Oh totally -- practically everything in the world is too complex for the layperson to understand. Electricity? MAGIC! Television? TINY PEOPLE IN A BOX!
Right, there comes a point where you have to either move on, or just buy yourself a Klingon costume and go with it.
Xander ,'Same Time, Same Place'
Natter 37: Oddly Enough, We've Had This Conversation Before.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Jesse - Aug 02, 2005 7:39:48 am PDT #4840 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
amych - Aug 02, 2005 7:41:18 am PDT #4841 of 10002
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Not just tiny people, Jesse. Elves in a box.
Jesse - Aug 02, 2005 7:41:45 am PDT #4842 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Wow, those are elves? They look just like regular people, only little. Huh.
amych - Aug 02, 2005 7:42:12 am PDT #4843 of 10002
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
If you get really close to the box, you can see the pointy ears.
Gudanov - Aug 02, 2005 7:42:14 am PDT #4844 of 10002
Coding and Sleeping
Not just tiny people, Jesse. Elves in a box
That explains special effects, Elf Magic.
Jesse - Aug 02, 2005 7:43:51 am PDT #4845 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
See, you learn something new every day.
ION, who refills the ice cubes in my air conditioner?
Nutty - Aug 02, 2005 7:44:23 am PDT #4846 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
That psychological effect you're talking about, where conflicting information just makes you put your head in the sand, is a pretty common one. Public Radio this morning had a segment on people who continue to take echinacea to stop colds, despite evidence that it doesn't work any more than jumping jacks do.
People just have their little pattern of thinking, and can't bear to reorient it without a really good reason. Apparently, "a really good reason" does not mean "scientific studies say so," or anyway not at first. There's some sort of critical word-of-mouth mass before people will trust science.
My thinking on intelligent design is that it is a way of saying that science is not allowed to have unresolved questions. Whereas, the coolest scientific leaps happen when people start theorizing into the void! That is why science works -- it grows and changes its pattern of thinking (sometimes reluctantly).
Saying "the underpants gnomes did it" is not thinking; it is saying that thinking is useless. People who truly believe that thinking is useless should be required to surrender their brains forthwith. I stand a-ready with the chain saw.
Gudanov - Aug 02, 2005 7:44:35 am PDT #4847 of 10002
Coding and Sleeping
ION, who refills the ice cubes in my air conditioner?
Ice Gnomes.
tommyrot - Aug 02, 2005 7:44:38 am PDT #4848 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
ION, who refills the ice cubes in my air conditioner?
Harry the Penguin Pirate.
He's invisible.
tommyrot - Aug 02, 2005 7:45:44 am PDT #4849 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
It appears that Gud and I have religious differences....