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Thanks for your comments. After posting it, I had decided it was the last post I would make on any Asylum.

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In Reply to: Joe, that is one of the best posts I've read to date... posted by rlw on February 15, 2007 at 07:37:32:

Writing these things takes time. Most of the time I don't think anybody reads them, and often when they are read, people either get mad or couldn't care less. So why bother? I had decided to only post when I thought I had some specific information that would help someone, like tubes to try in a preamp, but I'm afraid I get carried away and can't resist responding when I think I can provide a different perspective or hopefully shed some light on a more philosophical issue. As a professor who has taught science for decades to undergraduates who only take the courses to meet a requirement and, coming in, find it all baffling, I have made great efforts to teach people how far clear, rational thinking can get you, how enlightening and powerful it can be. Of course, science works well in the scientific domain, and much better in some fields than others, but there are many other dimensions of human experience where it isn't of much use.
I think this better be my last post! Here I go getting carried away again.
Joe

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You're quitting on a rant over a bad joke? - Presto 15:43:13 02/15/07 (2)
Now I feel bad.
Maybe take a sabattical. You're a good writer, which is why you get frustrated when you get the "itch" to give a response that you feel is a worthy one. And lots of times, one line is just not enough to get ones point across. Some evenings I get nothing done except make my fingers sore and eye tired, and I wonder if I helped, contributed, or provoked good thought or just ranted, picked fights and caused general mayhem. Sometimes its definately more of the latter...
I would take a break, lurk around, and decide which posts are REALLY important for you to be spending that kind of time on. Maybe just limit yourself to a few one liners here and there for a bit. Clark Johnsen is the king of one liners around here. I tease good old CJ about this but he does often say his piece in one single line. He can make a point right there in the subject line. Sometimes his line falls short - but he doesn't seem to care! I don't hate Clark but I think he hates me. That's okay. I'm here to learn and have fun. Being liked is a bonus but not really mandatory. I get to be ME here - even if being me means being a bit of an ass. Fortunately me being as ass is mostly within the tolerance levels of our good moderators. I mean, if I want to act professional, like-able, respectable, and only say things I can back up with IEEE approved fact then hell - I'll just go into work! The Asylum is like my alcohol free online watering hole!
I've been really wrapped up in lots of threads on general too the last few days. Some really interesting and hot topics. It seems to have started when we moved past the "controversial tweak" arguments and are back onto some really neat subjects.
Anyways...
My joke was based on an actual belief (movement even) that doctors are overprescribing antidepressants and not using adequate screening for depression. One website actually encourages people who get told they have a chemical imbalance to say just that: "SHOW ME THE TEST RESULTS!" It's more of a commentary on what we know about brain chemistry - there IS no bloodwork you can do (specific to brain chemistry) that can determine if someone has this "chemical imbalance" associated with clinical depression. But we do know that people who exhibit SYMPTOMS of depression can have these symptoms alleviated when they take "the right" antidepressant.
And its common knowlege that getting the "right" anti-d is a very subjective process! Some folks need to do trial and error to find the right drug and dosage. Others seem to get results on the first drug they try (the lucky ones). Others still seem to have problems greater in scope than anti-D's can help with, and get no results from ANYTHING they try (they might have a mood disorder, sleeping disorder, weight problem, anger management problem, addiction issues, social issues, parenting issues or a combination of these problems - their symptoms of depression indicate depression, but their depression is just a side-effect (or other symptom) of greater problem(s) that need attention.
The joke was meant to poke fun at objectivists using this as a premise. The crux (and humor) is that a objectivist can't accept a subjective analysis even from a doctor with years of training and years of seeing other patients with the exact same ailment.
I could make a similar joke: A subjectivist goes to the doctor and the doctor tells him he tested positive for hepatitis. He says the test results must be wrong because he feels perfectly fine.
The argument between subjectivists and objectivists is silly in one regard. There are not really too many people stuck in the extremist camp of either side. Most subjectivists think their ears are the final "instrument" they need to use, but acknowledge there are many good uses for measurements to get one in the ballpart. Most objectivists agree that they rely heavily on measurements at first, but always try and make a correlation between measured data and what they hear, and what they hear is based on human perception and is SUBJECTIVE. Few subjectivists would design an amplifier or loudspeaker with NO test intruments, and few objectivists would put a product on the market that satisfied specs and "tested well" but was never auditioned!
I think people argue from an extremist perspective that is really not representative of their TRUE position on the "objectivist - subjectivist scale".
I'm sorry my attempt at humor resulted in you getting flustered. Please don't let old Presto drive you over the edge...I would not be happy about that at all.
You think you're bad. Look how much I wrote here! I like writing. lol I wish I was good at it! :P
Cheers,
Presto
- Breaking my oath! - jsm 18:24:16 02/15/07 (1)
  Don't worry, your joke and posts had nothing to do with my decision. I have a very thick skin when it comes to things like this. I just think I've been spending too much time posting, far beyond what my comments are worth.
  Joe
  - Aw, C',mon Joe - Don't beat yourself up like that... - Presto 22:15:16 02/15/07 (0)
    Besides.
    That's what WE'RE here for! :o)
    Don't leave.
    Even if you stay just to avoid giving ONE S.O.B. the satisfaction...
    ...well then it's well worth it! :o)
    I've thought of not coming back too. But I don't think I could handle making that many people happy at the same time! :D
    Cheers,
    Presto
C'mon, Joe ... - andyr 15:15:11 02/15/07 (1)
keep posting mate! You can always try to limit yourself to one post a week if you find it's taking up too much of your time. :-))
We need more posts from people like you in place of the tiresome drivel which pops up all too often.
Regards,
Andy
- Thanks. - jsm 18:32:17 02/15/07 (0)
  That was nice of you to say. I have learned a great deal from other posts here. For example, who would have thought that attaching fishing weights to my tone arm could really improve its performance? I read it on the VA, tried it, and it works! (Actually it does make good sense from a physics standpoint, unlike some other tweaks pushed here, but I never would have though of it.) So when I really get the urge I probably won't be able to resist, and hopefully what I post will be of value to someone as so many posts have been to me.
  Joe

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