I'm posting part of a response I wrote to another post here and in several/many other forums. I am not attempting to SPAM anyone, simply trying to get my message across to the broad range of folks I have conversed/worked/had fun with over the last several years. Please allow me this bit of latitude. I have never before, nor will I ever again, "push" the limits of Forum rules or etiquette. Thanks,
WARNING: This may appear to be a flame. It is NOT. I am simply voicing my long-held beliefs on a topic on which I have extremely strong convictions, and about which, I have held my tongue to long. No one individual should take offense, as this is not directed at any ONE person.
Let's do a "gut check" here people. I have come to literally avoid having to cruise the Forums and the many Hardware Review Sites I've been known to frequent. Why? Read on....
I am so sick and tired of every "Johnny-come-lately" with a thermistor, teenage wannabe engineers, and "Gotta Have Brand X; your wrong, I'm right no matter what the facts say; I have a website, so I'm an expert.... my hit counter proves it; and idiots of ALL ages continually posting not only misleading, but downright wrong information, results, procedures, half-assed "scientific" comparisons, etc, etc.... ad freakin' nauseum on the Forums and so-called hardware review websites.
The fact is that there are virtually NO true experts anywhere around online. Some of us are "smarter than the average bear", and a very few of us actually know what we are talking about when we post.... and even these few sometimes make mistakes occasionally. Even knowledgeable folks make errors at times.
BUT, there are a LARGE number of folks passing themselves off in the Computer Hardware, Performance, and Cooling Community as EXPERTS, when in fact they don't really know their collective asses from the proverbial "hole in the ground." This fact is (which unfortunately is NOT generally recognized by the majority of knowledge seekers on the Net/Forums) that these so-called "experts/reviewers" generally are not even remotely competent to review toilet paper, much less the vast array of hardware they regularly suck up for FREE from the manufacturer (or small-business.... usually online-type). Now you can't really fault the businesses, as they are simply out for a little "free/low-cost" advertising in their own self-interest.... not entirely "Kosher", but at least it's understandable.... and obvious.
The guys running these "review" sites would have you think that THEY are "Moses come down from the Mount" to deliver the "divine law" on computer hardware. Wake up y'all.... They aren't.... None of them are.... A few.... VERY few, are knowledgeable enough that I would be comfortable saying that "OK, you can listen to them as an opinion... but NOT an authority." Sadly, MOST of the current review sites are MUCH more interested in their visitor counts, and page views, than in the accuracy or quality of the content and conclusions they publish.
NO ONE PERSON (or staff to my knowledge) has the knowledge, experience, and expertise to hold themselves up as an AUTHORITY on such a broad range of topics as are routinely included on review sites and forums. There ARE however a FEW folks that I would place my trust in. These folks don't offer themselves up as experts in everything as some do... they generally confine their opinions to their limited area of experience.
In fact, in the case of the FORUMS, the majority of the folks who could be reasonably called experts or authorities in a field are generally "run off" the forums by the overwhelming voice of the galactically stupid who generally infest most forums with their inane and generally stupendously idiotic "measurements", "comparisons", or other fantasy-land story posted to make them feel better about the purchase decisions they themselves made. I've seen it happen people.... I mean, what well-respected engineer or other recognized expert is going to keep coming back to these Forums when they keep having to endure idiots and pimply-faced teenagers disparaging them, disputing fact with supposition and fiction, and generally acting like jack-asses. The sane choice is to say, "Screw it! Let 'em drown in their own ignorance. I'm out?a here!"
Frankly, I'm tired too. It's simply a matter of numbers here folks... If a few people are trying to test and report facts, and scientific information, and in opposition, a few HUNDRED or more continually post incomplete, innacurate, or simply WRONG information (either by ignorance, obstinance, or by design), the incorrect information will begin to be "accepted" as fact..... repeated, etc....
It's akin to the "Big Lie" theory used by the better historical propagandists. If you tell the people a big enough lie, and you tell it often enough, they will accept it as truth in spite of facts to the contrary.
People, it's more than just whether heatsink X is better than heatsink Y, or Spacely Sprockets are better or worse than Cogswell Cogs.... It is much more serious than that. We have a serious problem here (and elsewhere). There is a serious shortage of critical thinking skills in the world an particularly here in the Computer Enthusiast community. One would think that the average level of intelligence would be higher here than in the populace as a whole. Well, it may be, but the level is most certainly also declining rapidly. As my favorite math teacher used to say to his advanced students, "I don't care if the tests say you are a genius. If you don't have plain old "Horse Sense", you WILL fail my class." One of the wisest men I ever met.... taught us a whole lot more than math.... he taught us to think, to question, and to be satisfied with nothing less than the truth.
So many people have simply abandoned common sense and intellect and replaced it with polls, consumer reviews, and "talking heads" that it's becoming the exception rather than the rule to find a truly independent thinker anymore. Why? Because thinking is hard... it takes training, practice, effort, and above all a thirst for truth. A growing majority of folks have joined the proverbial "flock of sheep" being led around by half-truth (or worse), unsubstantiated opinion, and marketing hype. Once again, "Why?" I'll tell you. Because a sheep doesn't have to THINK. He doesn't have to train his mind, exercise it, practice, and work hard at getting to the truth. The sheep need only follow with his nose up the butt of the sheep in front. The sheep is tended well enough.... fed "enough", given "enough" water, etc. Need anyone be reminded however that the sheep is NOT FREE. Not in his mind or in his person. At any time the sheep is subject to "fleecing" for what he has produced, or simply liquidated for the "nourishment" his very body will provide to his owners' table or bank accounts.
Do you want to know what is REALLY sad? Some of the folks who manage the attention span to read this entire post simply won't "get it". They are already well-integrated into the "flock". They've surrendered their minds to the "Big Lie" and its relative ilk. They've sold their freedom for comfort and leisure. You see, to the well-indoctrinated, folks like me appear as the exception rather than the rule. When folks like me... those who stand up, make logical arguments, challenge "established" norms, express new/different ideas, etc... speak out without equivocation, we are branded "out there", "extreme", blah, blah, yadda freakin' yadda....
Well ladies and gentlemen.... To those who know me, I'll miss you guys. To those whom I've never had occasion to meet but WOULD have liked, I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to speak with and share ideas with you. To the rest of you.... members of the "flock", and other non-aligned members of the willingly ignorant I say:
"Screw it! Let 'em drown in their own ignorance. I'm out?a here!"
Signing off....
WARNING: This may appear to be a flame. It is NOT. I am simply voicing my long-held beliefs on a topic on which I have extremely strong convictions, and about which, I have held my tongue to long. No one individual should take offense, as this is not directed at any ONE person.
Let's do a "gut check" here people. I have come to literally avoid having to cruise the Forums and the many Hardware Review Sites I've been known to frequent. Why? Read on....
I am so sick and tired of every "Johnny-come-lately" with a thermistor, teenage wannabe engineers, and "Gotta Have Brand X; your wrong, I'm right no matter what the facts say; I have a website, so I'm an expert.... my hit counter proves it; and idiots of ALL ages continually posting not only misleading, but downright wrong information, results, procedures, half-assed "scientific" comparisons, etc, etc.... ad freakin' nauseum on the Forums and so-called hardware review websites.
The fact is that there are virtually NO true experts anywhere around online. Some of us are "smarter than the average bear", and a very few of us actually know what we are talking about when we post.... and even these few sometimes make mistakes occasionally. Even knowledgeable folks make errors at times.
BUT, there are a LARGE number of folks passing themselves off in the Computer Hardware, Performance, and Cooling Community as EXPERTS, when in fact they don't really know their collective asses from the proverbial "hole in the ground." This fact is (which unfortunately is NOT generally recognized by the majority of knowledge seekers on the Net/Forums) that these so-called "experts/reviewers" generally are not even remotely competent to review toilet paper, much less the vast array of hardware they regularly suck up for FREE from the manufacturer (or small-business.... usually online-type). Now you can't really fault the businesses, as they are simply out for a little "free/low-cost" advertising in their own self-interest.... not entirely "Kosher", but at least it's understandable.... and obvious.
The guys running these "review" sites would have you think that THEY are "Moses come down from the Mount" to deliver the "divine law" on computer hardware. Wake up y'all.... They aren't.... None of them are.... A few.... VERY few, are knowledgeable enough that I would be comfortable saying that "OK, you can listen to them as an opinion... but NOT an authority." Sadly, MOST of the current review sites are MUCH more interested in their visitor counts, and page views, than in the accuracy or quality of the content and conclusions they publish.
NO ONE PERSON (or staff to my knowledge) has the knowledge, experience, and expertise to hold themselves up as an AUTHORITY on such a broad range of topics as are routinely included on review sites and forums. There ARE however a FEW folks that I would place my trust in. These folks don't offer themselves up as experts in everything as some do... they generally confine their opinions to their limited area of experience.
In fact, in the case of the FORUMS, the majority of the folks who could be reasonably called experts or authorities in a field are generally "run off" the forums by the overwhelming voice of the galactically stupid who generally infest most forums with their inane and generally stupendously idiotic "measurements", "comparisons", or other fantasy-land story posted to make them feel better about the purchase decisions they themselves made. I've seen it happen people.... I mean, what well-respected engineer or other recognized expert is going to keep coming back to these Forums when they keep having to endure idiots and pimply-faced teenagers disparaging them, disputing fact with supposition and fiction, and generally acting like jack-asses. The sane choice is to say, "Screw it! Let 'em drown in their own ignorance. I'm out?a here!"
Frankly, I'm tired too. It's simply a matter of numbers here folks... If a few people are trying to test and report facts, and scientific information, and in opposition, a few HUNDRED or more continually post incomplete, innacurate, or simply WRONG information (either by ignorance, obstinance, or by design), the incorrect information will begin to be "accepted" as fact..... repeated, etc....
It's akin to the "Big Lie" theory used by the better historical propagandists. If you tell the people a big enough lie, and you tell it often enough, they will accept it as truth in spite of facts to the contrary.
People, it's more than just whether heatsink X is better than heatsink Y, or Spacely Sprockets are better or worse than Cogswell Cogs.... It is much more serious than that. We have a serious problem here (and elsewhere). There is a serious shortage of critical thinking skills in the world an particularly here in the Computer Enthusiast community. One would think that the average level of intelligence would be higher here than in the populace as a whole. Well, it may be, but the level is most certainly also declining rapidly. As my favorite math teacher used to say to his advanced students, "I don't care if the tests say you are a genius. If you don't have plain old "Horse Sense", you WILL fail my class." One of the wisest men I ever met.... taught us a whole lot more than math.... he taught us to think, to question, and to be satisfied with nothing less than the truth.
So many people have simply abandoned common sense and intellect and replaced it with polls, consumer reviews, and "talking heads" that it's becoming the exception rather than the rule to find a truly independent thinker anymore. Why? Because thinking is hard... it takes training, practice, effort, and above all a thirst for truth. A growing majority of folks have joined the proverbial "flock of sheep" being led around by half-truth (or worse), unsubstantiated opinion, and marketing hype. Once again, "Why?" I'll tell you. Because a sheep doesn't have to THINK. He doesn't have to train his mind, exercise it, practice, and work hard at getting to the truth. The sheep need only follow with his nose up the butt of the sheep in front. The sheep is tended well enough.... fed "enough", given "enough" water, etc. Need anyone be reminded however that the sheep is NOT FREE. Not in his mind or in his person. At any time the sheep is subject to "fleecing" for what he has produced, or simply liquidated for the "nourishment" his very body will provide to his owners' table or bank accounts.
Do you want to know what is REALLY sad? Some of the folks who manage the attention span to read this entire post simply won't "get it". They are already well-integrated into the "flock". They've surrendered their minds to the "Big Lie" and its relative ilk. They've sold their freedom for comfort and leisure. You see, to the well-indoctrinated, folks like me appear as the exception rather than the rule. When folks like me... those who stand up, make logical arguments, challenge "established" norms, express new/different ideas, etc... speak out without equivocation, we are branded "out there", "extreme", blah, blah, yadda freakin' yadda....
Well ladies and gentlemen.... To those who know me, I'll miss you guys. To those whom I've never had occasion to meet but WOULD have liked, I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to speak with and share ideas with you. To the rest of you.... members of the "flock", and other non-aligned members of the willingly ignorant I say:
"Screw it! Let 'em drown in their own ignorance. I'm out?a here!"
Signing off....
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