Crackpot Bingo

It happens in science blog comments, and more so in discussion boards where you get some crank with their pet theory of some science subdiscipline, and how it’s the new paradigm ready to emerge and topple the orthodoxy. And it’s almost formulaic like a Hardy Boys mystery (or even a Robert Ludlum novel) with the same arguments cropping up in different combinations. Read several in a row and the commonalities jump out at you.

Hmmm. A finite set of arguments, appearing seemingly at random. Sounds like bingo to me!
Here are the major points, many of which are shamelessly cribbed from the crackpot index

Strawman – use of the strawman fallacy
Unbelievable — use of the argument from incredulity fallacy (I don’t understand, therefore it’s wrong)
Gedanken — use of a thought experiment to debunk a theory or actual experiment
ALLCAPS — extensive use of ALLCAPS or large font
Galileo — as in, comparing themself favorably (i.e. persecuted)
Einstein — as in, comparing themself favorably (i.e. I am the next one)
Nobel — claiming they will win one
School — listing degrees and/or schools attended
Dropout — usually a proud declaration
Many years — how long they’ve worked on their theory
Prize — offer a prize to anyone debunking their work
Terminology — new terms or acronyms
Particles — new particles proposed (Tachyons don’t count)
Interaction — a new interaction is proposed
Eponym — naming something of their work after themselves
Math — admitting to be unable to do it or doing it horribly
Theory — as in, “it’s only a theory” argument to dismiss accepted science
Metaphysics — the work explains “why” or what some phenomenon “really is”
Censorship — complaints about work being censored
Rue — “you’ll rue the day you ignored me” or similar warning
Religion — claiming science is a religion
Priest/Bible — scientists are high priests, or some work is the science bible
Gifs — animated, very pretty, meaningless
Graphs — must have unlabeled axes or be otherwise incomprehensible
See? — claiming the model explains/predicts many phenomena, but without actually presenting evidence
Huh? — befuddlement over lack of instant acceptance of new paradigm
We — the royal we; “we don’t understand X” applied to a well-understood issue
You — “You don’t understand X” directed toward an individual with significant experience in the field
Predicts — model predicts phenomena that have never been observed, but should have been
Turtles — all the way down: all of physics is due to one fundamental particle
Quotes — supports position by selective quoting
Like — argument by analogy
Topology — use of mobius strip or klein bottle in argument
Mum — won’t divulge details for fear of idea being stolen
Polly — simple repetition of claims, unchanged, after being debunked
——
Indignation — at being asked for evidence or other corroboration (added 5/11)

I’ll add more if worthy ones are suggested.

Card generator available here

Oh, Really?

From one of those “tell us what you do” info dropdown menus, so I can get more targeted spam.

good2know1.png

Good to know that Research/Development/Scientific isn’t technology-related. Do you think maybe, just maybe, they sold computer stuff?

Silly Blog Games, Part I: Robo-Tag

In my brief time in the blog-o-truncated-icosahedron (I’m not convinced it’s a sphere), I’ve gotten to know and be indifferent to the automatic pingback. The strange and wonderful spiders/bots that crawl the web and look for keywords, and link to your blog post. Much of the time, it happens because of some innocuous term you’ve included — just yesterday, I wrote about some non-hoops player being officially included in the NBA draft, and made mention of the NFL, and got a pingback from somebody’s NFL-themed blog. I mentioned taxes the weekend before April 15th, and got three tax-related pingbacks. They obviously were not from people who had read the post.

So I got to thinking, (always a dangerous thing)
Continue reading

Is There a Draft In Here?

YES

Zach Feinstein declares for the NBA draft. It’s free. The deadline for “early entry” declarations is 60 days prior to the draft (which is June 26), so if anyone desires to go this route, it’s too late for this year. (One has to wonder if it will remain free once this gets into the wind. OTOH, how can they charge more than a few bucks? College players don’t have jobs.)

The short story is that I, Zachary Feinstein, have declared for the 2008 NBA Draft. As a 5’8″ 130 pound Caucasian, I am the perfect candidate for professional basketball. Also, I do not play basketball.

You see, I am not currently on my college’s basketball team (Division 3 just for reference) nor did I try out to be. I was at no point on my high school’s basketball team nor did I try out to be. I was at no point on my middle school’s basketball team nor did I try out to be. The last time I was on a basketball team was before Bill Clinton got caught with his pants down.

So there you have it, I, Zach Feinstein, am in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Make sure to check out the scouting report, too.

Now, I wonder: what about the NFL?

Random Thought

Business section of the LOLcat Times-Gazette, headline about the pedestrian eating habits of a well-known an activist shareholder

Icahn Has Cheeseburger

(sometimes on the treadmill, all one can do is think silly thoughts)