I just had to promote this to the top level of the blog.
If you remember, way back in December, I posted something about Sal Cordova's new blog. (As an interesting sidenote, Sal started his blog after
supposedly resigning from Uncommon Descent, claiming that he was returning to school, and that the evil darwinists would sabotage his academic career if he
continued to be associated with UnD. But of course, now, he's back with
the UnDs.)
Anyway... I was mocking him because on his blog he was posting something about how math and physics were going to prove his young-earth creation rubbish. What I mocked was that he posted what he called "fundamental theorems of intelligent design". These consisted of a couple of equations without bothering to tell you what the symbols in those equations meant.
He also babbled about fourier transforms - copying and pasting equations
from wikipedia, again without bothering to define anything (and in fact, copying
and pasting the wrong equation.)
Sal showed up to "defend" himself, rather poorly. Then he disappeared. The
comment thread died out on December 20th of last year.
There was no activity at all on the thread until March, when two pretty random
comments were posted. And then, again, silence.
Until April 2nd. On April 2nd, Sal showed up again, and posted a comment. More than three months after his last appearance on the blog; more than three months since the comment thread ended; more than one month since the last comment of any kind.
Then, on April 4th at 8am, Sal posted a comment over at Uncommon Descent,
in which he declared victory: "Look at the very end of that blog at Mark Chu'- Log. I posted right there in hostile territory on April 2, 2008. Did you notice no one offered a rebuttal?".
Yes, this is the Uncommon Descent version of victory. You make an idiotic mistake, make a fool of yourself trying to defend it, wait four months to post a reply comment to a thread that no one has looked at for months, and less than two days later, crow about how no one dared to offer a rebuttal.
Of course, now there are multiple rebuttals. But even if no one had
bothered to reply at all - the simple fact of the matter is that this is a perfect demonstration of the typical tactics of the UD folks. Don't engage in real
debates. Don't have real discussions. But find ways to misquote people,
to pretend, to create a fake victory. Truth doesn't matter. What matters
is whether you trick people. The fact that Sal posted something absolutely
mind-boggling stupid on his blog - that means absolutely nothing in Sal's world. The fact that he still doesn't have any clue about what he was talking about
all those months ago, then he never managed to come within miles of making
a coherent point - that means nothing in Sal's world.
What matters is winning - where winning is defined in the shallowest possible
way. Let months go by, post something in a months-old comment thread, and then wait less than two days before you crow about how no one could rebut you. That's Sal's idea of victory. Not winning an argument; not doing an experiment; not
proving a point; no... victory is a trick.
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Mark -
Your link in the first para links back to the article it is in rather than the one in December that I think you intended.
DG
Dave:
Thanks for catching that. It's fixed.
Man, I remember that! Sal is such a cheap bastard.
Remember, IDiots only care about striking poses, the sole purpose of which is to be seen by sympathetic viewers. "Victory" is totally irrelevant -- what matters only is the appearance of victory, as seen through the narrow frame they provide to a uninformed audience.
And he's still calling you "Mark Chu". It's like he judges the worth of a statement not by its actual truthfulness or anything, but by how well it "strikes a nerve".
Slimy bastard.
Are you sure Cordova didn't use his sabbatical from blogtopia to spend a few months heading the National Security Council team assigned to crafting "victory" strategies for the Middle East?
If there were no Slimey Sal, we would be forced to invent him. But I think it may be time to call for help for him... he keeps getting creepier as time goes by, sinking deeper and deeper into his sliminess. I know you can dial 911 for most emergencies, but what to do you dial for someone posting Excessive Tard?
And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why we do not accept a debate with Duane Gish.
Or, for that matter, Christopher Hitchens.
At least Hitchens can turn a phrase. :)
There, fixed it for you.
What I find most amazing (in a sad, but mildly amusing way), is that Cordova is just now learning (or trying to learn) introductory physics -- but he's already convinced (has "faith"?) that this physics (which he is barely beginning to understand) is wrong. What astounding arrogance! (Which is compounded by the fact that he's clearly not even one of the brighter students in freshman physics . . . )