Most Important Invention/Discovery

aardyvarky said:

To blot out all that extreme sunshine you get in Scotland?

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The Irony of this is I used to live in Devon England, In Scotland we get more light and more sunshine than we did near Dartmoor.

It's a complete fallacy that it always rains in Scotland! We also get snow . Seriously though, the little part I live in gets alot of good weather. Maybe because we are only 20 miles from Ireland and a few miles from The Isle of Mann. But we are very sheltered, the worst we get is mostly high winds, this is mainly because our house is on top of a Hill.

There is alot I dislike about Scotland, most of it has happened in the last 3 years (like now 200 turbines in view). But in my area the people are really nice, the weather and light levels are higher. I am so lucky to live where I do, I dislike some of laws and some of the politics, but in general and as a English person, I prefer Scotland to England.

My little sisters School has a Burns night every year, the Scottish have a real sense of pride in their identity. We go to this event every year, and despite being English we always made to feel welcome and join in. My experience of some of the often qouted 'facts' about the Scottish and Scotland.

1) the Scottish are so tight they hermetically sealed!

My experience of this is, they are top negotiators and you cant take them for a ride. When we first moved in within 20 mins, 15 people from the village 6 miles away had turned up on our doorstep, they stayed for 6 hours unloading the two huge lorries of our stuff. They brought several kettles with them and their own tea bags.
Several of them turned up a couple of days later to check we had everything we needed and to see if we were ok. The cost of all this was.......... nothing, even saying thank you got a " Dont be Daft, your neighbours" response.

But try and sell or buy something...........They are tough, but they expect you to be as equally tough in return.

2) It always rains...........

Covered above, also note being 400 miles further north means we get extra hours of daylight.


3) The Scottish Midge is the most aggressive beastie ever to exist.

Yeah this is true, the people are not blood suckers but the bloody midges are small gnats with crocodile teeth!

4) The Scottish hate the English.

I have been told loads by Scottish people that they were brought up to hate the English, but my own personal experience is completely at odds with this. I think they hate the 'establishment', and this gets translated to people. My mum says living here in our village, reminds her of the village she lived in as a little girl in England, everyone looks out for everyone else. Maybe its just the bit of Scotland I live in, but I have found it the same in all the areas I have visited.

5) The Scottish diet is ****.

Yeah they like unhealthy food this is true, but growing up on a farm, I can honestly say the farming practice and animal care here is better than in Devon. They take alot of pride in their farm animals. The beef up here is second to none.

Politics is ruining Scotland, wind turbines are destroying alot of beautiful places. Work is hard to come by. But at this point in time would I move back? Not a chance.

That's all true - I've been to Scotland many times (mainly NE) and the people are friendly and helpful. BUT when they've had (quite) a few drams, they can get very rowdy and then you get the "FEBs". The next day they are back to friendly and helpful, hehe.
Like you, I would never move back to England (Essex in my case).
When we first moved here, there was a full moon and you could walk around as if it was daylight - I still go out at night and marvel at the stars - it's truly magical.
We get more than our fair share of rain, it's true, but we'll never be without drinking water! Today we've had sun, rain, snow, sun, sleet and more rain.
Our sheep (see Baarexit, left, our newest addition) originate from the Scottish Island of Soay (not that far from you either), but they run into their shelter at the first sign of bad weather!
Our midges are weedier cousins of the Scottish midges, but they can be just as annoying.
Ho hum.

We live near the Dark park area, this is the place where the light pollution is lowest in the UK. It baffles me how many tiny dots are light actually exist in the sky at night! I remember Devon and night time being a few dozen pin points of light, Where we are now the night sky is lit up with stars.

Little Ghostman said:

There is infinite wisdom to be found, the search will never end, but the journey is one of reward. I also love the fact that even our smartest minds, havnt scratched the surface yet. OU will always be ****, it dosnt stack up on any level. BUT some of the other things we consider not possible, will be one day.

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I disagree. Intelligence, wisdom and knowledge have a finite measure. Its stupidity, arrogance and unjustified pride that has the capacity to go on forever.

Try the experiment some time.

Take the person or even a group of them who knows everything there is to know about something and put them up against one stupid arrogant fool who's proud of what he thinks he knows about the same subject but clearly does not.

The Intelligent wisdom soaked person/s of incalculable knowledge will reach a limit in the discussion and stop well before the single stupid arrogant fool and his pride ever will.

tcmtech said:

I disagree. Intelligence, wisdom and knowledge have a finite measure. Its stupidity, arrogance and unjustified pride that has the capacity to go on forever.

Try the experiment some time.

Take the person or even a group of them who knows everything there is to know about something and put them up against one stupid arrogant fool who's proud of what he thinks he knows about the same subject but clearly does not.

The Intelligent wisdom soaked person/s of incalculable knowledge will reach a limit in the discussion and stop well before the single stupid arrogant fool and his pride ever will.

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Dont tell me..........This is linked somehow to a certain ex?

tcmtech said:

I disagree. Intelligence, wisdom and knowledge have a finite measure. Its stupidity, arrogance and unjustified pride that has the capacity to go on forever.

Try the experiment some time.

Take the person or even a group of them who knows everything there is to know about something and put them up against one stupid arrogant fool who's proud of what he thinks he knows about the same subject but clearly does not.

The Intelligent wisdom soaked person/s of incalculable knowledge will reach a limit in the discussion and stop well before the single stupid arrogant fool and his pride ever will.

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This is well know received and experienced wisdom - no need to make anyone suffer the experiment!

Little Ghostman said:

3) The Scottish Midge is the most aggressive beastie ever to exist.

Yeah this is true, the people are not blood suckers but the bloody midges are small gnats with crocodile teeth!

4) The Scottish hate the English.

I have been told loads by Scottish people that they were brought up to hate the English, but my own personal experience is completely at odds with this. I think they hate the 'establishment', and this gets translated to people. My mum says living here in our village, reminds her of the village she lived in as a little girl in England, everyone looks out for everyone else. Maybe its just the bit of Scotland I live in, but I have found it the same in all the areas I have visited.

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3) I thought it was the Lake District Midge that was the Most Fearsome Of All?
Either way, midges live in groups, gnats are solitary animals.

4) I lived in Glasgow briefly (Dennistoun) maybe 20 years ago, and was told it's only really the South-East English they don't like (ie, London area). I found being a Northerner made me more acceptable...

Little Ghostman said:

Dont tell me..........This is linked somehow to a certain ex?

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A little but not so much. Most days she was actually a fairly decent person to be around and talk with. well, at the end at least when she was on her meds and taking them in the right dosages anyway and even then I gave a lot of allowance for mental health related bias in how she thought when she wasn't taking them.

But right now a certain long running thread over on AAC would be a more fitting current example of it. Same with a number of other fairly recent threads in a number of other forums I participate in or did.

I don't know everything so when someone tells me I am wrong I want to know why and what proof they have of it. The problem for me starts when that person's claims repeatedly show themselves to have zero merit other than their own ignorance, agenda or simply limited capacity to understand the larger picture behind what it is they believe and why.
Its like dealing with the overunity people. When someone makes a outrageous claim they have proof that shows what I believe and understand is wrong I very much want proof. Factually solid confirmable detailed proof and nothing less and its their job to provide such evidence of my lack of knowledge not mine to prove anything to them. Or at least not until they start to show that what they believe and why has huge easily disproven holes in it anyway.

tcmtech said:

A little but not so much. Most days she was actually a fairly decent person to be around and talk with. well, at the end at least when she was on her meds and taking them in the right dosages anyway and even then I gave a lot of allowance for mental health related bias in how she thought when she wasn't taking them.

But right now a certain long running thread over on AAC would be a more fitting current example of it. Same with a number of other fairly recent threads in a number of other forums I participate in or did.

I don't know everything so when someone tells me I am wrong I want to know why and what proof they have of it. The problem for me starts when that person's claims repeatedly show themselves to have zero merit other than their own ignorance, agenda or simply limited capacity to understand the larger picture behind what it is they believe and why.
Its like dealing with the overunity people. When someone makes a outrageous claim they have proof that shows what I believe and understand is wrong I very much want proof. Factually solid confirmable detailed proof and nothing less and its their job to provide such evidence of my lack of knowledge not mine to prove anything to them. Or at least not until they start to show that what they believe and why has huge easily disproven holes in it anyway.

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Ahh internet based, simple answer TCM.............just ask me . If I dont know the answer then simply except it isnt worth knowing . Thats what I do

I am not getting into who has the hardest midge! Interesting to note that its only the female that bites............

tcm, you know you can lay is those people end to end and still not reach a conclusion. I've decided to just give my reference and I won't deprive them the privilege of reading it for themselves.

Sometimes I think comprehension is a lost art form.

JoeJester said:

tcm, you know you can lay is those people end to end and still not reach a conclusion. I've decided to just give my reference and I won't deprive them the privilege of reading it for themselves.

Sometimes I think comprehension is a lost art form.

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Yea I know. I just get frustrated when someone claims they know something that proves I am wrong then repeatedly fumbles the ball never showing me they in fact knew something I didn't or even know anything about the subject they claim to have superior understanding of at all.

You've shown me to be wrong many times, and although it kind of pissed me off when you did it (I don't suffer self humility well.), I still took it to show I was either misunderstanding or was just dumbass wrong in what I thought at the time and adjusted my thinking regarding what it showed me.

I can handle being shown to be dumbass wrong (begrudgingly) but I can't grasp becoming a perpetual dumbass in front of and in spite of their peers to keep from having to accept being wrong and or they don't know as much as they claimed to do. Or at least not at the adult level anyway. I know why kids do it.

My brother was that way when were were kids largely due to what I know see was the product of a huge unjustified ego/fantasy world life and overall slow psychological and social development.

Back then according to him he knew and could do anything even though reality regularly showed him to be little more than a mouthy idiot with no brains or skills to brag about of any kind. All it did was cost him respect and get him beat down hard a lot for acting like a mouthy fool and worse.

The not winning a race or proving he was better at some physical action (both he most often instigated to prove a point only to utterly fail for it) or that he didn't actually know something as well as he claimed wasn't so big of deal. It was the over the top proud over nothing mouthy idiot that never let anything go who came out when it happened that everyone had a problem with.

That's what I see those 2 - 3 remaining fools over there playing now. They know they can mouth off all they want and make claims they have zero capacity to back up because no one can do anything about it that's of any significant harm to their credibility, and for a few of us overall respect of them as forum members, beyond what they have already done to themselves.

Two of them are on my permanent ignore list now and the last one is damn close to joining them. Technical knowledge or not, for me when someone continually proves themself wrong or to be so outrageously childish over it I have to consider that maybe their technical knowledge isn't of the credibility I thought it was either.

I have a rule of thumb. I assume everyone is an idiot until they prove otherwise. Saves a lot of time. Or it would if I actually practised it. Ho Hum...

tcm,

I tend to hold the person's opinion highly, until they prove otherwise. The BS detector goes off when there is a political spin to anything or when they are testing man's credulity.

I've posted in the past, a NY Times article on "Man's Credulity" from an 1890's Engineering Review. I've been reminded of that article a lot from various threads that "stretch" the scientific laws. I'm starting to suspect some use the words stretch or bend with respect to scientific laws because they don't want to be labeled plagiarists.

Anyway, you've always proven yourself highly. I wouldn't say I proven your wrong before, I tend to think I offered a differing opine based on something you may have not read.

We do not live in a world that states ... When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you. I do know I've said that in the past to people face to face, but only in a humorous teaching moment. I'd much prefer someone to state their case with some cites for me to read to see if their conclusion is reasonable. By reasonable, I mean I don't have to devise complicated elasticity tests of my conclusions to fit their conclusions.

JoeJester said:

Anyway, you've always proven yourself highly. I wouldn't say I proven your wrong before, I tend to think I offered a differing opine based on something you may have not read.

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That's just it.
You actually put forth the effort to find something with enough credibility to make me have reason to think about how and why I viewed something a certain way which thus lead me to coming to the conclusion I was wrong or had an incomplete view and understanding. You may not have proved me wrong directly every time but you gave me plausible reason to question my own reasonings.

That's all I ever ask of anyone who says I am wrong. Give me something that's of credible merit to show me where and why to think about. It's all I ever try to do with anyone else who disagrees with my views. I try to give them as much information and references as I can to show why I believe as I do. (Even if I do have to pound it down their throat a bit to get their brain going.)

Mostly what frustrates me is when after having provided such information in detail is when someone then goes into total blissfully ignorant defiance mode (beyond having a respectable opinion and into full on dunce territory) even if they have been shown to be nothing more than simply misinformed or lacking adequate information on the subject. Or they just start acting like a childish troll and so incredibly simple minded as to appear to suddenly not be able to grasp the concept, even when it's obvious they can and do, just to keep from having to admit they were mistaken or factually wrong in some way.

That's what got ronv and shortbus on my ignore list. ronv started acting so outrageously simple minded, when I and everyone else knows he's not that stupid, just to avoid admitting his logic and reasoning were flawed that I got sick of the game (twice) and shortbus became so insanely childish toward everyone who questioned his views that he could not support in any way it became too shamefully embarrassing it wasn't even funny to read let alone deal with any longer.

Overall, for me it was the depth and widths they went to to avoid facing the fact that they were continually being proven to have either just misplaced beliefs or lacked as deep of understandings in what they claimed to believe and to what poor (to the point being sad) levels of credibility they tried to use to back themselves up with just went too far for me to not feel that their technical knowledge may also be of equally questionable validity as well and thusly would be best off just to not be seen any more at all simply so that I am not given reason to question it too.

If nothing else they played childish stupid so well it was too convincing for me to not consider that just maybe it wasn't an act at all but sadly real.

And that how someone gets on my ignore list.

I read this a few years back ... it was talking about leadership, but it does cross over to other topics as well ...

The acid test of criticism is made up of three questions:
Does the criticism have basis in fact?
Is the criticism offered constructively (in an effort to help)?
Does the critic have the insight and perspective to speak credibly?
When all three questions can be answered, “yes,” then a leader should take the criticism seriously and weigh its meaning.
If any question can be answered, “no,” then a leader is best served to let the criticism go in one ear and out the other.
----A Leader's Way: Criticism that counts
----by John C Maxwell,
----Philippine Daily inquirer June 14, 2008
----Retrieved 7/9/2008 from https://services.inquirer.net

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I'm sure I could find some from other world famous entities .... I have too many "quote" text files that I have to integrate them into one file.

I try to not be too critical of people or their opinions but at some point I do find it necessary (and a bit refreshing at times) to remind some people that there is a limit to ones opinions, general ignorance and lack of professional maturity in the discussion of a topic before it becomes unacceptable and or too diminishing to the value of whatever they say to be worth continuing on with.

JoeJester said:

I'm sure I could find some from other world famous entities .... I have too many "quote" text files that I have to integrate them into one file.

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Write yourself a script to read the files and turn them into a MOTD when you turn on the 'puter, then you will, errr, something anyway. If you need a script I have one I wrote for wsh a few years ago. Of course it may be rubbish, inappropriate, lost or obsolete...

throbscottle said:

Write yourself a script to read the files and turn them into a MOTD when you turn on the 'puter, then you will, errr, something anyway. If you need a script I have one I wrote for wsh a few years ago. Of course it may be rubbish, inappropriate, lost or obsolete...

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I collected them to use on some websites and when appropriate, some forums. I'm not ready for a quote of the day yet. LOL

Lead solder! Has saved a fortune in wire and the time taken to wrap.

Verio Board.

But number one spot surely has to be......................FIRE and the means to make it at will.

Or square wheels, if square wheels hadnt been invented you wouldnt have got round ones eventually!