Can anyone explain Thrinaxodon?

[John Harshman]

He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
other much less so. (I will also point out that he has some very odd
expanded processes on his ribs.)

[Robert Carnegie]

That's presumably a different Thrinaxodon - the real one -
and there may be more than one person using the name.
Even using the same computer, or the same user account.

Or, according to Tom Waits - "There ain't no devil,
only God when he's drunk." Maybe one version of
Thrinaxodon is... I'll say medicated.

Or... there's a guy in rec.arts.sf.written who is
sometimes a jerk, and sometimes, well, I suspect he
acts reasonably in order to be a jerk more effectively
when he flips the switch. It takes longer for people
to "get it".

Or.........Obama did it!!!!!!!!! :-)

[Thrinaxodon]

How about this. Have you ever heard, spamming? I do the spamming,
because, I feel, its fun. However, to answer someone's question, what
university. It was, Harvard.

[alextangent]

Did you major in commas?

[wiki trix]

On May 22, 3:02�pm, John Harshman <jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:

> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
> other much less so.

I do the same.

[jillery]

I am somehow reminded of Andy Kaufman.

[Paul J Gans]

Thrinaxodon <biol...@gmail.com> wrote:

As a spammer, you are a failure. You don't even come close.

--
--- Paul J. Gans

[jillery]

Lots of posters do it. Some just don't admit it, or call it something
else.

[Walter Bushell]

In article
<6de7f9d2-af58-478c...@zo5g2000pbb.googlegroups.com>,

It's the human condition. Get anyone on the right|wrong subject and
blam!

--
Gambling with Other People's Money is the meth of the fiscal industry.
me -- in the spirit of Karl and Groucho Marx

[Mitchell Coffey]

Even more so as a Harvard Grad.

Mitchell

[John Harshman]

Which one of yours is the less wacko one?

[wiki trix]

this one

[chris thompson]

On May 22, 3:02�pm, John Harshman <jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:

You are extremely stable. I, for one, have some rather significant
mood swings. I don't think I'm bipolar, but I do have other issues.
But you're right- Thrin seems to post in different personalities. It
might just be a hacker, or it might depend on the chemical substances
he has ingested or not ingested (as needed) at any particular time.

The fact is, I'm too worn out with my own issues to worry about those
of anyone else. And when I did worry about someone else, I was royally
reamed.

Chris

[jillery]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:13 -0700 (PDT), chris thompson
<chris.li...@gmail.com> wrote:

>The fact is, I'm too worn out with my own issues to worry about those
>of anyone else. And when I did worry about someone else, I was royally
>reamed.

I hope you're not thinking of what I think you're thinking of. It
could have as easily turned out differently.

[John S. Wilkins]

Chris was not reamed. And I appreciated the sentiment if not the
execution.
--
John S. Wilkins, Associate, Philosophy, University of Sydney
http://evolvingthoughts.net
But al be that he was a philosophre,
Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre

[Greg Guarino]

On 5/22/2013 3:02 PM, John Harshman wrote:
> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
> other much less so.

Subjective thinking.

Both Platonic Antonymity and Biblical Dualism require that he be either
entirely sane or entirely insane. If you need help with this problem,
please consult with Ray, Stephanus and Ayn Rand's sainted atheist ghost.

[jillery]

On Fri, 24 May 2013 00:58:55 +1000, jo...@wilkins.id.au (John S.
Wilkins) wrote:

>jillery <69jp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:13 -0700 (PDT), chris thompson
>> <chris.li...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >The fact is, I'm too worn out with my own issues to worry about those
>> >of anyone else. And when I did worry about someone else, I was royally
>> >reamed.
>>
>>
>> I hope you're not thinking of what I think you're thinking of. It
>> could have as easily turned out differently.
>
>Chris was not reamed. And I appreciated the sentiment if not the
>execution.

That's the impression I got, but it's not my impression that's
important here.

[Bob Casanova]

On Wed, 22 May 2013 12:02:51 -0700, the following appeared
in talk.origins, posted by John Harshman
<jhar...@pacbell.net>:

>He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
>other much less so. (I will also point out that he has some very odd
>expanded processes on his ribs.)

The whacko one has multiple characters, one of which is a
clone of Ed Conrad. As such, he's taken up residence in my
killfile along with the multiple "real" Eds.
--

Bob C.

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science,
the one that heralds new discoveries, is not
'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"

- Isaac Asimov

[John Harshman]

Brain: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain. But if they called them "sad meals", nobody
would buy them.

[jillery]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 11:29:47 -0700, John Harshman
<jhar...@pacbell.net> wrote:

>Brain: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
>Pinky: I think so, Brain. But if they called them "sad meals", nobody
>would buy them.

I see you're still trying to take over the world, one hallway at a
time.

[Paul J Gans]

wiki trix <wiki...@gmail.com> wrote:

And it is equally unamusing.

[John Harshman]

Narf!

[Paul J Gans]

As to that, no comment... ;-)

[wiki trix]

On May 23, 3:54�pm, Paul J Gans <gan...@panix.com> wrote:

> wiki trix <wikit...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On May 22, 3:02?pm, John Harshman <jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> >> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
> >> other much less so.
> >I do the same.
>
> And it is equally unamusing.

Why would you expect multiple personalities to be amusing?

[jillery]

Perhaps he watched "Me, Myself, and Irene". And multiple
personalities have utility, in keeping each other entertained.

[Tim Anderson]

This might add some information:

http://www.antievolution.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?s=51a1ec586d464934;act=ST;f=14;t=1272;st=18840

[pnyikos]

On May 23, 2:09 pm, Bob Casanova <nos...@buzz.off> wrote:
> On Wed, 22 May 2013 12:02:51 -0700, the following appeared
> in talk.origins, posted by John Harshman

> <jharsh...@pacbell.net>:

>
> >He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
> >other much less so. (I will also point out that he has some very odd
> >expanded processes on his ribs.)
>
> The whacko one has multiple characters, one of which is a
> clone of Ed Conrad.

Well, he sure isn't Ed Conrad himself, unless he's gone really
insane. Ed was a good friend of Ted Holden, and Ted and I were on
very good terms all through the years we interacted, even though we
disagreed on just about every non-personal scientific issue.

Thrinaxodon, on the other hand, even set up a whole thread exactly two
months ago to accuse me of being a troll--in the Subject line and in
the post itself.

[Yes, you know that, but some people reading this might not.]

And he's been attacking me in almost every reply he makes to me.

> As such, he's taken up residence in my
> killfile along with the multiple "real" Eds.

Do you reckon Wretch Fossil was one of the "real" Eds?

Peter Nyikos

[pnyikos]

On May 22, 3:02 pm, John Harshman <jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:

> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
> other much less so.

Unfortunately, the wacko side of him is what we seem to be seeing
more and more of. Until his May 17 meltdown I had hopes that he
would help us make something of sci.bio.paleontology, so I was very
civil towards him despite his obvious animosity towards me. Now he's
more of a handicap than an asset to that newsgroup, and may get to be
as bad for it as Wretch Fossil was.

Do you have any ideas as to his real identity? John Kwok, perhaps?
That would explain both his knowledge of paleobiology and his
animosity towards me.

> (I will also point out that he has some very odd
> expanded processes on his ribs.)

Looks like people took this remark as a sign you weren't looking for
serious answers to "Can anyone explain Thrinaxodon?" and have acted
accordingly.

But back to something on-topic. The Wikipedia entry for the original
Thrinaxodon shows a good photo of the ribs, but two other pictures
make it look like it also has a row of little triangular plates on
its back, like Stegosaurus only much smaller in proportion to its
body. Any idea of what those may be? The artist's conception of what
Thrinaxodon looked like makes no hint of them.

Peter Nyikos

[Thrinaxodon]

I can tell you one thing. I will get back to s.b.p. And, I am not John
Kwok.

[John Harshman]

On 5/28/13 2:56 PM, pnyikos wrote:
> On May 22, 3:02 pm, John Harshman<jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
>> other much less so.
>
> Unfortunately, the wacko side of him is what we seem to be seeing
> more and more of. Until his May 17 meltdown I had hopes that he
> would help us make something of sci.bio.paleontology, so I was very
> civil towards him despite his obvious animosity towards me. Now he's
> more of a handicap than an asset to that newsgroup, and may get to be
> as bad for it as Wretch Fossil was.
>
> Do you have any ideas as to his real identity? John Kwok, perhaps?
> That would explain both his knowledge of paleobiology and his
> animosity towards me.

No.

>> (I will also point out that he has some very odd
>> expanded processes on his ribs.)
>
> Looks like people took this remark as a sign you weren't looking for
> serious answers to "Can anyone explain Thrinaxodon?" and have acted
> accordingly.

Once again you seem to have no idea what people will take or have taken
things for.

> But back to something on-topic. The Wikipedia entry for the original
> Thrinaxodon shows a good photo of the ribs, but two other pictures
> make it look like it also has a row of little triangular plates on
> its back, like Stegosaurus only much smaller in proportion to its
> body. Any idea of what those may be? The artist's conception of what
> Thrinaxodon looked like makes no hint of them.

I have no idea about the plates. I don't know of any therapsids with
osteoderms of any sort. Do you?

[pnyikos]

On May 28, 7:46�pm, John Harshman <jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On 5/28/13 2:56 PM, pnyikos wrote:
>
> > On May 22, 3:02 pm, John Harshman<jharsh...@pacbell.net> �wrote:
> >> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
> >> other much less so.
>
> > Unfortunately, the wacko side of him is what we seem to be seeing
> > more �and more of. �Until his May 17 meltdown I had hopes that he
> > would help us make something of sci.bio.paleontology, so I was very
> > civil towards him despite his obvious animosity towards me. �Now he's
> > more of a handicap than �an asset to that newsgroup, and may get to be
> > as bad for it as Wretch Fossil was.
>
> > Do you have any ideas as to his real identity? �John Kwok, perhaps?

Thrinaxodon said he is not John Kwok, so that gets rid of my best
guess. I originally guessed another paleobiologist with a deep-
seated, one might say paranoid, animosity towards me, who had posted
to talk.origins pretty intensively for a couple of months. However,
Thrinaxodon indicated he was older than this other paleobiologist.

> >> (I will also point out that he has some very odd
> >> expanded processes on his ribs.)

[snip side issue, to be dealt with in talk.origins alone]

> > But back to something on-topic. �The Wikipedia entry for the original
> > Thrinaxodon shows a good photo of the ribs, but two �other pictures
> > make it look like it also has a row of little triangular plates �on
> > its �back, like Stegosaurus only much smaller in proportion to its
> > body. �Any idea of what those may be? �The artist's conception of what
> > Thrinaxodon looked like makes no hint of them.

Looking at the two pictures on the upper right again, it looks like a
double row.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrinaxodon

> I have no idea about the plates. I don't know of any therapsids with
> osteoderms of any sort. Do you?

My use of "plates" might have been misleading, as well as the
reference to Stegosaurus. They are little triangular processes in a
double row that make the fossils look more like those of a medieval
dragon than a dinosaur or therapsid. See those two pictures again. A
fine picture of the ribs is immediately below the lower one.

Peter Nyikos
Professor, Dept. of Mathematics -- standard disclaimer--
University of South Carolina
http://www.math.sc.edu/~nyikos/
nyikos @ math.sc.edu

[Kalkidas]

On Wed, 22 May 2013 12:02:51 -0700, John Harshman
<jhar...@pacbell.net> wrote:

>He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the

>other much less so. (I will also point out that he has some very odd

>expanded processes on his ribs.)

Since neither of the two is interesting, I've used him as an excellent
test author for my kill file.

[John Harshman]

On 5/29/13 12:44 PM, pnyikos wrote:
> On May 28, 7:46 pm, John Harshman<jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>> On 5/28/13 2:56 PM, pnyikos wrote:
>>
>>> On May 22, 3:02 pm, John Harshman<jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>>> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
>>>> other much less so.
>>
>>> Unfortunately, the wacko side of him is what we seem to be seeing
>>> more and more of. Until his May 17 meltdown I had hopes that he
>>> would help us make something of sci.bio.paleontology, so I was very
>>> civil towards him despite his obvious animosity towards me. Now he's
>>> more of a handicap than an asset to that newsgroup, and may get to be
>>> as bad for it as Wretch Fossil was.
>>
>>> Do you have any ideas as to his real identity? John Kwok, perhaps?
>
> Thrinaxodon said he is not John Kwok, so that gets rid of my best
> guess. I originally guessed another paleobiologist with a deep-
> seated, one might say paranoid, animosity towards me, who had posted
> to talk.origins pretty intensively for a couple of months. However,
> Thrinaxodon indicated he was older than this other paleobiologist.

Chalk this up as another thing you aren't very good at.

>>>> (I will also point out that he has some very odd
>>>> expanded processes on his ribs.)
>
> [snip side issue, to be dealt with in talk.origins alone]
>
>>> But back to something on-topic. The Wikipedia entry for the original
>>> Thrinaxodon shows a good photo of the ribs, but two other pictures
>>> make it look like it also has a row of little triangular plates on
>>> its back, like Stegosaurus only much smaller in proportion to its
>>> body. Any idea of what those may be? The artist's conception of what
>>> Thrinaxodon looked like makes no hint of them.
>
> Looking at the two pictures on the upper right again, it looks like a
> double row.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrinaxodon
>
>> I have no idea about the plates. I don't know of any therapsids with
>> osteoderms of any sort. Do you?
>
> My use of "plates" might have been misleading, as well as the
> reference to Stegosaurus. They are little triangular processes in a
> double row that make the fossils look more like those of a medieval
> dragon than a dinosaur or therapsid. See those two pictures again. A
> fine picture of the ribs is immediately below the lower one.

You appear to be talking about two processes on the vertebrae. Is that it?

[pnyikos]

On May 28, 7:46�pm, John Harshman <jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On 5/28/13 2:56 PM, pnyikos wrote:

> > On May 22, 3:02 pm, John Harshman<jharsh...@pacbell.net> �wrote:

Repeating some relevant things from my first, on-topic reply:

> >> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
> >> other much less so.
>
> > Unfortunately, the wacko side of him is what we seem to be seeing
> > more �and more of. �Until his May 17 meltdown I had hopes that he
> > would help us make something of sci.bio.paleontology, so I was very
> > civil towards him despite his obvious animosity towards me. �Now he's
> > more of a handicap than �an asset to that newsgroup, and may get to be
> > as bad for it as Wretch Fossil was.

He replied to this post himself, and said he would be getting back to
s.b.p.

He did, and continued to be as detrimental to it as Wretch Fossil.

> > Do you have any ideas as to his real identity? �John Kwok, perhaps?
> > That would explain both his knowledge of paleobiology and his
> > animosity towards �me.
>
> No.
>
> >> (I will also point out that he has some very odd
> >> expanded processes on his ribs.)
>
> > Looks like people took this remark as a sign you weren't looking for
> > serious answers to "Can anyone explain Thrinaxodon?" and have acted
> > accordingly.
>
> Once again you seem to have no idea what people will take or have taken
> things for.

You are getting those sponges wet again. [That's an allusion to an
Aesop fable about a donkey that was clever, but not clever
enough.]

Can you name anyone posting to this thread who took the issue of
Thrinaxodon's behavior as seriously as I did above? Can you account
for the way so many dodged the issue of what ails him altogether?

If the answer to either of the above is No, how do you explain what
you wrote?

[snip on-topic comments]

Peter Nyikos

[pnyikos]

On May 29, 5:41 pm, John Harshman <jharsh...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On 5/29/13 12:44 PM, pnyikos wrote:
>  > On May 28, 7:46 pm, John Harshman<jharsh...@pacbell.net>  wrote:
>  >> On 5/28/13 2:56 PM, pnyikos wrote:
>  >>
>  >>> On May 22, 3:02 pm, John Harshman<jharsh...@pacbell.net>    wrote:
>  >>>> He seems to have two distinct personalities, one of them wacko, the
>  >>>> other much less so.
>  >>
>  >>> Unfortunately, the wacko side of him is what we seem to be seeing
>  >>> more  and more of.  Until his May 17 meltdown I had hopes that he
>  >>> would help us make something of sci.bio.paleontology, so I was very
>  >>> civil towards him despite his obvious animosity towards me.  Now he's
>  >>> more of a handicap than  an asset to that newsgroup, and may get to be
>  >>> as bad for it as Wretch Fossil was.
>  >>
>  >>> Do you have any ideas as to his real identity?  John Kwok, perhaps?
>  >
>  > Thrinaxodon said he is not John Kwok, so that gets rid of my best
>  > guess.  I originally guessed another paleobiologist with a deep-
>  > seated, one might say paranoid, animosity towards me, who had posted
>  > to talk.origins pretty intensively for a couple of months. However,
>  > Thrinaxodon indicated he was older than this other paleobiologist.
>
> Chalk this up as another thing you aren't very good at.

You mean I shouldn't have taken his word for when he got interested
in paleobiology?

Or do you mean I shouldn't even consider the hypothesis that he is a
paleobiologist I encountered somewhere along the line?

If the answer to both of these is No, you should explain that last
comment before those sponges get any wetter.

>  >>>> (I will also point out that he has some very odd
>  >>>> expanded processes on his ribs.)
>  >
>  > [snip side issue, to be dealt with in talk.origins alone]
>  >
>  >>> But back to something on-topic.  The Wikipedia entry for the original
>  >>> Thrinaxodon shows a good photo of the ribs, but two  other pictures
>  >>> make it look like it also has a row of little triangular plates  on
>  >>> its  back, like Stegosaurus only much smaller in proportion to its
>  >>> body.  Any idea of what those may be?  The artist's conception of what
>  >>> Thrinaxodon looked like makes no hint of them.
>  >
>  > Looking at the two pictures on the upper right again, it looks like a
>  > double row.
>  >
>  >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrinaxodon
>  >
>  >> I have no idea about the plates. I don't know of any therapsids with
>  >> osteoderms of any sort. Do you?
>  >
>  > My use of "plates" might have been misleading, as well as the
>  > reference to Stegosaurus.  They are little triangular processes in a
>  > double row that make the fossils look more like those of a medieval
>  > dragon than a dinosaur or therapsid.  See those two pictures again.  A
>  > fine picture of the ribs is immediately below the lower one.
>
> You appear to be talking about two processes on the vertebrae. Is that it?

That could well be what they are. Like I said, the reproduction on
that Wiki page of what *Thrinaxodon* might have looked like in real
life shows no sign of them.

Peter Nyikos

[John Harshman]

It should be obvious that you aren't very good at guessing who a poster
really is.

>> >>>> (I will also point out that he has some very odd
>> >>>> expanded processes on his ribs.)
>> >
>> > [snip side issue, to be dealt with in talk.origins alone]
>> >
>> >>> But back to something on-topic. The Wikipedia entry for the original
>> >>> Thrinaxodon shows a good photo of the ribs, but two other pictures
>> >>> make it look like it also has a row of little triangular plates on
>> >>> its back, like Stegosaurus only much smaller in proportion to its
>> >>> body. Any idea of what those may be? The artist's conception of what
>> >>> Thrinaxodon looked like makes no hint of them.
>> >
>> > Looking at the two pictures on the upper right again, it looks like a
>> > double row.
>> >
>> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrinaxodon
>> >
>> >> I have no idea about the plates. I don't know of any therapsids with
>> >> osteoderms of any sort. Do you?
>> >
>> > My use of "plates" might have been misleading, as well as the
>> > reference to Stegosaurus. They are little triangular processes in a
>> > double row that make the fossils look more like those of a medieval
>> > dragon than a dinosaur or therapsid. See those two pictures again. A
>> > fine picture of the ribs is immediately below the lower one.
>>
>> You appear to be talking about two processes on the vertebrae. Is that it?
>
> That could well be what they are. Like I said, the reproduction on
> that Wiki page of what *Thrinaxodon* might have looked like in real
> life shows no sign of them.

Presumably because they're processes on the vertebrae, and are covered
by muscles.

[John Harshman]

I'm pretty sure that whatever anyone may have done, and how seriously
they may or may not have taken any issue, my mention of expanded ribs
was not relevant to their behavior. I sincerely hope you will drop all
this. I certainly will.