Are All Cranks Male? | Unification Theories

[jostpuur]

I just made a curious remark: All people who believe they have personal unification theories and so on, are male. Is there not female cranks at all?

 

[lisab]

Wow. I've never even noticed that, and I'm a woman!

 

[rewebster]

most women don't want to 'make a mark' as an odd duck, or take the chance of being disliked----but things have changed---the more women get degrees in odd things like theoretical physics--there'll be more cranky women--

what about Lisa Randall? (I guess only if you consider 'string theory' as a crank theory though)

 

[tribdog]

Oh, there are a few cranky females. In more ways than one.
I tried explaining my interest in astronomy to my girlfriend and she told me she was a Gemini. Is astrology a crank theory?

 

[lisab]

Oh, there are a few cranky females. In more ways than one.
I tried explaining my interest in astronomy to my girlfriend and she told me she was a Gemini. Is astrology a crank theory?

Yes, but with a scent of patchouli.

 

[jostpuur]

Oh yeah, there is lot of women interested in astrology and paranormal phenomena... I was thinking about more like these personal physics theories. It depends little on what we mean by "a crank".

 

[Math Is Hard]

I think there are plenty of female cranks out there. They are just more invested in mysticism rather than cranky physics.

 

[Übermensch]

"HEY! Whats your Sign?" asked the blond girl wearing a tank top and really tight jeans.

 

[rewebster]

most women I know want to believe in the 'magic' of ...!

I think its part of the 'shiny knight'/'happily ever after' / 'if only...' syndrome

 

[tribdog]

most women I know want to believe in the 'magic' of ...!

I think its part of the 'shiny knight'/'happily ever after' / 'if only...' syndrome

I wouldn't say they believe in it, they wish it was true. but with comments like that you've shown why they don't believe in it.

 

[B. Elliott]

I think there are plenty of female cranks out there. They are just more invested in mysticism rather than cranky physics.

With the few intellectual females that I've known (in person), most do seem to be more interested in mysticism rather than physics. Primarily those who would consider themselves Wiccans.

 

[JasonRox]

That's because females are never wrong.

 

[B. Elliott]

That's because females are never wrong.

well said.

 

[arildno]

Well, it was the famed Ms. Lucie Irigaray who said that Newton's "principia" was a rape manual.

She also said that it was the phallocentrism of males which explained why structural mechanics was so more successful than fluid mechanics, because the latter had more affinity with the female principle of menstruation..

 

[jostpuur]

Well, it was the famed Ms. Lucie Irigaray who said that Newton's "principia" was a rape manual.

She also said that it was the phallocentrism of males which explained why structural mechanics was so more successful than fluid mechanics, because the latter had more affinity with the female principle of menstruation..

Isn't this about postmodern social constructionism? Is it appropriate to call it pseudoscience or crackpottery?

I've read an article by Dawkins, and I think he mentioned this Irigaray, although I don't remember for sure and I cannot find the article now. (It's the fluid mechanics argument that I feel like remembering... )

 

[jostpuur]

mhmhmhmhmhmhm... I've never tried to decide what postmodern social constructionism really is. I've always somehow thought that pseudoscience must be outside the academic world. And that something that is inside academic world would be at most cargo cult science.

btw, (an off-topic question (I'm the original poster, I have right to go off-topic)) is there clear difference between pseudoscience and cargo cult science?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

i asked my wife why men were rational beings who understand science while women were irrational crackpots that believe in mysticism. She turned me into a toad.

 

[arildno]

Isn't this about postmodern social constructionism? Is it appropriate to call it pseudoscience or crackpottery?

I've read an article by Dawkins, and I think he mentioned this Irigaray, although I don't remember for sure and I cannot find the article now. (It's the fluid mechanics argument that I feel like remembering... )

Probably, it is his review "Postmodernism Disrobed" of Alan Sokal's "Intellectual Impostures":
http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Dawkins/Work/Reviews/1998-07-09postmodernism_disrobed.shtml

 

[tribdog]

i asked my wife why men were rational beings who understand science while women were irrational crackpots that believe in mysticism. She turned me into a toad.

Congratulations.

 

[rewebster]

I wouldn't say they believe in it, they wish it was true. but with comments like that you've shown why they don't believe in it.

what's a 'wish'?----(isn't that part of the magic thing that someone wants/believes will happen?)


Ever notice how many more TV shows/movies there are where the lead character is the woman with some sort of mystical, paranormal powers? I think women, (and yes of course it's a generalization) tend to believe more in magic due to the (now disappearing) perception that if they had a little more 'power' --'things' would be better---

 

[Gokul43201]

Are all cranks male?

Only those that come with a crank shaft!

 

[arildno]

Only those that come with a crank shaft!

They are nuts..

 

[Moonbear]

"HEY! Whats your Sign?" asked the blond girl wearing a tank top and really tight jeans.

I was wondering the same thing as I read the first few replies...maybe nobody notices a crank if she's got a large chest and a tight, low-cut shirt on.

That's because females are never wrong.

An even better explanation.

Only those that come with a crank shaft!

 

[rewebster]

I was wondering the same thing as I read the first few replies...maybe nobody notices a crank if she's got a large chest and a tight, low-cut shirt on.


An even better explanation.

you're right--you're right------you are ALWAYS right MB







<smoozing MB, just a little>

 

[rootX]

That's because females are never wrong.

This must be wrong because men are always wrong

 

[George Jones]

Before I started posting on PF, A female crank was banned from here for her views on quantum theory. She posted under her real name.

 

[Evo]

Before I started posting on PF, A female crank was banned from here for her views on quantum theory. She posted under her real name.

Yeah, she's dead now. She was constantly vandalizing wikipedia too.

 

[WarPhalange]

Oh my God, you actually killed her for that? That's some harsh moderation.

 

[arildno]

She WAS really bad, besides, Evo couldn't let ZApperZ get his hands dirty. He had a full-time job exposing her intellectually..

 

[WarPhalange]

Are the threads still alive, or have they been deleted? I need a laugh.

 

[Evo]

She WAS really bad, besides, Evo couldn't let ZApperZ get his hands dirty. He had a full-time job exposing her intellectually..

Are the threads still alive, or have they been deleted? I need a laugh.

They're probably still around.

 

[George Jones]

Yeah, she's dead now. She was constantly vandalizing wikipedia too.

I ran into her on usenet/google groups years before I started posting here, and I didn't agree with her ideas or methods, but I'm sorry to find that she died of cancer.

 

[Evo]

I ran into her on usenet/google groups years before I started posting here, and I didn't agree with her ideas or methods, but I'm sorry to find that she died of cancer.

Yes, that is not something I would wish on anyone.

 

[tribdog]

Yes, that is not something I would wish on anyone.

Really? I wish it on four or five people a day. Doesn't seem to work though

 

[Moonbear]

This must be wrong because men are always wrong

No, that's not true. As I explain to my boyfriend, he can be right sometimes...as long as he agrees with me.

 

[DaveC426913]

is there clear difference between pseudoscience and cargo cult science?

Yes: I've heard of pseudoscience.

 

[arildno]

btw, (an off-topic question (I'm the original poster, I have right to go off-topic)) is there clear difference between pseudoscience and cargo cult science?

Well, I definitely would regard the study of cargo cults as a branch of legitimate science (anthroplogy, comparative cultural studies and so on), but I don't think that was what you meant by cargo cult science..

 

[jostpuur]

I thought that everybody uses the term cargo cult science in the same way as Feynman did: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_science

 

[Evo]

I thought that everybody uses the term cargo cult science in the same way as Feynman did: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_science

It would seem the difference is cargo cult science refers to being intellectually dishonest (falsifying or exagerating results in order to gain attention) and pseudoscience is bad science, basically unfounded beliefs claimed to be science.