Things people say that make you facepalm.

[c4757p]

my mum thinks electricity is wasted if something is plugged into the mains but the switch on the switch is off (in other words electrisaty can flow through an open switch)

Well, this is true of devices with a soft power switch. Can you really expect a random dude's mum to know the difference?

[bwat]

A close (and closely related) second place is the lack of understanding of logical argument and logical fallacies. I'm merely a novice at it, and I find myself being handily in the top 10-percentile when dealing with the general public. Perhaps it's an American thing, but if there was one thing I wish were heavily taught in primary schooling, it's this.

There was a time when it was an integral part of the Western schooling tradition which was called the trivium: grammatica, rhetorica, dialectica. Of course all this went out of the window when the working classes formed the bulk of the schools.

Have you read Ad Herennium? It's a great little book, it'll fit in your jacket pocket and give you advice on arguing for or against anything.

[AndyC_772]

The broadest complaint I have of this nature is when one claims it's somehow deficient of me to demand experimental evidence proving a claimed definitive beneficial effect. It's worse when there is conclusive experimental evidence that something does not work yet I'm confronted with someone who believes it does. Case in point: homeopathy.

Worse still, IMHO - people who claim to believe in something for which they can provide no evidence, and yet categorically state that nothing will ever change their minds.

I specifically remember this one from a discussion about the alleged harmful effects of wi-fi radiation. Somebody (whose name I forget, so for the sake of argument I'll go with "the Idiot") claimed that a neighbour's wi-fi was stopping him sleeping, giving him headaches or such - and that nothing would ever convince him otherwise.

The only possible conclusions from this are that either:

a) the Idiot is in possession of some solid, incontrovertible piece of evidence that he's correct, but refuses to share it for some reason, or

b) he doesn't base his opinions on objective evidence at all, and therefore any attempt to inform, educate or placate him is a complete waste of time.

I'm inclined to believe it's (b), though obviously I'm prepared to believe (a) if presented with the evidence.

[bwat]

Worse still, IMHO - people who claim to believe in something for which they can provide no evidence, and yet categorically state that nothing will ever change their minds.

There's a difference between belief and knowledge: knowledge is justified belief. You shouldn't really confuse someones claim that the believe something with them claiming knowledge.

b) he doesn't base his opinions on objective evidence at all,

You said he claims to believe, he needs no evidence with belief.

and therefore any attempt to inform, educate or placate him is a complete waste of time.

It always is. Two different individuals, two different epistemological stances. I wouldn't bother if I were you. Too much frustration all round.

[mcinque]

"Did you ever tried with homeopathy?" 

[TheBorg]

When people make fun of my computer and it's graphics or processing capability because it's a Mac.

Like
"Dude, your computer won't run that game at max settings at 60fps, cause it's a Mac!"

No, my computer won't run that game at max because it's six years old and a laptop.

[AndyC_772]

Worse still, IMHO - people who claim to believe in something for which they can provide no evidence, and yet categorically state that nothing will ever change their minds.

There's a difference between belief and knowledge: knowledge is justified belief. You shouldn't really confuse someones claim that the believe something with them claiming knowledge.

It's the refusal to accept evidence that frustrates me. Belief based on evidence has been so universally vindicated - the whole of science is built upon it - that to do otherwise is idiotic. Or at the very least, worthy of a facepalm.

If a person believes something for which there is no evidence one way or the other, then that's fair enough.

If a person believes something for which there is apparently contradictory evidence, then that may be fair enough too. Or they may just not be very good at telling the difference between good evidence and bad evidence.

If, that person believes something despite all the evidence being to the contrary, then I think the use of the word 'idiot' is entirely justified.

[bwat]

If a person believes something for which there is apparently contradictory evidence, then that may be fair enough too.

Actually, I've done a quick bit of browsing to make sure I remembered all this belief and knowledge stuff correctly and it turns out the very thing you bring up seems to be the major complaint against the platonic definition I gave earlier. It seems all is not as clear-cut as I was led to believe. Reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Gettier.

[What_NZ]

Just about everything Computer Overclockers say. I just don't see any significant advantages for all the mucking around.
I can only think they must be a part of the "I want, I want, I want more and I want it now" generation.

[c4757p]

Just about everything Computer Overclockers say. I just don't see any significant advantages for all the mucking around.
I can only think they must be a part of the "I want, I want, I want more and I want it now" generation.

No, that generation is just complaining CPUs aren't faster already. The overclockers are actually doing something about it - you might call it a hobby, like that 'electronics' thing many of us here do in our spare time.

[xygor]

He was driving at a high rate of speed.

Our new model is a quantum leap forward.

Celebrating the start of the new millennium on Jan 1, 2000.

[JoeO]

I like it when an atheist says "God Damn it".

[Macbeth]

Just about everything Computer Overclockers say. I just don't see any significant advantages for all the mucking around.
I can only think they must be a part of the "I want, I want, I want more and I want it now" generation.

You know, I have been known to squeeze the best from my hardware, overclocking, etc. Sharing results online using 3DMark, etc. Such online tools allow you to test if your setup is in peak condition, or better. Indeed using such tools found me a sick GFX card that when I reflashed got right in the top end of the normal range. I would otherwise not have known why my FPS was so shit for a high end NVidia card. I do this despite rarely playing the games that demand such power.

Enthusiasts doing scientific tests and benchmarks of PSU's, CPU's, HDD's, etc is no different than hobbyist metrologist fetishists getting that perfect accurate DMM with 7 1/2 digits and spending insane money for that kind of accuracy, but ends up using it at best to check the fuse in the kitchen toaster. 

[electronics man]

my mum thinks electricity is wasted if something is plugged into the mains but the switch on the switch is off (in other words electrisaty can flow through an open switch)

Well, this is true of devices with a soft power switch. Can you really expect a random dude's mum to know the difference?

in the uk if you were not aware we have switches on our mains sockets and thats what i was talking about

[Macbeth]

I like it when an atheist says "God Damn it".

I always like to come up with a neutral or FSM version, but then I remember that using the LORDs name in vain is blasphemy, and so I find "Jesus H Christ", "God Damn", "Jesus FUCK!", "FUCKING HELL", etc. perfectly acceptable as an atheist.

God Damn the Pusher Man - Steppenwolf

[echen1024]

Just about everything Computer Overclockers say. I just don't see any significant advantages for all the mucking around.
I can only think they must be a part of the "I want, I want, I want more and I want it now" generation.

No, that generation is just complaining CPUs aren't faster already. The overclockers are actually doing something about it - you might call it a hobby, like that 'electronics' thing many of us here do in our spare time.

Most overclockers do it for the thrill. I have a mild OC on my PC, (4.2GHz), and I know some people who push their computers up to 5+ for kicks, but mostly we just do it for fun.

[justanothercanuck]

Overclocking isn't really what it used to be back in the early days though.  I guess people finally realized that what they want is more cores to process threads instead of getting high clock speeds and not seeing a vast speedup (ie: running a 2mhz chip at 4mhz, vs running a 3ghz chip at 4ghz).

Still waiting for that 80 core Intel to come out. 

[abaxas]

I always laugh when people think most of the world's computers use intel/x86/windows.

Total facepalm.

 I suspect most do, if you mean higher percentage then all other PC configurations?

In terms of the number of computers in the world, the PC barely is a very very (maybe another very) small part of it. More arm based computers are sold ever 3 months than x86 PCS have ever been made. Then add in all the microcontrollers, routers, other embedded stuff and the PC sinks far into the distance.

[dannyf]

In terms of the number of computers in the world, the PC barely is a very very (maybe another very) small part of it.

The right answer depends on how you define "computres".

More arm based computers are sold ever 3 months than x86 PCS have ever been made.

That's like comparing apples to oranges.

[c4757p]

I like it when an atheist says "God Damn it".

Old habit. I was raised Catholic and the swears I'm used to are just more satisfying

in the uk if you were not aware we have switches on our mains sockets and thats what i was talking about

Nope, I totally forgot. I'd still say you can't expect her to know the difference.

[EEVblog]

I specifically remember this one from a discussion about the alleged harmful effects of wi-fi radiation. Somebody (whose name I forget, so for the sake of argument I'll go with "the Idiot") claimed that a neighbour's wi-fi was stopping him sleeping, giving him headaches or such - and that nothing would ever convince him otherwise.

The thing is, the WiFi router does stop him sleeping. Although it's not the WiFi signal that's doing it, you can secretly switch if off it's still be a problem
Same way homeopathy can actually work.

[pickle9000]

My brothers wife has one of these.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Digital-LCD-Screen-Electromagnetic-Radiation-Detector-Meter-Dosimeter-TM-/111334083976?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ec074d88

So no more microwave, stereo, and so on you get the picture. My brother asks me to explain some things to her and hey not my problem. I am thankful she is in another province  . And yes she is religious and a health food nut. 

[vk6zgo]

A close (and closely related) second place is the lack of understanding of logical argument and logical fallacies. I'm merely a novice at it, and I find myself being handily in the top 10-percentile when dealing with the general public. Perhaps it's an American thing, but if there was one thing I wish were heavily taught in primary schooling, it's this.

There was a time when it was an integral part of the Western schooling tradition which was called the trivium: grammatica, rhetorica, dialectica. Of course all this went out of the window when the working classes formed the bulk of the schools.

Have you read Ad Herennium? It's a great little book, it'll fit in your jacket pocket and give you advice on arguing for or against anything.

Well,pardon us "lower orders" for existing!

I wonder how effective such subjects were--------the "upper classes" in the main,were not a great repository of logical thought.

[Psi]

Just about everything Computer Overclockers say. I just don't see any significant advantages for all the mucking around.
I can only think they must be a part of the "I want, I want, I want more and I want it now" generation.

No, that generation is just complaining CPUs aren't faster already. The overclockers are actually doing something about it - you might call it a hobby, like that 'electronics' thing many of us here do in our spare time.

Most overclockers do it for the thrill. I have a mild OC on my PC, (4.2GHz), and I know some people who push their computers up to 5+ for kicks, but mostly we just do it for fun.

Yeah, quite a bit of it is just for fun.
My main workstation is a core2 Q6600 which is running at 3.2Ghz (stock freq is 2.4ghz)  The extra 800mhz does make it noticeable faster doing cpu intensive tasks.
But as you say, you have to look for the difference, it doesn't jump out at you.
What did make me grin at the time was looking at the price of the official 3.2ghz version of my chip. It was 5x the price!

It was a bit different back in the days of old FPS games like Doom/Quake where CPU's were being pushed to the max with the latest games (before we had 3D gfx cards).
Even a small overclock of say 15% could increase your frame rate from 18 to 25fps which was a massive difference in playability, especially for online play.

[bwat]

I wonder how effective such subjects were

It's probably a question of "are" and not "were".  These subjects are still part of the education of the political elite. You'll probably not have to look to far to see evidence of this in your country.

the "upper classes" in the main,were not a great repository of logical thought.

Bertrand Russel, one of the great names in mathematical logic, was the son of a viscount. Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer, was the daughter of a Baron. That's just off the top of my head and restricting myself to to the upper classes. If I were to include the middle classes then I would be here all day swinging like a pendulum between wikipedia and the draft of this reply. The working classes don't get going it seems until after the first world war.