…and this is a 
The most important battle in the history of mankind!
Category: Creationism • Kooks • Stupidity • Weirdness
Posted on: April 25, 2007 6:00 AM, by PZ Myers
A bit more than a week ago, I mentioned this interview I did for a site called One Blog A Day. The comment thread on the interview has grown in a peculiar way — John A. Davison and his pet sycophantic monkey, VMartin, are babbling away in a most painfully lunatic fashion, cruelly egged on by wÒÓ†. It's hard to beat this comment for delusions of grandeur:
Martin and myself are waging a very effective war against the forces of darkness on both sides of this idiotic debate, sides which are dead wrong and always have been. Our success is measured directly by the extent to which we share bannishmnet and ridicule by those same factions we have exposed as charlatans, as "prescribed" victims of their fates to be mindless spokespersons of ideologies devoid of rational foundation.
We are currently involved in the most important battle in the history of mankind which is our purpose in the infinite scheme of things. Martin and I represent the forces of reason and sanity in a world which has been and continues to be destroyed by the forces of evil, ignorance, and irreversible compulsive auto-destruction which characterizes the present intellectual scenario dominated as it is by atheists like Dawkins and Meyers on the one hand and Baptist bible-banging Christians like Dembski on the other.
You really don't want to miss it. Two guys on a blog talking to themselves are fighting the most important battle in the history of mankind! They're doing it while wÒÓ† is goosing them with a virtual cattleprod, and most of their 'battle' consists of whining and bluster and wondering if wÒÓ† is me (he isn't, sorry) but did you hear? It is the most important battle in the history of mankind! I hadn't even noticed until now, and unfortunately I have to go get on an airplane to Boston instead of joining the battle…but I'm sure it will still be sitting there in all its futile glory when I get back.
Comments
Our success is measured directly by the extent to which we share bannishmnet and ridicule...
"Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo it is not enough that you be persecuted by an unkind establishment, you must also be right." -- Robert Park
Posted by: hyperdeath.co.uk | April 25, 2007 6:13 AM
I like how John Davison uses a quote by himself to end his emails. He could have chosen a quote from any of the great wits of history, but obviously decided that his words were smarter.
"I am but a man, though history shall know me as a giant. I'm not so smart, though others may think me a genius" (Christian J Burnham, 2007)
Posted by: Christian Burnham | April 25, 2007 6:31 AM
fuck me stupid - that is the weirdest sequence of comments I've read. wOOt did do well, but never got anything in response apart from John Davidson and sometimes VMartin beating their chests and encouraging each other.
But why Oh Mr Pharyngula Z Meyers [sic] did you so cowardly not notice them before? Huh?
Posted by: Andrew | April 25, 2007 6:33 AM
Actually, on further thought, the whole bizarre thread reminds me of an episode from "Pinky and the Brain" - starring VMartin as Pinky and John A Davison as the Brain.
J.A.D: "After dealing with my arch nemesis P.Z Myers today Pinky, tomorrow we shall RULE THE WORLD!!!! Now we just have to wait for him to show up."
VMartin: "Yes! Sorry - What?"
Posted by: Andrew | April 25, 2007 6:42 AM
Wow, John Davison is a study in narcissism. He goes on and on about how he's a PhD and retired professor and how important his work is and how anyone who disagrees with him is his intellectual inferior. He seems to think that P. Zizzy is obsessed with him and his trenchant insights into genetics.
"I am but a man, though history shall know me as a giant. I'm not so smart, though others may think me a genius" (Christian J Burnham, 2007)
Posted by: Christian Burnham | April 25, 2007 6:44 AM
I'm still waiting for more info on cane toads. =\
Posted by: Heathen Dan | April 25, 2007 6:57 AM
Pinky and the Brain below by the way. Second episode is based around Minnesota.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xayMjBqjl58
Posted by: Andrew | April 25, 2007 6:59 AM
So their best tactic to get their message across is to be prevented from getting their message across?
Posted by: Ex-drone | April 25, 2007 6:59 AM
It is pointless to try to engage someone on the merits of their ideas when they can't even consistently demonstrate basic competency in their native language. Unless of course these clowns happen to be non native speakers of the Anglo Saxon vernacular.
Posted by: Fernando Magyar | April 25, 2007 7:25 AM
Nothing funnier than an egotistical moron. VMartin and John A. D. fit the bill nicely.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | April 25, 2007 8:11 AM
VMartin is Czech, a constant reminder that stupidity is not limited to the USA.
Posted by: David Marjanović | April 25, 2007 8:23 AM
By drawing attention to their inane comments you merely demonstrate the truth of their supposed importance. Fortunately, I will still not have to struggle to forget they exist.
Posted by: John Vreeland | April 25, 2007 8:49 AM
CB, for some reason, your second sig/self-quote cracked me up entirely... Seems, just like JAD's thing, it really does get a bit funnier with repetition.
(Within reasonable limits, I expect... I found JAD's thing did get tedious sometime around post 15).
Others have seen so far only by standing on my shoulders. And man, are my shoulders sore. --AJ Milne, 2007
Posted by: AJ Milne | April 25, 2007 8:50 AM
I read down to the part where Davison said that god is dead but must once have existed, and quoted Nietszche for support. Talk about misunderstanding an author.
God that man is both stupid and insane.
Posted by: Ric | April 25, 2007 8:56 AM
I like the way the man with about half of the 170 posts and a self-referential signature quote refers to PZ as "arrogant and pompous."
Posted by: Dono | April 25, 2007 9:00 AM
It sure is fun to be the leader of a band!
Even if there is only one other person in it ... and he's playing a kazoo ...
Posted by: John Pieret | April 25, 2007 9:27 AM
Otherwise known as the "they laughed at Einstein" defense. Yeah, well, they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
Posted by: tsg | April 25, 2007 9:31 AM
Puts me in mind of this Woody Allen exchange in the old Casino Royale.
The Detainer: "You're crazy. You are absolutely crazy!"
Jimmy Bond: "People called Einstein crazy."
The Detainer: "That's not true. No one ever called Einstein crazy."
Jimmy Bond: "Well, they would have if he'd carried on like this."
Posted by: furly | April 25, 2007 9:43 AM
Christian: That's pretty good, but you have to add an exclamation before every sig.
Hot dog!
Einstein did the best he could, but the Theory of Relativity is laughable from a scientific viewpoint. (dorkafork, 2007)
Posted by: dorkafork | April 25, 2007 10:26 AM
The real question of course is, when will Davidson fill up oneblogaday, forcing them to abandon it a start a whole new blog?
Posted by: MikeJ | April 25, 2007 10:30 AM
Cane toads! Cane toads a-comin'...
Cane toads are evidence of abiogenesis!
They appeared in Australia
Right out of thin air!
One day there weren't any!
One day they were there!
[Note: It must have been "thin air" because a cane toad is way too big to fit into a jar of peanut butter.]
"Look, mommie! Doggie!" (Kseniya, 1987)
Posted by: Kseniya | April 25, 2007 10:31 AM
I love it when comments stray off-topic.
"Okay, we should charge blindly at the enemy until they die of natural causes. Remember to stay clumped together, so that a single grenade can kill all of us." Baratos
Posted by: Baratos | April 25, 2007 10:48 AM
You missed the even better next section from the comment:
There is now and never was a place for any philosophy in the pursuit of the truth. It has always been independent of dogma and perspective, just waiting to be discovered.
No room for philosophy in the pursuit of truth my ass, all pursuits of truth are based on philosophy. The *idea* of truth is based on philosophical thought.
I guess they're too busy fighting the (most important) battle (in the history of mankind) to go learn anything.
Posted by: Coathangrrr | April 25, 2007 10:48 AM
I like this by JAD:
Coming from someone whose main "arguments" for his claptrap is bad philosophy and mangled "philosophical" quotes (Bartlett's in most cases--he can't even research quotes with any competence), Davison's is perhaps as great a self-blindness as we have seen in these contests.
Of course the fact that he has essentially no understanding of the philosophy that he misuses leaves him believing that he's only dealing in truth, not anything that should be discussed, nor, heaven forfend, established in any meaningful way.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/35s39o
Posted by: Glen Davidson | April 25, 2007 10:49 AM
These guys are Just. Too. Damn. Stupid.
"Hard a starboard, Kif, full impulse. First stop, The Squid Worlds of Gliese 581. Then, The Universe!" (stogoe, 2007)
Posted by: stogoe | April 25, 2007 11:30 AM
"irreversible compulsive auto-destruction"
Yikes. I feel like hitting my car with a stick, but once I start I know I won't be able to stop...
Posted by: les | April 25, 2007 11:45 AM
"Careful, Kseniya--that's how Mr. Raven's superpower got started." (RavenT, 2007)
Posted by: RavenT | April 25, 2007 11:48 AM
non way i am the god of tomorrow the fate. the important batttle of mankind is the battle of caesar va the helvetii. .. if no caesar against the helvetii then everyone speak mongolian. errr... somethin;
Posted by: drunkmikeinjapan | April 25, 2007 12:02 PM
There's a PZ FAN CLUB??! Why didn't anyone tell me? Where do I join the Sycophantic Horde? Do I get a cool cephalapod t-shirt?
Posted by: Kilted_Dad | April 25, 2007 12:17 PM
** laughs merrily **
Thanks, Raven. :-D
Posted by: Kseniya | April 25, 2007 12:37 PM
Whatever the shortcomings of their theories, L.S. Berg and Otto Schindewolf were really smart guys and don't deserve to be posthumously associated with the ramblings of those two admirers.
Posted by: Colugo | April 25, 2007 12:41 PM
Ah, the joy of JAD!
Ah, the joy of JAD! - Bob O'H, 2007
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | April 25, 2007 12:56 PM
...
...
I wish someone would write a book about the collective nuttiness of some of these anti-evolution flamers. Maybe a sort of Dave Barry/Bill Bryson tour of them and their ideas. Call it something like "Seplling is Optoinal."
I'm reading that thread and at one place I find four consecutive comments (#81-84) by Davison. Jeez.
There was a lot of taunting of Dawkins by Davison, betting that he wouldn't show up for the O'Reilly show (which we know he did). In comment #109 Davison refers to Richard Dawkins as a "cowardly sociopath." That was so weirdly comical I almost blew coffee out of my nose.
Overall, though, the comment thread made me a bit uncomfortable. In the arena of scientific ideas, I know flawed assertions have to be taken at face value and dealt with head-on. And ... I know a blogger can't necessarily ban someone just for being a nut. But eventually, Davison comes off as someone suffering a mental decline.
Made me sad.
...
...
Posted by: Hank Fox | April 25, 2007 1:02 PM
I like the wÒÓ part of wÒÓ†. This seems to me a great visual indicator of "angry woo", as the two accents look like great angry eyebrows.
The GFY thing in that thread there was a bit funny. I can't honestly say I recall that ever having stood for "good for you". Pretty plain what it is in general usage with GFY thrown into a Google search :)
People used to get schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder mixed up in the common understanding, so let's add in multiple personality disorder as well! Whee!
All the while ranting about how cowardly Alan Fox wouldn't be able to handle an interview and steadfastly refusing to give summaries of his points, directing people to his papers and not being happy about the "Inquisition style interrogation".
...but he did! Wait, alter ego? Are PZ and Dawkins actually just two faces of the Meta-Pope of Darwinism?
*rant* *foam* *spittle*
No, I won't, and neither will anyone else with two neurons to rub together.
*zombie chants* I love it so... I love it so... I love it so...
You should have marked that thread with four moons and three black helicopters for the lunacy and persecution complex rating involved. Now that I've read the thread and suffered the consequences, I'm sure the recovery will require therapy of some sort.
(Even if it is just an ice cream treat from Dairy Queen)
Posted by: Ritchie Annand | April 25, 2007 1:15 PM
And here the headline had me all drooling for the final showdown between Cthulu and Glorificus.
Posted by: Mark | April 25, 2007 1:16 PM
@Ex-drone (#8): Precisely. And when absolutely nobody is listening to their silly garbage any more, their triumph will be complete!
Posted by: K. Signal Eingang | April 25, 2007 1:49 PM
And their best tactic to become popular is to become unpopular.
"I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, which I disgustedly throw back into the great ocean before me." (T Larsson, 2007)
Posted by: Torbjörn Larsson | April 25, 2007 2:27 PM
In keeping with the overall theme, I suggest the banana split.
LOL!
"Mommie, look! Doggie!"
Posted by: Kseniya | April 25, 2007 2:32 PM
drunkmikeinjapan:
Clearly, Caesar won, and that's why Times New Roman is more popular than Helvetica.
I'm on TV! (B Stacey, 2007)
Posted by: Blake Stacey | April 25, 2007 2:52 PM
I'm confused.
I post as David A. Johnson in the thread. I try to spoof him as closely as possible, thinking that he'll see this as a grand conspiracy by P.Z. or his Sycophantic Horde&trade to discredit him.
His response:
I'm speechless. He's either playing along, or he cannot recognize a parody of himself. Normally, I'd choose the former, but given Davidson's nuttiness I'm not so sure.
Posted by: RCP | April 25, 2007 3:09 PM
I can't shake the sneaking suspicion that both VMartin and John A. Davison are actually the creation of some brilliant but twisted graduate student in computer-science/artificial intelligence, who has created something that almost passes the Turing Test. I mean, c'mon.. these two are way too dumb and way too repetitive- they both sound impressively like "eliza".
Posted by: sphex | April 25, 2007 3:45 PM
wÒÓ† is an academic in one of the biosciences, in Texas somewhere. Used to be a frequent poster over at Eschaton, where s/he is famous for posting links to pictures of boobies (but never tits, I might add).
Posted by: Tlazolteotl | April 25, 2007 4:03 PM
Hoo, what a time-waster THAT was.
Which is interesting, because Davison neither rates at all in the top Google hits, nor does said cracker jack rate his own Wiki/answers.com page.
Judging from his solipsism, he'll cry 'Unsung heroes!', no doubt.
Posted by: Krystalline Apostate | April 25, 2007 4:54 PM
CHARGE!
Posted by: Chad | April 25, 2007 4:58 PM
You gotta love this VMartin guy...
Posted by: Skeptic | April 25, 2007 5:00 PM
wow...i went all through that thing, and even as a non-scientist i can smell the BS that guy was dropping, bobbing and weaving in a stiff, old-man way, gumpily accusing others of incompetence or hate or whatever while waving his cane vaguely at them. my goodness.
"I am teh greetest!"
-garth, 2007
Posted by: garth | April 25, 2007 5:33 PM
one thought. that dude JAD may define the word "coot". as in, "crazy old coot! he forgot his pants again!"
Posted by: garth | April 25, 2007 5:47 PM
:-o
Please tell me which posts are by you, so that I don't shoot at strawmen or can at least find out if I've already done that. There is, after all, no way for me to tell.
Posted by: David Marjanović | April 25, 2007 6:29 PM
Re; #40
I remeber eliza as being overly concern in how you felt about things. I suppose a GFY every 4th response would have been... interesting
Posted by: Don Smith, FCD | April 25, 2007 6:32 PM
Posted by: Krystalline Apostate | April 25, 2007 6:34 PM
Geez...
remeber -> remember
concern -> concerned
Posted by: Don Smith, FCD | April 25, 2007 6:35 PM
Argh. Too stupid to read. Can't tell John A. Davison and David A. Johnson apart.
The former's reaction is really beyond stupidity, however.
Posted by: David Marjanović | April 25, 2007 6:37 PM
Boobie
Tit
Posted by: Don Smith, FCD | April 25, 2007 6:52 PM
Thanks, Mr. Smith. I'd thought it was about...anatomy. (hehehehe).
Posted by: Krystalline Apostate | April 25, 2007 8:53 PM
All i can say is the amount of sheer headed stupidity on that thread is downright amazing.
Posted by: ike | April 25, 2007 9:03 PM
(º)(º)
Posted by: w°º† | April 25, 2007 9:08 PM
Damn, I wish I had enough time to write a Conservapedia entry about this important battle. Someone else do it, it'll be funny.
Thanks, Dustin, for being a dick. -Stogoe, August 27, 2006
Posted by: Dustin | April 25, 2007 10:16 PM
Oh, no. Don't tell me that this thread too is going to run and run! JAD seems like a self-replenshing source of comedy, so I'm not too worried. It's a bit of a pity that he can't post on this page, or else we could really set the record for the longest thread ever.
I like cake!
"I am but a man, though history shall know me as a giant. I'm not so smart, though others may think me a genius" (Christian J Burnham, 2007)
Posted by: Christian Burnham | April 25, 2007 10:23 PM
If one strictly applied the Galileo test to Galileo, he'd flunk.
Times Roman won out over Helvetica because Helvitica is butt ugly. (Alan Kellogg 04/25/2007)
Posted by: Alan Kellogg | April 25, 2007 11:28 PM
Great how a thread about PZ has descended to a level of idiocy thanks to the dedication of JAD and his side-kick. I was amused by the way that JAD attacks
Falan when he turns up - Alan always makes such an attempt to be reasonable.I love it so!
PZ has descended into idiocy - Bob O'H, 2007
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | April 26, 2007 2:15 AM
A few comments farther down, he does pay P.Z. Myers a sort of compliment:
......................
John A. Davison Says:
This thead isn't even about us Martin. It is about constantly ejaculating P.Z. Meyers
.............................
Even Ron Jeremy can't achieve such athletic prowess "constantly"!
Bravo.
Posted by: Tom Buckner | April 26, 2007 5:11 AM
Nobody gets to quote me, Dustin, nobody!
Kif, I have made it with a woman. Inform the crew. (stogoe, I mean Zapp Brannigan)
Posted by: Stogoe | April 26, 2007 8:04 AM
Are Martin and Davison really just the same person?
Just reading the posts, I'm starting to think they are.
It's a sort of Smeagol/Gollum thing. And I don't really mean that in a nice way.
Posted by: MikeM | April 26, 2007 4:30 PM
I'm glad that people are occasionally keeping this thread alive, as it reminds me to check the comment thread at One Blog a Day, and sure enough, they're still at it. I highly recommend comment 271. Is VMartin actually singing to Davison, or is someone here playing a cruel joke?
I love it so!
Posted by: kmarissa | April 26, 2007 4:40 PM
VMartin was banned from Pharyngula for being a relentless Davison mouthpiece. We believe it has been conclusively demonstrated that that he is not merely a Davison sockpuppet. But who really knows?
Posted by: Kseniya | April 26, 2007 5:13 PM
JAD is still there and still posting. Bless his cotton socks.
We all have our favorite bits of comedy, but I like it when he talks about publishing his evolutionary manifesto in Czeck
I like cake!
"I am but a man, though history shall know me as a giant. I'm not so smart, though others may think me a genius" (Christian Burnham 2007)
Posted by: Christian Burnham | April 26, 2007 8:25 PM
I want my own pet sycophantic monkey. Where can I get one?
Stop doing that to your brother right now! Carlie, 2007
Posted by: Carlie | April 26, 2007 8:32 PM
Have you tried getting a dog, or a graduate student?
Posted by: Christian Burnham | April 26, 2007 8:42 PM
I wish. My school has no graduate program in biology [pout]. Maybe I can borrow one of the computer science grad students.
Posted by: Carlie | April 26, 2007 9:20 PM
Just make sure you get a collar which provides a snug fit around the graduate. Also remember to apply flea-killer monthly. You don't know where they've been.
I like cake!
"I am but a man, though history shall know me as a giant. I'm not so smart, though others may think me a genius (Christian Burnham 2007)
Posted by: Christian Burnham | April 26, 2007 9:32 PM
It grows, and grows, and grows
Posted by: Skeptic | April 27, 2007 9:27 AM
:-o
And here was I, wallowing in ignorance, believing the Great Cthulhu would just so take over. Who, pray tell, is Glorificus!?!
Posted by: David Marjanović | April 29, 2007 6:27 PM
David: That Which Cannot Be Named
Posted by: Kseniya | April 29, 2007 9:25 PM