Re: Classic RW (was: Rounding errors

Glenn Someone < dontspamme@whydoyouneedmyaddressspammers
.com> wrote

> I do have to wonder, what is everyone's grudge against him?

I have seen others express that point. However, from my point, I am
not arguing against Robert, I argue against what I see as
misinformation wherever I see it.

> I'll admit he comes out as a troll every once in a while,

He has an unfortunate habit of extrapolating from a single data point
to being the 'universal truth'.  Many of us will use such terms as
'there is a tendancy to', or 'some' or 'it may be that', or even 'many
of us'.  Robert will tend to use absolutes in those cases with implied
'all' and 'every'.  I mean 'fish in a barrel', one counter example and
he is wrong.

Eaxamples:

"""I like Kenny G but the cognosenti don't. They say he's
repititious."""

It may well be that some do and some don't, or is RW defining
'cognosenti' as "those who say Kenny G is repititious" ?

"""Academics don't call it Classical, they call it Art Music."""

Again: is this supposed to mean that if they don't call it 'Art Music'
then they aren't Academics and vv ?  and he based this on a single
example.

You are correct that he doesn't communicate well at all, but worse, he
doesn't learn.

In the past he has made staements that 'all mainframe programmers' are
incompetent and made other insults about people he has never known.

> but he does bring some good knowledge to the table here,

That is debatable.  Sometimes he has answers, sometimes he presents
misinformation.

The hard part is that he has absolute beliefs in his own rightness. He
seems to never bother checking when he presents misinformation and is
told that he is wrong. He will simply keep repeating bad information.
He was a Marine (apparently) and this may have set his attitudes in
his formative years, ones that he can't grow out of.  This is why the
discussions go on.  RW seems to have learnt the Marines way that if he
keeps repeating things eventually he will 'win' (ie everyone gives up
goes away), therefore, he concludes, he is right.

So RW may not be a troller* but he just acts like one.


* In this context the word troll does not refer to the Billy Goat
Gruff, lives under a bridge, type of creature, and is thus not the
message writer.  It refers to the type of fishing where a line is
dragged in front of the fish with a bait or lure hoping to hook one of
them.  The 'troll' is the fishing line or the message and it rhymes
with stroll whereas the scandinavian creature rhymes with doll.

> I'll admit he comes out as a troll every once in a while,

Of course I may have completely misinterpreted what you are saying
here. There is a completely diffent third meaning to 'troll' which
relates directly to 'coming out' but is something that you would never
accuse a Marine of.

Given the parallel discussions of british high camp humour, ... no
that can't be what you mean     ;-)

On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 14:29:22 GMT, "Howard Brazee" <howard@brazee.net>
wrote:

>
>On  1-Sep-2004, riplin@Azonic.co.nz (Richard) wrote:
> 
>
>Such as the IBM mainframe code of "97".
>
>Hmmm.   I don't think your test quite works in that case.

Ahh, just run it again. Second time the file won't need to be
verified. :)