There are SO MANY people here who read and don’t post...

[Rhea]

Sure, but there is equally a large number of people who post here without reading the posts they pretend to comment on.

Laughing out loud, confusing my husband. (LOLCMH)
Also true!

 

[Bronzeage]

... I wonder if many are in a state of flux themselves...

I can think of a small number of regular posters who I wish would go flux themselves. But that's why God created the Ignore List. Stating that they should flux themselves would be a TOU violation.

Lurkers are great - they represent an unknown and perhaps unknowable audience who might even be impressed by our arguments. Certainly they provide a reason to hope that even the worst received post might not have suffered the apparently universal disdain that a mere reading of the responses to it (or the mere absence of any response) might suggest.

Fluxing oneself could cause serious skin reactions.

I was sitting in freshman physics, which was taught by a Korean grad student. This was so long ago, he was writing an equation which defined "erecticar frux." I watched my classmates thumb through the textbook, all apparently confused. I looked at the notes of the girl sitting beside me. She had written "frucks" with a question mark and circled it.

 

[Old Woman in Purple]

(I never took physics.... what was the Korean grad student intending to say? Inquiring minds want to know.... )

 

[Rhea]

Electrical flux



Full disclosure: I took physics, but not true electricity classes as I was a Chemical Engineer not an Electrical one, and I do not know enough to use or discribe this equation, but I do know enoough to name it. I say “true” electricity classes because I did elect to take a fake one so that I’d know a little of the language at least, a survey-level course that I called, “electricity for the brain-dead” and was listed in the course catalog as “Electricity for Civil Engineers”

 

[DolphinDynasty]

Electrical flux

View attachment 15659

Full disclosure: I took physics, but not true electricity classes as I was a Chemical Engineer not an Electrical one, and I do not know enough to use or discribe this equation, but I do know enoough to name it. I say “true” electricity classes because I did elect to take a fake one so that I’d know a little of the language at least, a survey-level course that I called, “electricity for the brain-dead” and was listed in the course catalog as “Electricity for Civil Engineers”

Isn't that just a way to explain how a plate holds a charge even sometimes after the active energy is , say, switched off? Of course my understanding of electricity and static fields comes from studying it at about 7-8 years old when I took the plating around switches and outlets off, discovered we still had the old plans to the house my parents had built from the foundation up, and followed the blue lines that represented electrical wiring, all through the house, then out the transformer, then on to the first township transformer until my Dad explained that the lines from the township transformer would eventually reach the main block unit. And since it was only to understand that aside from burning stars/gases, burning wood, or causing friction to light upon sulfur on the head of a match you still needed a source already present and accounted for to have light, so the Bible is still bullshit like when I had previously discovered that all religion was the result of the world's longest and most destructive set of games of "telephone" before a bunch of anonymous weirdos wrote down that it was true so believe it, or we'll burn you at the stake, heretic.

Well, that went dark quick.

Anyway, I tend not to post much because I'm easily bored by stupidity and/or superficiality/triviality, and most of what people keep up with on a constant basis is either stupid, or superficial/trivial.

See, this is why I talk to animals more than people, because at least they can't inadvertently let me know I just spent 20 min, an hour, or days of my life wasted by the interaction, as humans will while simultaneously trying to convince me that fi I just smoked enough pot (which I already do thanks) or did this other drug/religion/spiritual bs/crystal searching/psychic reading, only THEN will I "understand" reality.

Of course this place has less of that idiocy, but most here don't seem to want to share knowledge as opposed to a snide quick joke, or else some foolish subjective perception that only helps to further ignore social misconstructions/misattributions/misrepresentations and all the while I still have yet to find a decent sort of person interested in figuring out if there's a way to track the distance in space around the globe and if so, does that makes the numbers different from when on land or at sea or in air? And also, can hardened gallium in the form of tear drop shape when sewn in a connected pattern plus a second layer to fill in the natural tiny spaces between the linkage that will go inside Kevlar strengthen the Kevlar to form a better protective surface for military/police/other first responders?

Anybody here even seen what happens to hardened gallium when heated with a blow torch and then formed into a tear drop shape?

See, like others here, I am an introvert and also anthropophobic, because humans are either too stupid and/or too corrupt to deal with daily, but humans also have more intellect than me to help with this stuff. And yet, there isn't a forum people have yet devised where I'd actually get a discussion going with anybody in science or who is studying to work in the field, cuz I've gone to those forums both here and on other sites, and people inevitably derail the convo or come back with stupid or obvious or useless or insulting shit. So then I never get anything I can use for others, or to benefit others, let alone something I might use to help heal or reimagine or rework something in my own life which is of course always last on any list out of the discourse

Yeah, so that's why I try to never post, or engage, or speak or interact with anybody, unless I truly can't keep it in anymore, and at the same time it's anonymous.

 

[Speakpigeon]

Still, I understand who these people are and why they don't talk.

I think it's just fair I should give them a voice.

And that's what I do with my posts, day in, day out, without a fail.
EB

 

[Ruth Harris]

Guess you mean people like me

I read a lot of threads and don't post in them. I don't post unless I think I have something interesting or valuable to add to the discussion, or have a question on something another member has written. This might be the reason for all the names you see reading threads but not replying to them.

Or maybe braces_for_impact is right when he says that it is "because our daunting, relentless intellects are just so intimidating". I suspect it may be more likely that people are intimidated because they know the minute they say something that is not precisely correct or correct in someone's view - they will be under attack. Not saying at all that everyone here is like that, but you do have to acknowledge that there are members who seem to spend their lives correcting everyone else in as public a manner as possible with very little grace shown.

I freely admit that I have learned a lot from reading some of the threads here, and I am very grateful for this forum with so many interesting and intelligent discussions.

Ruth

 

[Rhea]

Hey, hello! Thank you for your reply

 

[connick]

I used to post as often as I lurked but I have less time these days. Also, my preferred people to talk with are the real wackadoos (Pseudoscience is my favorite forum) and some of my old favorites have moved on. Usually, I pop in to look at whatever nonsense Potoooooooo has dredged up, maybe take a peek at Moral and Ethics or a joke thread.

If this site is still around in 30 years when I can actually think about retiring I'll probably get back into the swing of things.

 

[Poppa Popobawa]

Ok, I admit to being guilty of browsing threads without adding to the conversation. I'm also one of those introverted sorts that hang out in corners of rooms during large gatherings, enjoying 'people watching' more than jumping into conversations with strangers.

Nothing to be guilty about. I just know that the introverted sorts aren’t hanging out with blanks minds - there’s interesting stuff going on. It’s mysterious. Tantalizing.

OK, I'll come clean. I have a very high level of anxiety, and sociophobia. So I relatively rarely post, and have great difficulty going back to see what responses anyone might have made to the posts that I do submit. I post when I think I have something to contribute, and hold the attitude that if anyone gets anything out of that, then it is enough. Also I am a perfectionist, and when composing my rare posts, I may spend quite a long time getting the wording, grammar and spelling in my posts correct, (IMHO).

I am posting now, because the OP was on this specific topic, (why some people are not posting). Some posters are brutal in their rebuttal or criticism of other peoples' posts, and I avoid the pain of that in response to my own posting, by not following up on posts which I have made. Some may judge me negatively for that, as sadly do I. It means that I do not get as much out of the forum as I might if I were a different person, but I'm not a different person ! ! ! Also, I guess, I don't give as much to the forum as I might if I were a different person.

Cheers,
Pops.

 

[Rhea]

If this site is still around in 30 years when I can actually think about retiring I'll probably get back into the swing of things.

Those are fun sub forums. 30 years will go bby in a flash.

 

[Rhea]

OK, I'll come clean. I have a very high level of anxiety, and sociophobia. So I relatively rarely post, and have great difficulty going back to see what responses anyone might have made to the posts that I do submit. I post when I think I have something to contribute, and hold the attitude that if anyone gets anything out of that, then it is enough. Also I am a perfectionist, and when composing my rare posts, I may spend quite a long time getting the wording, grammar and spelling in my posts correct, (IMHO).

I am posting now, because the OP was on this specific topic, (why some people are not posting). Some posters are brutal in their rebuttal or criticism of other peoples' posts, and I avoid the pain of that in response to my own posting, by not following up on posts which I have made. Some may judge me negatively for that, as sadly do I. It means that I do not get as much out of the forum as I might if I were a different person, but I'm not a different person ! ! ! Also, I guess, I don't give as much to the forum as I might if I were a different person.

Cheers,
Pops.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad to talk to you.

 

[ZiprHead]

Ok, I admit to being guilty of browsing threads without adding to the conversation. I'm also one of those introverted sorts that hang out in corners of rooms during large gatherings, enjoying 'people watching' more than jumping into conversations with strangers.

Nothing to be guilty about. I just know that the introverted sorts aren’t hanging out with blanks minds - there’s interesting stuff going on. It’s mysterious. Tantalizing.

OK, I'll come clean. I have a very high level of anxiety, and sociophobia. So I relatively rarely post, and have great difficulty going back to see what responses anyone might have made to the posts that I do submit. I post when I think I have something to contribute, and hold the attitude that if anyone gets anything out of that, then it is enough. Also I am a perfectionist, and when composing my rare posts, I may spend quite a long time getting the wording, grammar and spelling in my posts correct, (IMHO).

I am posting now, because the OP was on this specific topic, (why some people are not posting). Some posters are brutal in their rebuttal or criticism of other peoples' posts, and I avoid the pain of that in response to my own posting, by not following up on posts which I have made. Some may judge me negatively for that, as sadly do I. It means that I do not get as much out of the forum as I might if I were a different person, but I'm not a different person ! ! ! Also, I guess, I don't give as much to the forum as I might if I were a different person.

Cheers,
Pops.

We're glad to have you here, Pops. I think posting on BBSs and message boards helped me break though some of my shyness.

 

[gmbteach]

I don’t post as much as I used to, but still read and contribute sometimes.

 

[4321lynx]

I lurk to see how out-of-date I am compared to the rest of you youngsters ( you whipper-snappers 75 years old and less.)

 

[Underseer]

I’m always interested by how many names show up under “people who have read this thread in the last 3 days” whose names I have not seen posting.

I don’t have a problem with this, mind you, I just find it interesting.

Like a teaser about further conversaations that _might_ happen, interesting thoughts I _might_ read if they post one day. I wonder, do they like the topic? Are they pro? Con? Having thoughts that were not yet articulated by others on the thread?

I lurked for a long time before posting back when this place was called Internet Infidels.

Lurking is normal in any message board. Some lurkers never post (like me back in the day). Other times, I read a thread and decided that I have nothing of value to add, or that someone else already said what I was going to say, but better.

 

[laughing dog]

Ok, I admit to being guilty of browsing threads without adding to the conversation. I'm also one of those introverted sorts that hang out in corners of rooms during large gatherings, enjoying 'people watching' more than jumping into conversations with strangers.

Nothing to be guilty about. I just know that the introverted sorts aren’t hanging out with blanks minds - there’s interesting stuff going on. It’s mysterious. Tantalizing.

OK, I'll come clean. I have a very high level of anxiety, and sociophobia. So I relatively rarely post, and have great difficulty going back to see what responses anyone might have made to the posts that I do submit. I post when I think I have something to contribute, and hold the attitude that if anyone gets anything out of that, then it is enough. Also I am a perfectionist, and when composing my rare posts, I may spend quite a long time getting the wording, grammar and spelling in my posts correct, (IMHO).

I am posting now, because the OP was on this specific topic, (why some people are not posting). Some posters are brutal in their rebuttal or criticism of other peoples' posts, and I avoid the pain of that in response to my own posting, by not following up on posts which I have made. Some may judge me negatively for that, as sadly do I. It means that I do not get as much out of the forum as I might if I were a different person, but I'm not a different person ! ! ! Also, I guess, I don't give as much to the forum as I might if I were a different person.

Cheers,
Pops.

Great name BTW.

 

[fast]

How does the ole saying go? Many people are ignorant, but there's no need to prove it with posts. Well, that's an explanatory variant.

I don't post in a lot of interesting topics. One reason is that being engaged in too many threads can become labor intensive. It can become quite time consuming having to back track through a thread to get caught up to speed, hoping that skipping side mid-thread conversations aren't applicable. Some threads zoom by hurriedly. Then, like ghosts from the past, threads are resurrected. With so much activity, you might find threads three pages down that suggest a need to respond. When your time becomes more and more limited, it makes sense to engage less. It's easier to read and just think about how you might respond without the pressure to do so with time constraints upon you.

Also, many people are posting but just not in every thread they come across, so who has read in a thread isn't necessarily much of a lurker than it might otherwise appear. Not even low post count and long ago start date demonstrates that a person is just a lurker; absence isn't lurking.

I used to be on so many hours a day that it felt like I lived here. I used to monitor who was here and doing what and joining in so many threads that I knew the real lurkers from the rarely on's.

I'll say this: don't be afraid to post. Even if it turns out to be a dumbass post, that has a way of being beneficial.

 

[Artemus]

... I wonder if many are in a state of flux themselves...

I can think of a small number of regular posters who I wish would go flux themselves. But that's why God created the Ignore List. Stating that they should flux themselves would be a TOU violation.

Lurkers are great - they represent an unknown and perhaps unknowable audience who might even be impressed by our arguments. Certainly they provide a reason to hope that even the worst received post might not have suffered the apparently universal disdain that a mere reading of the responses to it (or the mere absence of any response) might suggest.

Fluxing oneself could cause serious skin reactions.

I was sitting in freshman physics, which was taught by a Korean grad student. This was so long ago, he was writing an equation which defined "erecticar frux." I watched my classmates thumb through the textbook, all apparently confused. I looked at the notes of the girl sitting beside me. She had written "frucks" with a question mark and circled it.

I had a Thai electromagnetics professor a long time ago who kept saying "dapada" and "in-ee-gee" (hard g sound). The later was easy (energy, with a soft g) but took me quite a while to figure out that the former was "dot product". Another guy in the class made up a vocabulary list and distributed copies to us. ("Impotence mismash" was another, as I recall.)

The professor was a newly minted PhD and was actually quite good. He left the university at the end of the year to take a research position (telling us that the university didn't pay enough). I had thought of him in literally decades but this inspired me to wonder why I hadn't run into him or his work. Google Scholar tells me that his publication record ended about 6 years after I took the class from him, right about when I finished my own degree, and a general google search suggests that he dropped of the face of the earth at that time. I can't help but wonder what happened to him.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

I’m always interested by how many names show up under “people who have read this thread in the last 3 days” whose names I have not seen posting.

I don’t have a problem with this, mind you, I just find it interesting.

Like a teaser about further conversaations that _might_ happen, interesting thoughts I _might_ read if they post one day. I wonder, do they like the topic? Are they pro? Con? Having thoughts that were not yet articulated by others on the thread?

I lurked for a long time before posting back when this place was called Internet Infidels.

Lurking is normal in any message board. Some lurkers never post (like me back in the day). Other times, I read a thread and decided that I have nothing of value to add, or that someone else already said what I was going to say, but better.

That was exactly me back then too.