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For those not familiar with RobotRollCall (the author of the linked comment) check out his profile and other answers. He is one of the best contributors to AskS
by chime 16y ago
For those not familiar with RobotRollCall (the author of the linked comment) check out his profile and other answers. He is one of the best contributors to AskScience and can explain almost any theoretical physics topic in understandable terms. People joke that he is actually Neil deGrasse Tyson and that he should really get this own column / talk show.
- jimmyjim 16y agoShe is one of the best contributors to AskScience
- robertk 16y agoWho is she?
- JacobAldridge 16y agoAs far as I could tell from that conversation, she is anonymous and wants to stay that way. So RRC could be somebody massively well-known in the science world using this as a non-tenure approved outlet, or is masquerading as knowledgeable but is a patent clerk with no scientific credibility.
- kenjackson 16y agoor is masquerading as knowledgeable but is a patent clerk with no scientific credibility. It appears that these patent clerks with no scientific credibility are some of the few great things the patent office has bestowed upon us.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- syllogism 16y agoI don't think anyone could claim she's "masquerading" as knowledgeable, regardless of what (if any) formal education she's had.
- neutronicus 16y agoIt's a joke. Einstein was a patent clerk.
- tastybites 16y agohttp://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10943 http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10943 This is the person who jumped to mind first.
- mazsa 16y agoHe is Brian Greene http://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Cosmos-Space-Texture-Reality/dp/0375727205 http://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Cosmos-Space-Texture-Reality/dp... (Cf. Index: 'speed of light', p.564), at least in this context:)
- mistermann 16y agoHow do you know?
- mazsa 16y agoI mean, maybe it is a dog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_youre_a_dog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_y... who is paraphrasing Greene:) But who cares? It is Greene "at least in this context".
- nandemo 16y agoMeta-comment: I often see the above pattern on HN. Someone writes a very informative comment with a minor inaccuracy. Someone replies to it only to correct that inaccuracy. The reply then gets way more upvotes than the original comment. I don't particularly care about "karma", so what bothers me is not that the original commenter didn't get enough points, but rather what people in the community think it's important in a conversation.
- ryanjmo 16y agoI think the point that it was a she and not he is particularly important. I also think the point that the original commenter missed this point is particularly important. Knowing the HN community, that is the reason why the comment got voted up.
- langarto 16y agoI think the point that it was a she and not he is particularly important Why? I don't see why it should be relevant at all!
- petsos 16y agoIt may not be important by itself, but it is important to be right. Her nationality may also not be relevant but if someone writes that she is Chinese and she is actually Russian (example), it is important that it gets corrected.
- fedd 16y agois she Russian? :)
- tesseract 16y agoFortunately this is not a common scenario, because the nature of the English language doesn't make it easy to inadvertently imply that someone is Chinese, Russian, or indeed any nationality at all. (I am aware that singular 'they' is grammatical. Doesn't stop it from sounding really awkward when the referent is a specific individual.)
- kayoone 16y agoWhy ? Someone states its Brian Greene in the comments => http://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Cosmos-Space-Texture-Reality/dp/0375727205 http://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Cosmos-Space-Texture-Reality/dp... because that passage is actually in there somewhere.
- giardini 16y agoHow do we know whether RobotRollCall is a woman or a man?
- wnoise 16y agoVery understandable explanations -- unfortunately sometimes misleading explanations.
- ars 16y agoSometimes? Judging by the number of bewildered comments here I would say everytime!
- cuchoperl 16y agoI would really like to see RobotRollCall in the Khan Academy.
- tptacek 16y agoThis is also a great one: http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/flzut/i_have_some_questions_about_the_big_bang/c1ho3ao?context=3 http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/flzut/i_have_som... More of her best-of comments would be most welcome. And, MORE THREADS LIKE THIS PLEASE.