xcellerate
Tank
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2004
- Messages
- 3,961
- Reaction score
- 1
A Tale of Two Elements:
I don't even remember what we were talking about when my roommate told me that water is the only element that can create life and take it away. Ignoring the fact that water alone does not create life, I told him that water is in fact not an element. To my surprise he corrected me, and went on to enlighten me about the other 3 elements of nature.
I laughed then became scared; did he actually believe this ridiculous poppycock he was spewing forth at me? After I had banged my head against my wall, I told him that none of those were elements, and if he tried to find them on the periodic table he would be hard pressed.
The reason I started this debacle was not because I didn't believe what he was telling me. I knew exactly what he was talking about, it's just I don't believe in that astrology nonsense. My problem lied within his word choice.
How could one man, look at me and tell me that what the world has decided on and accepted as the meaning of 'element' was wrong. At this point it became clear to me, that I was in fact dealing with an idiot. Because he wouldn't agree with me that an element is something that can not be broken down into a simpler substance by normal means, I had to show him.
So we went to dictionary.com and found this, my favorite entry, for 'element." And I quote, "any of the four substances air, water, fire, and earth formerly believed to compose the physical universe." Formerly Believed, FORMERLY BELIEVED, I shouted at him. It was at this point he made me very upset, because right after I shouted at him, he looked at me and said, "Look, let's just agree to disagree."
"NO!" I yelled, "NO! There will be no disagreement, because you sir, are wrong." He proceeded to repeat with every enunciation of my words, "agree to disagree, agree to disagree." This childlike behavior has no place in a room with as much sophistication as mine. "NO! You’re acting like a child, constantly interrupting someone so you don't have to listen to them disprove you further pushes you into your little pit of ignorance." After that, he stood up and told me, quite seriously, that science isn't the only way to understand nature, and left the room to get dinner.
In closing, I will agree that my behavior wasn't perfect. However, when people tell me to agree to disagree it aggravates me to know end. Somebody who says this, either doesn't want to hear your side of the argument or doesn't have anyway to dispute what you have told them. In the first case, the person is closed minded, and in the second they are trying to back out of it and save face when they have lost.
You may need to meet my roommate to understand he never backs up anything he says. Earlier this week when I told him I liked Volkswagens, he told me he liked ford. I asked why, and he told me, "my brother had one and it was pretty quick." Wow. That is just the epitome of assumption right there. Because he had no knowledge about the car other than it was 'pretty quick' he decides in his own mind that it's a good car.
I don't even remember what we were talking about when my roommate told me that water is the only element that can create life and take it away. Ignoring the fact that water alone does not create life, I told him that water is in fact not an element. To my surprise he corrected me, and went on to enlighten me about the other 3 elements of nature.
I laughed then became scared; did he actually believe this ridiculous poppycock he was spewing forth at me? After I had banged my head against my wall, I told him that none of those were elements, and if he tried to find them on the periodic table he would be hard pressed.
The reason I started this debacle was not because I didn't believe what he was telling me. I knew exactly what he was talking about, it's just I don't believe in that astrology nonsense. My problem lied within his word choice.
How could one man, look at me and tell me that what the world has decided on and accepted as the meaning of 'element' was wrong. At this point it became clear to me, that I was in fact dealing with an idiot. Because he wouldn't agree with me that an element is something that can not be broken down into a simpler substance by normal means, I had to show him.
So we went to dictionary.com and found this, my favorite entry, for 'element." And I quote, "any of the four substances air, water, fire, and earth formerly believed to compose the physical universe." Formerly Believed, FORMERLY BELIEVED, I shouted at him. It was at this point he made me very upset, because right after I shouted at him, he looked at me and said, "Look, let's just agree to disagree."
"NO!" I yelled, "NO! There will be no disagreement, because you sir, are wrong." He proceeded to repeat with every enunciation of my words, "agree to disagree, agree to disagree." This childlike behavior has no place in a room with as much sophistication as mine. "NO! You’re acting like a child, constantly interrupting someone so you don't have to listen to them disprove you further pushes you into your little pit of ignorance." After that, he stood up and told me, quite seriously, that science isn't the only way to understand nature, and left the room to get dinner.
In closing, I will agree that my behavior wasn't perfect. However, when people tell me to agree to disagree it aggravates me to know end. Somebody who says this, either doesn't want to hear your side of the argument or doesn't have anyway to dispute what you have told them. In the first case, the person is closed minded, and in the second they are trying to back out of it and save face when they have lost.
You may need to meet my roommate to understand he never backs up anything he says. Earlier this week when I told him I liked Volkswagens, he told me he liked ford. I asked why, and he told me, "my brother had one and it was pretty quick." Wow. That is just the epitome of assumption right there. Because he had no knowledge about the car other than it was 'pretty quick' he decides in his own mind that it's a good car.
