How good are you at BSing on the internet?

[Crono]

I've always wondered how skilled other people are at either pretending they are experts on a subject, or making up information on the spot that sounds true but isn't. For instance, you are given a random topic, let's say Negros Oriental (used random article on Wikipedia). Could you start a discussion on it and even keep up an argument, even though you have no idea until now what it was?

 

[MotF Bane]

We can lock this thread up right now, just look at P&N on a daily basis. It's a collection of BS masters.

 

[lxskllr]

I think I can, but I don't. I try to be factual with everything I say, but I think I was wrong once. Nobody's perfect :^P

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Pretty good, I'd say. To this point, no one has seemed to catch on to the fact that I am actually a feral cat chasing a mouse across a keyboard.

 

[clamum]

I haven't really tried that because I think it's fucking stupid, but I guess I could get by on some topics if I tried.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Pretty good, I'd say. To this point, no one has seemed to catch on to the fact that I am actually a feral cat chasing a mouse across a keyboard.

But if you were running across a keyboard that means you are likely in a house which makes you not really a feral cat at all.

 

[her209]

http://www.cartalk.com/content...ures/hell/Bestof/Andy/

Andy R.
Marlboro, VT 05344

Dear Click and Clack,

I am writing to offer profound thanks to you for resolving an important philosophical question that has been heatedly debated for the last twenty years. The rumination began on a construction site one summer in the early 1970's, as my friend Jamie and I were working our way through college. The question we raised and have agonized over, lo these many years, is one that I've never read about in any philosophical treatise, and yet I have found it has applied to countless situations and conversations overheard in bars, repair shops, sporting events, political debates, etc. etc. etc.

Posit the question: Do two people who don't know what they are talking about know more or less than one person who doesn't know what he's talking about? (Pardon the un-PC masculine pronoun, but I have found this to be, most predominately, a male phenomenon.)

In your recent conversations regarding electric brakes on a cattle carrier, I believe you definitely answered this query and have put our debate to rest. Amazingly enough, you proved that even in a case where one person might know nothing about a subject, it is possible for two people to know even less!

One person will only go so far out on a limb in his construction of deeply hypothetical structures, and will often end with a shrug or a raising of hands to indicate the dismissability of his particular take on a subject. With two people, the intricacies, the gives and takes, the wherefores and why-nots, can become a veritable pas-de-deux of breathtaking speculation, interwoven in such a way that apologies or gestures of doubt are rendered unnecessary.

I had always suspected this was the case, but no argument I could have built from my years of observation would have so satisfyingly closed the door on the subject as your performance on the cattle carrier call. To begin your comments by saying, "We'll answer your question if you tell us how electric brakes work" and "We've never heard of electric brakes" and then indulge in lengthy theoretical hypostulations on the whys and wherefores of the caller's problem allowed me to observe that you were finally putting this gnarly question to rest.

I am forever indebted to you for the great service you have performed! I'm truly impressed that it took so many years of listening to your show to finally have this matter resolved.

Sincerely,
Andy R.

P.S. If you say hello to Jamie in Ojai, California, you'll save me a long distance phone call.

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm not an expert on anything and I don't pretend to be.

KT

 

[Crono]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Pretty good, I'd say. To this point, no one has seemed to catch on to the fact that I am actually a feral cat chasing a mouse across a keyboard.

But if you were running across a keyboard that means you are likely in a house which makes you not really a feral cat at all.

Yes, but even feral cats go inside occasionally to use the internet and snack. Everybody knows this.

 

[Goosemaster]

The unforgettably foul stench of verifiable bullshit can go a long way in inexorably damning a future, likely legitimate, rebuttal due to basic pattern recognition.

*takes a puff of his bubble pipe*

 

[videogames101]

BS'ing on the internet is what I live for, I'll argue any topic on either side, especially if I'm arguing against people who actually care about said topic, then it's the most fun.

 

[reallyscrued]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
just look at P&N on a daily basis. It's a collection of BS masters.

Winnar.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: videogames101
BS'ing on the internet is what I live for, I'll argue any topic on either side, especially if I'm arguing against people who actually care about said topic, then it's the most fun.

You need a hobby. Unless that is your hobby, in which case then you need a healthier one.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Pretty good, I'd say. To this point, no one has seemed to catch on to the fact that I am actually a feral cat chasing a mouse across a keyboard.

But if you were running across a keyboard that means you are likely in a house which makes you not really a feral cat at all.

Someone dropped a laptop in this particular alley and the apartment building across the street has an insecure WiFi network.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I'm not an expert on anything and I don't pretend to be.

KT

How did you get the PC gaming mod status then?

PB

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I'm not an expert on anything and I don't pretend to be.

KT

How did you get the PC gaming mod status then?

PB

Ask olds...

KT

 

[Chryso]

Originally posted by: Crono
I've always wondered how skilled other people are at either pretending they are experts on a subject, or making up information on the spot that sounds true but isn't. For instance, you are given a random topic, let's say Negros Oriental (used random article on Wikipedia). Could you start a discussion on it and even keep up an argument, even though you have no idea until now what it was?

I believe you mean, African American Asians.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Pretty good, I'd say. To this point, no one has seemed to catch on to the fact that I am actually a feral cat chasing a mouse across a keyboard.

But if you were running across a keyboard that means you are likely in a house which makes you not really a feral cat at all.

Someone dropped a laptop in this particular alley and the apartment building across the street has an insecure WiFi network.

Ok. Well that makes sense then.

 

[alkemyst]

funny the members above in here.

percieve the power of google.

 

[compuwiz1]

Dennilfloss would take the crown for BSing on the internet.

 

[shortylickens]

I try to learn about stuff before I talk about it. For example, I know nothing of sports and dont care, hence, I will never participate in a sports thread.
I know little of cars and try to learn, so mostly I just read the auto forums and ask a question once in a while.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I think I can, but I don't. I try to be factual with everything I say, but I think I was wrong once. Nobody's perfect :^P

id say 90% of the time this is me. i try to always say things i know to be correct, but if im wrong ill admit it and stop the discussion. that other 10% ill fudge it and try to talk people into believing my delusional fantasies. its good fun. it all started when i was younger and drank a lot. id start discussions to the contrary of what i heard a drunk say he believed just to have fun changing their minds.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Pretty good, I'd say. To this point, no one has seemed to catch on to the fact that I am actually a feral cat chasing a mouse across a keyboard.

But if you were running across a keyboard that means you are likely in a house which makes you not really a feral cat at all.

Someone dropped a laptop in this particular alley and the apartment building across the street has an insecure WiFi network.

While the semblance of comprehensibility you manage to supply is astounding, you must be a pretty shitty mouser.

 

[Zeeky Boogy Doog]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: videogames101
BS'ing on the internet is what I live for, I'll argue any topic on either side, especially if I'm arguing against people who actually care about said topic, then it's the most fun.

You need a hobby. Unless that is your hobby, in which case then you need a healthier one.

Since when is debate bad?