CDR: The Dark Horse of Intellect Rides Again
I'm copying this to the list because, aside from making fun of this idiot, I might as well post a short comment on the pathetic, sorry state of the Internet and society in general. This is necessary because we seem to have so many newbies on the list, as evidenced by the recent rambling about list filtering (_again_), and the latest anonymous remailer spiel. (Disclaimer: This is American-centric since America seems to be where the majority of the junk comes from.) I really don't know who to blame. Is it the American public education system which would rather teach students about Earth Day than about English or mathematics, and which would likely give "Dark Horse" an "A" for his drek? Is it the fault of popular entertainment and its stultifying effects? Is it the declining popularity of reading? Is it the canned, biased, and frankly lie-filled mainstream news? Perhaps it's better to blame the idiots themselves, since clearly it's possible to educate oneself. Perhaps its everyone's fault, though I'm not quite ready to accept responsibility for the proliferation of this brand of stupidity. I used to think that the Internet got the brunt of it, until I realized that I was just so used to it in meatspace that I tended to ignore it. It isn't really about grammar, because some people speak English as a second (or higher) language. It's more about *very* sloppy thinking. A mild example of it is "Dark Horse" telling me to give him a "simple answer : yes or no" and then asking me a question to which he clearly wants more than a simple "yes" or "no." (Note that I'm not counting as sloppy thinking the problems which are inherent in most languages, such as the answer to "Is it day or night?" being "yes" in all cases.) The American news media, in particular, tends to habitually get things wrong. In fact, when the news media reports on something I know about, the majority of the time they get it wrong. An example most of us can relate to is the horrible state of computer-related and Internet-related reporting. Of course, the natural conclusion to be drawn from this is that whenever the media reports on something I *don't* know much about, it's just as full of logical holes, lies, distortions, hype, and mistakes. Perhaps a worse effect is that people who realize this tend to think that virtually everything the media says is wrong by default. Perhaps it's all a lost cause when people in a college class can see how George W. Bush might be Plato's Democrat, but not how Al Gore might just as easily be Plato's tyrant. ("I'm for the people, not the powerful," for example.) The first assertion was praised by the students. The second apparently required more mental wattage than the students were capable of putting out. Both were made by students. Perhaps one of the Four (or however many there are now) Horsemen should be the Horseman of Stupidity. Another should be the Horseman of Apathy. A copy of the latest contribution of "Dark Horse" follows: "Dark Horse" <saynaaa@hotmail.com> writes:
Hello Stranger !
are you making fool of me ?
No. I'd say that you're doing a fine job making a fool out of yourself.
actually I did not find any simple answer to my questions !!
Ah, of course. I can see how that is necessary for so simple a man.
do you speak English ?;)
Judging by your grammar, I apparently speak it much better than you do.
Now again I ask my questions and I hope you will anwer me with
a simple answer : yes or no
1- is there any way to have access to a webpage like : www.sanjesh.org
Yes. (If I'm allowed to say how, the answer is: "Yes, use a web browser, or do it manually using telnet if that's your thing. Duh.")
2- can I find somebody's email password in internet .. if yes , how ?
Yes. Sniff it, get it via social engineering, trojan their machine... Please, quit chewing on your duodenum.
waiting for your Simple answers !
I'm waiting for a complete sentence.
Speaking of sloppy thinking... On Tue, 19 Sep 2000, David Marshall wrote:
English as a second (or higher) language. It's more about *very* sloppy thinking. A mild example of it is "Dark Horse" telling me to give him a "simple answer : yes or no" and then asking me a question to which he clearly wants more than a simple "yes" or "no." (Note that I'm not counting as sloppy thinking the problems which are inherent in most languages, such as the answer to "Is it day or night?" being "yes" in all cases.)
Actualy 'yes' or 'no' aren't valid responces. Only 'day' or 'night', one or the other but not both. This is the English OR not a Boolean Algebra operation. ____________________________________________________________________ He is able who thinks he is able. Buddha The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------
participants (2)
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David Marshall
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Jim Choate