[TheForge] [YAK OT] BS (Was: Paging Frosty...)

[Mike Spencer]

me> Some years later I showed that slide at a seminar at MIT.  Someone
me> pointed out a blurry object in the forground and asked, "What's that?"
me>
me> "Er, um, well, that's a disintegrating paper bag full of empty
me> evaporated milk cans that has just emerged from the snow."  I should
me> have said, "Oh, that.  That's a Project!"  :-)

frosty> Exactly. Though you may need to come up with a bit of BS
frosty> explanation if somebody gets close enough to identify the
frosty> object(s). For example: that was NOT a disintegrating paper
frosty> bag of evaporated milk cans emerging from the snow. It was an
frosty> experiment in the practical application of an organo-metallic,
frosty> bio-oxidization thermal generation unit for accelerated snow
frosty> liquification as applied to self sustainable rural subsistance
frosty> economics.

frosty> Now, doesn't that sound better? And who in their right mind is
frosty> going to ask another silly question like "what's that"?

Sounds way better But if I were to try that on MIT students, one of
two things would happen:

    Some student would use calculus, tensors, logic, linguistics,
    rocket science, a serving of French fries and half of a broken
    zipper to prove politely but in the most embarassing way possible
    that it was, in fact, BS and that I was a buffoon and a moron.

or

    I would hear, 3 years later, that one of the students had founded
    Armored Cow Dynamics Corporation during his senior year and, based
    on his prototype technology, conveniently called "Organo-Metallic,
    Bio-Oxidization Thermal Generation Accelerated Snow
    Liquification", had received and spent $40 million in start-up
    funds and was about to do a $200 million IPO on the NYSE
    (OMBOT-GASL).

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada 
                                 
mspencer@tallships.ca            
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/