# What were your favorite lunatic theories on the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 22, 2021, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021 "2021-07-22T01:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/62 "2021-07-24T18:46:30Z")
I get nought but old movies here. Imagine my surprise when they showed The Caine Mutiny and I recognized it instantly from the Mad Magazine parody. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/63 "2021-07-25T00:37:29Z")
Naw dude. What you need is a four-dimensional ruler. Easy. ---
**Author:** ![MANTRAPHILTER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MANTRAPHILTER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MANTRAPHILTER)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/64 "2021-07-25T01:34:10Z")
You totally missed the point! A measurement is only as reliable as the instrument that measures, but General relativity requires for the instrument itself to be effected by the space a measurement is taken in. If you believe that General relativity is an accurate description of the universe, then the mathematical language that you record and compare your measurements in for comparison, will not be able to describe the universe that General relativity theory suggests. Therefore mathematics is an inferior language to describe the General relativity universe. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/65 "2021-07-25T02:45:45Z")
@cladking Please come back and discuss your current theories. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/66 "2021-07-25T03:11:28Z")
Who redefined all we know about how the Great Pyramid was built? Also, did we have anyone here who claimed that the pyramids were built as granaries by Joseph? ---
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/67 "2021-07-25T03:21:52Z")
That was Ben Carson; the only Republican presidential hopeful to post to the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/68 "2021-07-25T03:28:43Z")
No, that would’ve required him to have an original thought. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/69 "2021-07-25T03:47:09Z")
He did? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/70 "2021-07-25T03:54:34Z")
I believe **lum\_s\_husband** is greening us. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/71 "2021-07-25T04:17:44Z")
I hate Discourse. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/72 "2021-07-25T05:43:43Z")
Supposing that mathematics is the inferior language, what tools DO you have to accurately, concretely express the nature of reality? (Is it too late to tell you about the dimensionally self-correcting ruler?) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/73 "2021-07-25T17:18:31Z")
> [@MANTRAPHILTER](#): > > You totally missed the point! A measurement is only as reliable as the instrument that measures, but General relativity requires for the instrument itself to be effected by the space a measurement is taken in. Is not the measurement still valid? If you use a ruler to measure the length of an object, then when this space is compressed or expanded the ruler still shows the same measurement of the object. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/74 "2021-07-25T17:22:30Z")
> [@Acierocolotl](#): > > what tools DO you have to accurately, concretely express the nature of reality? First, as we asked many times in my youth, what is reality? ---
**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:** [July 25, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/75 "2021-07-25T18:51:41Z")
I don’t know if he ever reached the SDMB, but a few years back there was an utter loon named C. David Parsons (and his wife) flooding internet comment sections with his insane ideas and promotions for his books. He had an opinion/“theory” on just about every area of science and culture, and planned to write a series of seven textbooks to be taught in schools everywhere, revolutionizing the world. He got so far as to self-publish pallet-loads of the first 2-3 books. Things he covered included: Denying relativity. Disproving atomic theory. Decrying evolution. Claiming that Earth is pretty much the only place where water exists. Claiming that Jupiter is a solid ball and the colors are wind-blown sand. Claiming that the Earth is composed nearly entirely of sedimentary rock, all the way down. Renaming all the planets (and days of the week?) because the old names are pagan. Lots of the old posts describing some of his ideas are gone now, but here are some (in the comments sections on the blog posts). If you read only two links, read the first one, an exceedingly gentle review tearing the books apart, and the Amazon reviews in the second link. [https://www.noanswersingenesis.org.au/quest\_for\_right\_review.htm](https://www.noanswersingenesis.org.au/quest_for_right_review.htm) > **[Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Quest for Right, Vol. 1](https://www.amazon.com/Quest-Right-Vol-1/product-reviews/1602477663)** > > Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Quest for Right, Vol. 1 at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. > **[The Quest for Right - A scientific textbook based on physical science versus...](https://web.archive.org/web/20081228045227/http://www.questforright.com/)** > > A series of high school textbooks based on physical science, the old science of cause and effect,versus evolution. > **[Wallace’s “Theory of Intelligent Evolution” (Part I)](https://jmlynch.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/wallaces-theory-of-intelligent-evolution-part-i/)** > > I’ve previously mentioned Michael Flannery and his edition of A.R. Wallace’s World of Life titled Alfred Russel Wallace’s Theory of Intelligent Evolution: How Wallace’s Worl… > **[Blogger](https://accounts.google.com/v3/signin/identifier?dsh=S118241576%3A1675110580764511&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogin.g%3FblogspotURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fendogenousretrovirus.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Frace-is-on-for-2008-woo-umentary-of.html%3Fm%253D1%26type%3Dblog%26zx%3D1crua95mgjs3r&hl=en-US&passive=true&service=blogger&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=ServiceLogin&ifkv=AWnogHcOn720Sx70nbHJ7fx88ho6H5EUBWGe3xQIzw00wy2pXns0wHltEKJutaKkRXwU9TqTEPwxpA)** > > Weblog publishing tool from Google, for sharing text, photos and video. > **[Does intelligent design make testable predictions?](https://openparachute.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/does-intelligent-design-make-testable-predictions/)** > > Intelligent design (ID) proponents will often claim their ideas are well supported by science. When pushed for evidence they will sometimes list peer-reviewed scientific papers they claim support I… > **[The Creationist Buffoonery and Its Dangerous Implications | Dissident Voice](https://dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/the-creationist-buffoonery-and-its-dangerous-implications/)** > > Creationism seems to be gaining credence far beyond its actual influence in the world of science. Even American presidential candidates, lest they offend the religious right, reject evolution in favor of creationism. Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and... [http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/04/richard-dawkins-1.html](http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/04/richard-dawkins-1.html) > **[The Washington Post - Breaking news and latest headlines, U.S. news, world...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/)** > > Breaking news, live coverage, investigations, analysis, video, photos and opinions from The Washington Post. Subscribe for the latest on U.S. and international news, politics, business, technology, climate change, health and wellness, sports,... ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/76 "2021-07-25T20:50:12Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > First, as we asked many times in my youth, what is reality? That’s going to depend if you need a bit of “schmoke” before the question makes sense. (My previously-mentioned “ruler” is GPS, by the way. Just between you and me.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/77 "2021-07-25T21:03:43Z")
I prefer enough to make the question seem cosmic, but I’d settle for funny. Can you believe that recreational use has been legal for better than a year and my daughter hasn’t brought me none? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/78 "2021-07-26T05:05:31Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > what is reality? That’s a question that science cannot answer, and philosophers have been arguing about for thousands of years.   > **Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world.** > > In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenious he may form some picture of a mechanism which could be responsible for all the things he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations. He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility or the meaning of such a comparison. > >       – Albert Einstein > “Every man’s world picture is and always remains a construct of his mind, and cannot be proved to have any other existence.” > >       – Erwin Schrödinger ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/79 "2021-07-26T06:15:12Z")
Speaking bad about Donald Trump on the SDMB was dangerous because if reelected he was going to send death squads to kill everyone who insulted him on the internet even in other countries like Australia. Or the “perfect crime” idea where if Iran used a submarine launched nuclear missile to destroy New York City, if simply Iran’s leaders who authorized the attack resigned and put themselves under house arrest, legally the United States couldn’t do anything about it since waging war on a country that is no longer responsible for the attack is illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/80 "2021-07-26T06:26:11Z")
Hollywood is such right wing propaganda that it only makes war movies about wars that America won. Australia is the best country in the world because it has both beaches and mountains within driving distance. A world where Nazi Germany wins World War 2 is preferable to live in than a world where Donald Trump is President. People only criticize the Olympics in non-white host countries. ---
**Author:** ![MANTRAPHILTER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MANTRAPHILTER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MANTRAPHILTER)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021/81 "2021-07-26T12:29:01Z")
Yes it would, but, if the study of physics is the effect matter has in a 3 dimensional environment, one would have to be able to study the same matter in two different spaces and take a measurement of comparison in order to study the effect the matter had. This can not be accomplished due to relativity, so therefore mathematics is not the supreme language for describing the universe or physics. Anyone that believes it is, they are the true lunatics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-your-favorite-lunatic-theories-on-the-sdmb/947021.md?page=5)