Cable argument put forward by a scientist

[mocenigo]

I met Diophantus when I was a kid. Pretty neat guy.

Yep, he told me about you. He was impressed as well.

 

[mocenigo]

This conversation reminds me of an old joke.

A young degree-holder applied for a job at a large company. He was hired, and told to report to the section foreman.
The foreman handed him a broom and said, "Until something comes open, just sweep the floors." Our young degree-holder retorted, "I'll have you know that I have been to University and I have a degree!"
The foreman said, "Oh ... I see. Well, watch carefully then, and I'll show you how this thing works."

Fantastic. I have a PhD, and my wife had to show me how to iron my shirts. Never assume you know shit. Because we do not know shit.

 

[mocenigo]

This explains much.

Those poor kids.

In Italy, freshmen are called by the older students, in latin "Minus quam merdam" i.e. "less than shit". This applies to every level, however. When you get your Master's or Doctorate, your friends carry you around the town, half naked, drunk, shouting at you "Dottoooore, dottore, dottore del buco del cul!", that is "Doctor! Doctor! Doctor of the ass-hole." The humiliation of the "doctor" is a medieval thing and one rooted in wisdom. Knowledge is but a tool. You have to learn how to think, and this never ends. I may have collected (some) knowledge, but I cannot ever claim I have learned how to think, because those that do, actually don't know how to think. It is a process.

 

[Jim Taylor]

I'm not a scientist. But I do play one on TV...

And I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

Jim

 

[voodooless]

My limited experience with PHD people is that they are generally smart and wise, but often absolutely lack a sense of reality. Similarly professors that are stuck at their university spot for decades. Really smart one way, but often completely oblivious to the most basic facts of reality in which they should apply their knowledge. Obviously they are not all like this. People are very different after all. But I do feel this is a trend I distilled for my interactions. And on the other side, it is this disconnect with reality that often fuels ideas and innovation, so I think it’s not necessarily a bad thing in all cases.

 

[Chrispy]

I looked up his intro video and he says he teaches Physics at high-school and college level. He reviews headphones but doesn't want to do any measurements.

So sort of the Kunchur of headphones?

 

[mocenigo]

My limited experience with PHD people is that they are generally smart and wise, but often absolutely lack a sense of reality. Similarly professors that are stuck at their university spot for decades. Really smart one way, but often completely oblivious to the most basic facts of reality in which they should apply their knowledge. Obviously they are not all like this. People are very different after all. But I do feel this is a trend I distilled for my interactions. And on the other side, it is this disconnect with reality that often fuels ideas and innovation, so I think it’s not necessarily a bad thing in all cases.

This is often the case. They tend to think in a narrow way and be quite naïve in everything outside their turf. Some of my best friends are like that, and I have learned to live with their quirks, just as the people around me have learned to live with mine. Quitting academia has made me a bit less detached from the real world, but my wife often points out at my ... unusual approaches to many issues.

 

[Newman]

Guys, guys, overgeneralising is also a thing, you know. We don't need this.

We talk about specific audio topics, and if someone brings up their PhD as giving weight to their argument, then it had better be narrowly specific to the topic. That's all.

 

[cochlea]

This all reminds me of the old saying: If someone says they understand quantum mechanics, they really don’t understand quantum mechanics.

 

[Palladium]

It's baffling how people have the motivation and time to produce these long winded theoretical takes on audiophoolish things when it would be some much more simple and interesting to provide evidence from controlled testing. Dude with a couple of PhDs could surely find the people and facilities to make that happen and write the results up in a way that it would be hard to debunk.

....unless of course they already know that test would be failure. But if so, where is the motivation coming from? Oh well, this has been grinding my gears for a couple of decades, might not be solved anytime soon.

I can't believe monetary interests produce dishonesty in my capitalism.

 

[coonmanx]

This all reminds me of the old saying: If someone says they understand quantum mechanics, they really don’t understand quantum mechanics.

Actually they both understand and don't understand at the same time. Also they have a cat that they can't seem to locate...

 

[egellings]

I remember him, too. He was always wondering how much longer Keith Richard was going to live.

Death warmed over...