On Apr 27, 1:42 pm, Ken Roberts <for...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Apr 25, 10:57 pm, Buy_Sell <werksp...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > Someone needs a vacation... ;-)
>
> Maybe so, but my previous post is not an artifact of too many days
> working.
>
> Every now and then, I say something (usually on a hovercraft forum)
> and somebody assumes that I hold that opinion because I have
> incomplete or incorrect information. They then go through a huge
> campaign to "educate" me on things I already know, or point out all
> the commercial applications which sup****t their point. They ALWAYS
> ignore my statements that they shouldn't bother convincing me. This
> happens for everything, including my preferences for epoxy brands,
> fiberglass, control cable techniques, and paint. Among others.
>
> Another thing that happens every now and then is that I say something,
> and an actual engineer gets on and tells me I need to retract my
> statement because it's untrue. This happened with push pull cables on
> the HCA forum, a thread that got quite noisy. Because I make a lot of
> posts, I'm evidently viewed as some sort of expert. Because of that,
> I can't have a personal preference evidently.
>
> When I say "I don't like <whatever>" it's a statement of preference.
> "I don't like Brussels sprouts." Do I have any scientific data to
> sup****t my position? No. Do I need any? Absolutely not. Will your
> description of the health benefits or nutrition information of
> Brussels sprouts change my opinion? Not a snowball's chance in hell
> -- I already know what Brussels sprouts are good for: throwing at the
> cat. Is it possible you have a recipe for Brussels sprouts that I
> would find tasty? Maybe. If you cook some up and say "try this" I
> may try it, but don't expect me to eat the whole serving. Do I object
> to the idea that other people like Brussels sprouts? Not at all. Am
> I offended when I see somebody eat them? No. Do I deny their
> nutritional value? No. Do I try to convince others not to eat them?
> Well, if they ask me my opinion, I'll try to spare them the pain of
> discovering they don't like them either.
>
> What confuses me is why people take umbrage at my statement of my
> opinion. It burns my butt. Some people like red cars, others like
> blue ones. Some people like this kind of welder, others like some
> other kind. Some people try to rationalize their opinions in some
> way, others just acknowledge that it's a preference without bothering
> to find a rationalization. However, I don't represent any
> organization, I don't claim to be an expert any more than my stated
> experience allows, and even so people get on my rear telling me what
> my opinion should be.
>
> One extremely common example of this is cars. People research their
> cars, and then buy the one that fits them best, assuming they can
> afford to have that choice. The reality is, _IF_ they have the luxury
> of choosing their car (they're buying new, and can afford anything
> they are browsing) their choice is almost completely made by intuition
> and then they invent criteria which make that choice seem to be the
> best one. My first new car was a VW Jetta. I wanted one, and then
> went through the market driving everything in its class, in one class
> above and one class below just to be thorough. I then went back to
> get my Jetta -- the first choice, before I even researched. I had all
> sorts of reasons by the time I got done, including acceleration and
> stopping distance and a dozen other things. Years later I was able to
> admit that that's the car I wanted, and by then my preferences had
> changed markedly. Now, at the top of my list is to have a car I can
> actually fit into without tilting my head to one side.
>
> When I got my most recent car, I just had a couple requirements. I
> looked at the field, drove them because it's fun driving new cars, and
> then picked one I liked. I don't need a justification for something I
> realize is largely intuitive and aesthetic. I think most people do
> the same thing. They want to believe they made the best choice, so
> they invent all sorts of reasons why.
>
> So we wind up with a consumer population divided into some number of
> camps, and that number generally is identical with the number of
> available options. Ford, Chevy, Chrysler, BMW, Mercedes.... In each
> case, there is somebody who did a lot of research for their own uses
> and then broadcast their opinion as much as possible, and you get a
> community of people who liked the taste of that kool-aid. Most of
> these guys think the way they do because somebody they know thinks
> that way and "did the research." Bob cares a lot about this and did
> all that research, so he must be right. The thing is, when Bob did
> his research he was thinking of his priorities and not yours. And
> when he gets it wrong and you spent $30k on a car that doesn't suit
> you, you accept that it was a good choice anyway because if you had
> gotten something else it would be worse. When I say I'm not going to
> use push pull cables on my own hovercraft, everybody gets into an
> international debate about it. WTF?
Ya but what about the drag race!! You might win if ya put on some push
pull cables!! I'm kidding I'm kidding Hee. So not to get your goat or
anything one thing I did think of seriously is a push pull for your
variator control lever then you could mount it wherever you wanted it,
just a thought.
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