stanford], had a modicum in training, was minimally exposed to [biomedical concepts], had the hubris to convince others that [she] was a “genius,” and was going to revolutionize [the biomedical indstry] while [actually starting a multi-billion dollar enterprise] with zero background, zero evidence, and a lot of hand-waving, all the while ignoring the advice of those knowledgeable in their fields. That [company] failed miserably as soon as enough people started [pulling on] threads. **SamuelA** dropped out of [the Army], had a modicum in training, was minimally exposed to [some engineering textbooks], had the hubris to convince others that [he] was a “genius,” and was going to revolutionize [human evolution and academics] while [actually offering counter-evidential/counter-factual proposals] with zero background, zero evidence, and a lot of hand-waving, all the while ignoring the advice of those knowledgeable in their fields. That [human/academic revolution] failed miserably as soon as enough people started [reading his] threads. [She], for awhile, became a cause célèbre–a darling of industry and innovation, but a legacy case study in which to gauge one’s trust against. [He], for this while, remains a nuisance, and his [del]intelligence[/del] arrogance is a benchmark on which to gauge others. I doubt **SamuelA** could drop his voice enough octaves, or wear a black turtleneck tight enough, to do anything even close to successful. But, at least being a Prius fanboi gives him _some_ practical, foundational knowledge in _something_. Bottom line, is that while he’s peddling car parts instead of Theranos, both individials were willing to shill their “genius,” for their own personal benefit. I can’t put my finger on what **SamuelA** has to gain from all of this, but I will abide no person in taking **SamuelA** at face value. Tripler On second thought, I reckon y’all don’t need my assistance with that. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/874 "2019-05-28T23:26:28Z")
[Another addition to SamuelA’s greatest hits](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21664522#post21664522). Too many deaths on Everest? Simple! Just build a cableway, cars that carry supplies and “climbers” up the mountain, real lodging at the camps, and pressure chambers along the way. yeah, it sounds impossible, but he has the secret solution: staging. That’s it. That’s the secret. Even knowing his history, I figured he was joking at first. But then he just keeps digging as the thread goes on. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/875 "2019-05-29T03:06:03Z")
Wow. I thought he’d reached depths with his [submarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=875800) thread, but I see he’s aspiring to new [del]heights[/del] lows. Tripler I saw “_Hunter Killer_” tonight; it was almost as bad as a **SamuelA** thread. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/876 "2019-05-29T03:55:46Z")
“Just” seems to do a _fuckton_ of work in SamuelA’s world. I’d call him on it, but I’ve been triple-banned, a process akin to Dwight Schrute shunning Andy. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/877 "2019-05-29T04:08:25Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “Just” seems to do a _fuckton_ of work in SamuelA’s world. Can we coin this as a unit of measure? I recommend that one **Just** (non-SI) be defined as the imaginary work of 3.762 x 10[sup]9[/sup] nanobots. May be expressed as: 1 Just = √(-1) ∙ 3.762 x 10[sup]9[/sup]. Tripler Are the Latex tags working? I can’t seem to figure out if they are or not on these Boards. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/878 "2019-05-29T04:15:33Z")
Missed the edit window. Forgot to add “nW” for ‘nanoWatts.’ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/879 "2019-05-29T04:16:16Z")
For some reason, the following formulation comes to mind when reading SamAs’s posts: ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420/880 "2019-05-29T04:17:20Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > Missed the edit window. Forgot to add “nW” for ‘nanoWatts.’ We all can’t be SammieA guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-doesnt-work-that-way-samuelas-pit-thread/803420.md?page=45)