You quite sure you aint one of those rocket scientist fellas?

Immortalist

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Mar 13, 2010, 9:50:03 PM3/13/10

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Just wondering what that was. Is it some kind of stereotype used to
derogate people who know more than others?

---------------------------

It is interesting that Thales has both stories told about his great
practical skills and also about him being an unworldly dreamer.
Aristotle, for example, relates a story of how Thales used his skills
to deduce that the next season's olive crop would be a very large one.
He therefore bought all the olive presses and then was able to make a
fortune when the bumper olive crop did indeed arrive. On the other
hand Plato tells a story of how one night Thales was gazing at the sky
as he walked and fell into a ditch. A pretty servant girl lifted him
out and said to him "How do you expect to understand what is going on
up in the sky if you do not even see what is at your feet". As
Brumbaugh says, perhaps this is the first absent-minded professor
joke!

http://phoenicia.org/thales.html

Rod Speed

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Mar 13, 2010, 10:53:56 PM3/13/10

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Immortalist wrote:

> Just wondering what that was.

Stoppit at once. That sort of thing inevitably
produces tears before bed time, stupid.

> Is it some kind of stereotype used to derogate
> people who know more than others?

Nope.

>reams of your crap that has nothing to do with rocket science flushed where it belongs>

bigfl...@gmail.com

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Mar 13, 2010, 11:04:34 PM3/13/10

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> >reams of your crap that has nothing to do with rocket science flushed where it belongs>- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Why dont you get together and record "Me And My Shadow"..

BOfL

David Spain

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Mar 13, 2010, 11:09:13 PM3/13/10

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Anyone else get the feeling you're late to this party?
Excessive cross-posts elided....

Dave

Jorge R. Frank

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Mar 13, 2010, 11:30:58 PM3/13/10

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David Spain wrote:
> Anyone else get the feeling you're late to this party?
> Excessive cross-posts elided....

I get the feeling I was late to the party but didn't really miss anything.

These types of threads I usually just KF. This one goes in the KF right
after I hit send on this reply.

Rod Speed

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Mar 14, 2010, 12:02:36 AM3/14/10

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bigfl...@gmail.com wrote

> Rod Speed <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote
>> Immortalist wrote

>>> Just wondering what that was.

>> Stoppit at once. That sort of thing inevitably
>> produces tears before bed time, stupid.

>>> Is it some kind of stereotype used to derogate
>>> people who know more than others?

>> Nope.

>> <reams of your crap that has nothing to do with rocket science flushed where it belongs>

> Why dont you get together and record "Me And My Shadow"..

Why dont you go and fuck yourself, again.

Message has been deleted

Pat Flannery

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Mar 14, 2010, 10:34:40 AM3/14/10

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On 3/13/2010 6:50 PM, Immortalist wrote:
On the other
> hand Plato tells a story of how one night Thales was gazing at the sky
> as he walked and fell into a ditch. A pretty servant girl lifted him
> out and said to him "How do you expect to understand what is going on
> up in the sky if you do not even see what is at your feet".

Thales just laughed as he had been getting a great view up her dress
from down there in the ditch.

Pat

Robert Bannister

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Mar 14, 2010, 8:16:52 PM3/14/10

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I wonder how the attractiveness of the servant or even the fact that she
was female added to the story.

--

Rob Bannister