# This week's Marilyn Vos Idiot-Savant article **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119 "2003-10-13T04:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/21 "2003-10-13T16:08:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > \*\*Are you suggesting that perhaps her brilliance could be directed to help mankind more than it is helped by a weekly column in which she answers stupid questions, sometimes inaccurately? \*\* I shudder to think what would happen if she DID apply her mind to research. “Since alcohol does not exist in nature, let’s take this unknown substance and **wham fizzlefizzle** ” Maybe this _is_ for the good of mankind. What a genius to recognize that… ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/22 "2003-10-13T16:12:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robby \* > **She also misspelled the phonetic letter “Alfa” [as “Alpha” (sic)] used by “our armed forces”.** It is generally spelled Alpha in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. [Cite](http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/NATO-phonetic-alphabet) [Cite](http://www.dynamoo.com/technical/phonetic.htm) [Cite](http://www.ham-shack.com/nato.html) I don’t know why the navy spells it differently. Of course spelling isn’t terribly important in a phonetic alphabet (alfabet?) as long as the pronunciation is clear. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/23 "2003-10-13T16:51:47Z")
Biggest laugh of MY day: in skimming the OP, I somehow parsed the word “Parade”–don’t ask me how–as “Retarde.” I will never think of that publication in any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Qazzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@Qazzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qazzz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/24 "2003-10-13T16:59:37Z")
Heheheheh yeah, this Marilyn woman gets on my nerves, too. _ **I** _ am the smartest person in the world. Isn’t her superdeeduper high IQ score from when she was a child? I thought I read somewhere that, ever since then, she’s refused to be re-scored. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/25 "2003-10-13T17:09:20Z")
Horses get drunk all the time on fermented apple falls and fermenting grain. Pigs can, too. I’ve never heard of a dog getting drunk off spoiled fruit, but it doesn’t surprise me. I don’t have a cite for this (sorry, just can’t get up off my butt and go look) but one of my professors did say that humans hardly ever drank water before recently. The water didn’t taste good and could easily be polluted. They would drink beer and wine and mead instead, and have for centuries. If this lady is the world’s smartest human, I am afraid for all humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/26 "2003-10-13T18:02:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, ol’ Marilyn’s a twit. You’re only off by one letter. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/27 "2003-10-13T18:18:17Z")
If she is so smart, why is she in _Parade Magazine_\* ? I bet she is book smart-street stupid. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a Marilyn-Cam on her head to see just how utterly dull she really is…and then airdrop her into …oh…Spring Break Cancun. Now, that would be Reality TV worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![KarmaComa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/28 "2003-10-13T18:21:30Z")
Any adult with an IQ anywhere near 228 would be a bit of a social retard, IMO (see Erdos, Paul and almost any other brilliant person that I can think of, other than Feynman). Not only that, but were she actually that smart, I can’t believe that she would actually have any interest in doing what she does. ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/29 "2003-10-13T18:46:30Z")
I think the her column is really an ad hoc IQ test for the reader: _Can You Spot the Bullshit Artist?_ Luckily, the SDMB is not alone in the fight against her particular brand of ignorance: [http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/marilyn.html](http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/marilyn.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tommyturtle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Tommyturtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommyturtle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/30 "2003-10-13T18:53:21Z")
When you fill a silo with corn silage…the juices get squeezed out and after an afternoon of sitting in the sun fermenting the birds come Drunk birds are funny The show doesn’t last long though because shortly after that…the cats come BTW Anyone see that PBS show might of been about the Serengetti(sp?)…the part of which the elephants during one part of the year would go and eat fermented fruit and get wasted? Drunk elephants are funny too ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/31 "2003-10-13T19:23:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number \* > \*\*I don’t know why the navy spells it differently. Of course spelling isn’t terribly important in a phonetic alphabet (alfabet?) as long as the pronunciation is clear. \*\* It’s for the poor Marines, who would then pronounce it “alp-hay”. Trust me. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/32 "2003-10-13T19:32:29Z")
Hey, that’s my band name! ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/33 "2003-10-13T19:34:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number \* > **It is generally spelled Alpha in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet.** She didn’t say NATO. She said “our armed forces.” It is spelled “Alfa” in the _U.S. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military Terms_. It’s not just the U.S. Navy, either; the U.S. Army spells it the same way: [http://www.gordon.army.mil/ocos/Museum/alpha.asp](http://www.gordon.army.mil/ocos/Museum/alpha.asp) ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/34 "2003-10-13T19:40:43Z")
I’ve always thought her writing style was part of her schtick. After all, she ropes in two different audiences with it: Those who _think_ she’s right and those who _know_ she’s wrong. My favorite was her assertion that Picasso and other modern artists weren’t any good because they didn’t paint realistically and that, as we all know, is _much_ harder to do than simply pushing paint around… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/35 "2003-10-13T20:12:19Z")
I’m glad to see a thread full of such smart people they don’t realize that Parade Magazine copy editors are responsible for all the spellings you see in that rag. In his real life, Walter spells his last name “Scot.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/36 "2003-10-13T20:17:52Z")
I’m glad to see a thread full of such smart people they don’t realize that Parade Magazine copy editors are responsible for all the spellings you see in that rag. In his real life, Walter spells his last name “Scot.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/37 "2003-10-13T20:18:21Z")
I think the her column is really an ad hoc IQ test for the reader: _Can You Spot the Bullshit Artist?_ Luckily, the SDMB is not alone in the fight against her particular brand of ignorance: [http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/marilyn.html](http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/marilyn.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/38 "2003-10-13T20:23:40Z")
I’m sorry about the double post; I think the hamsters have it in for me. If anyone knows how I can stop it from re-posting every time I check the thread, please email me. Topic? Marilyn Vos Savant sucks, and it’s very telling that the editors put her column right next to the cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Belanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jay\_Belanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Belanger)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/39 "2003-10-13T20:33:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMensch \* > \*\*My favorite was her assertion that Picasso and other modern artists weren’t any good because they didn’t paint realistically and that, as we all know, is _much_ harder to do than simply pushing paint around… 😉 \*\* Holy cow, did she really say that? I don’t have a very high opinion of her (okay, I have a rather low opinion of her), but that’s just amazing. Do you know when she said that? Jay ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119/40 "2003-10-14T03:45:39Z")
I’d love to see her go head to head with our very own Unca Cecil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-weeks-marilyn-vos-idiot-savant-article/207119.md?page=3)