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"You are a geek!"
".. and you are a dumbass!"

Posted by hirak on Wednesday, February 08, 2006

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4 comments:

Wavefunction said...

Where from the frustration?? :) Or rather, whereof?

February 09, 2006 10:06 AM
hirak said...

Geek but not quite like this

February 10, 2006 9:09 AM
Wavefunction said...

That's a very interesting article, but I am surprised at the simplistic conclusions they draw. Mango and pine have similar molecular structures, so they may go well together?? If biomolecular research in fifty years has taught us anything, it is that similar molecular structures almost never guarantee similar biological activity of any kind. Otherwise, discovering new drugs would have been a lot easier, and all these molecular gastronomists would have been employed by pharma. I researched smell for my seminar, so I am aware that especially when it comes to smell and taste, things are even more bizarre.

February 10, 2006 9:23 PM
hirak said...

Aha, the chemist provides a clearer view.
Most of these things are generally a lot of bullshit the 'gee-whiz' kind of science which attracts the crowds as the 'next big thing' but is more pseudoscience than anything.
The onerous burden of making people more skeptical is really up to scientists like you to expose flaws in the sweeping conclusions that such studies draw, but sadly most serious people rarely waste time dispelling such science myths which then become urban legends.

I remember the common factoid that I heard a lot when I was growing up - that you use less that 3% of your brain and Einstein used 5%. Rubbish!

February 11, 2006 3:09 AM

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