# xtisme, come on down, you muppet! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 7, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300 "2010-06-07T17:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/241 "2010-06-08T14:42:29Z")
Never mind ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/242 "2010-06-08T14:44:19Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > **Czarcasm** , you are welcome to think of this book as a POS, but unless you actually admit to reading it, it doesn’t carry much weight on the scales of opinion. The point is, Chuckles, is that _you, personally_, have convinced me(and just about everyone else you’ve come in contact with, probably) that this book isn’t worth touching, let alone reading. I might even drop a note to the publisher thanking you for your efforts. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/243 "2010-06-08T15:06:31Z")
How does that work? What relationship do my views and posting style have to the content of this book, if you don’t mind explaining? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/244 "2010-06-08T15:13:49Z")
Millions of books out there, bucky, and I’ve only got one lifetime to read them in. You have given me no reason to waste some of that time on this book. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/245 "2010-06-08T15:17:39Z")
Still does nothing to explain your reasoning in post #242. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/246 "2010-06-08T15:20:48Z")
And have you read ANY of the books written in this genre? Maybe you can convince the readers that this would be a genuine field of enquiry for your good self. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/247 "2010-06-08T15:23:18Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Still does nothing to explain your reasoning in post #242. I’m done with this “I don’t understand” _explanation_ “I don’t understand” _explanation_ “I don’t understand” game. This game is usually played by idiots and jerks, but I’ll leave it to the other posters to decide which applies here. The best _I_ can do is give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are one or the other, and not both. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/248 "2010-06-08T15:31:15Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > How does that work? What relationship do my views and posting style have to the content of this book, if you don’t mind explaining? When a reputable person refers one to an article in a peer reviewed scientific journal, one reads it. When an imbicile playing with shit in his hands tells one to also play with the shit because playing with shit is the true way to enlightment, one does not join in playing with the shit. Since your views and posting style amount to playing with your own shit, readers are not willing to join in your party. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/249 "2010-06-08T15:31:56Z")
Let the record show that **Czarcasm** failed to answer a simple non-leading question, instead prefering to do some irate muttering and threaten to throw his rattle out of the crib. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/250 "2010-06-08T15:35:03Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > When a reputable person refers one to an article in a peer reviewed scientific journal, one reads it. When an imbicile playing with shit in his hands tells one to also play with the shit because playing with shit is the true way to enlightment, one does not join in playing with the shit. Since your views and posting style amount to playing with your own shit, readers are not willing to join in your party. You are only convincing yourself and the already decided with your throwaway insults and pathetic jibes. Oh, and it’s imbEcile, not imbIcile, you fucking imbecile. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/251 "2010-06-08T15:42:08Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Which the book addresses in a far more detailed manner than I could. Or would you expect someone wanting to discuss evolution to have no familiarity whatsoever with The Origin Of Species? Having never read the Origin of Species, and having very little idea of what it’s about other than maybe something to do with Galapagos Finches and speciation thereof… I can still discuss evolution infinitely more competently than you have thus far discussed UFO evidence. And I say this as a person perfectly willing to believe in UFOs if I see some evidence–HD photographs will do for a start, perhaps some actual physical evidence? We’ll just add “UFO-credulous” and “incoherent debater” to the list of reasons to ignore you. For reference, that list also contains “belligerent asshole”, “lives with parents far, far too long”, “incompetent criminal (since you got caught)”, “anti-semite racist” and “generally too stupid to live”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/252 "2010-06-08T15:46:34Z")
I see that he is an expect in at least _one_ field: > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Oh, and it’s imbEcile, not imbIcile, you fucking imbecile. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/253 "2010-06-08T16:04:13Z")
I used to be all up in this alien business. I read Whitley Strieber’s Communion and watched all the alien and area 51 documentaries on TV. Then I turned 10. > [@Muffin](#): > > …Vibratory Real Divine Light. I’ll be in my bunk. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/254 "2010-06-08T16:04:28Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Of course I have no fucking empirical evidence! Would I be sat here typing out responses to people who aren’t interested in anything but exposing my foibles, when I shouldn’t even be the thing being evaluated, if I had conclusive proof? If circumstantial evidence is good enough for a court room, it should be adequate for the scientific community to at least treat the subject seriously. Which it probably would do, if everyone who declared an involvement with ufology wasn’t treated with ridicule and contempt. At least you’re honest about the lack of evidence, but it just adds to the question of why you believe it and why anyone else should. The worlds of law and science are based on evidence, but whereas law is based on the system of beyond reasonable doubt, science constantly updates itself to amend for new or contradictory evidence discovered. Not sure what you expect the world of science to do given the admitted lack of empirical evidence. Examine the circumstantial evidence, based mostly on unreliable witnesses? The method stalls straight away, back to square one. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/255 "2010-06-08T16:07:35Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I used to be all up in this alien business. I read Whitley Strieber’s Communion and watched all the alien and area 51 documentaries on TV. I still have several of Whitley’s books, including Communion. It’s too bad he, like \*\*ivan \*\*here, can’t produce any actual evidence, and his claims amount to exactly the same as me claiming that I am actually Iron Man, I just don’t want anyone to see the suit. The stupidest part about **ivan’s** thread here is people like me. I literally “want to believe”. I would LOVE actual evidence of extraterrestrial presences on this planet. Unfortunately, said evidence does not exist so far as I’m aware, and like \*\*Czarcasm \*\*I’m not going to read one more book by one more idiot recommended by a lazy-ass with no apparent redeeming qualities without a clearer idea of what I would gain from it. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/256 "2010-06-08T16:29:43Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > If we’d wielded Occam’s Razor everytime something outlandish was mentioned, where would quantum mechanics be now? Exactly where it is today. (Real quantum mechanics that is, not the retardo mystical “your brain changes the universe” quantum mechanics of crackpot pseudoscience.) Quantum mechanics exists as a field because people who saw phenomenon that couldn’t be explained by existing theory worked hard to come up with repeatable, quantifiable experiments which could only be explained by a new quantum theory. It was all Occam’s Razor. No one for one second would have expected the scientific community to accept such a radical change in the model of atomic scale physics without incontrovertible evidence. (Note that to scientists, incontrovertible doesn’t mean “a bunch of hearsay accounts in a book I read”.) This is why it’s so comical when people who believe ridiculous things without evidence argue conspiracy by the scientific community. Quantum mechanics shows that scientists as a group will accept some fairly radical changes to their entire field, if there’s actually evidence to support them. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/257 "2010-06-08T16:56:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I see that he is an expect in at least _one_ field: No one experts the Spanish Inquisition! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/258 "2010-06-08T17:04:20Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No one experts the Spanish Inquisition! I inspected you to say that! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/259 "2010-06-08T17:10:51Z")
I haven’t read the entire thread, so my apologies if this was addressed in one of the middle pages. But has it ever been settled as to _which_ muppet our OP was accusing **xtisme** of being? Elmo? Grover? Kermit the Frog? Inquiring minds want to know! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300/260 "2010-06-08T17:12:03Z")
Beaker, perhaps? (ETA: My personal preference would be the Chef) -XT [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xtisme-come-on-down-you-muppet/542300.md?page=14)