Sorry Mr Oldbie, but I have a friend who went through the whole gamut of the Peter W Belt cesspool of "Eddy current neutralisers" and various sorts of snake oil products.
Many years ago I bought the Bedini Clarifier (hand held version) to prove to a friend the level people stoop, to make money out of gullible fools.
Many years ago I bought the Bedini Clarifier (hand held version) to prove to a friend the level people stoop, to make money out of gullible fools.
Such an obvious,marked increase in bass should be trivial to measure and record.
How about putting up some real evidence instead of the usual useless, unsubstantiated claims.
Same goes for the blowtorch thread.
Jeff
I wish superstition only existed in the audio world.
Most of the multi billion dollar beauty and cosmetics industry is pure snake-oil, and seems to have been for several thousand years.
Every newspaper I've ever seen publishes an astrology column, and hundreds of millions (maybe several billions?) of people anxiously read their horoscopes every day, or at least, every week.
The majority of people believe in believe in at least some of these: ghosts, goblins, fairies, gods, angels, and devils. All supernatural creatures not bound by the laws of physics. None ever so much as photographed, never mind foot-prints, fur, feathers, scat, or DNA.
Just about everybody believes in "luck". But what the heck is luck, really? How does it work? Who is the invisible supernatural agency responsible for dispensing it? We never even stop to ask those questions.
I've tried to avoid superstitious beliefs all my adult life (and much of my childhood), and yet, it was only recently that it dawned on me that the entire concept of "luck" is superstitious, too. Many times I've wished a friend "Good luck!" when he or she was headed for a job interview, or about to take a difficult exam. But what magic ju-ju was I actually wishing for them?
We know that the human brain is evolved from a long line of animal brains, most of which operate on instinct rather than any sort of conscious logical thought. We humans (and a few other animals) do have the ability to think logically, to a degree, but for the most part, that is a small and rarely-used part of our brains.
We too run on instinct much of the time, just as a dog or a cat or a horse does. And we have to, because logic and conscious thought is slow and cumbersome compared to instinct; remember when you were learning how to drive, and had to think consciously about it? Remember what a bad driver you were at that stage?
The thing is, instinct does not require logic at all. Evolutionarily speaking, all it requires is a response that keeps you alive. If you jump away when you see a snake in the grass, good. If you also jump away when you see a completely harmless albino lizard, and attribute supernatural powers to it just because it looks paler than other lizards, evolution doesn't care, doesn't punish you for your superstitious belief.
In other words, I think we've evolved to be superstitious. And boy oh boy, are we good at it!
-Gnobuddy
I wish superstition only existed in the audio world.
-Gnobuddy
Me too.
In other words, I think we've evolved to be superstitious. And boy oh boy, are we good at it!
-Gnobuddy
Actually, evolutionary biologists are quite certain of it. Our pattern seeking tendency (it's hard wired) makes our cognitive abilities orders of magnitude more efficient. But obviously, it fools us a lot too, especially if we're not paying attention.
We're basically creatures of instinct with advanced executive function. Some of us rely almost purely on instinct, which will lead us to a whole lot of erroneous conclusions. We all know people like that.
To put it in perspective, domestic housecats have 4% of the executive function that humans do.
I was thinking that just today, I was in my garden, had my mobile with me expecting a call, it was in my pocket, doesn't ring very loudly, which I think is the key factor, so I was listening out for it. In the end it didn't ring but the birds fooled me more than once
I was thinking that just today, I was in my garden, had my mobile with me expecting a call, it was in my pocket, doesn't ring very loudly, which I think is the key factor, so I was listening out for it. In the end it didn't ring but the birds fooled me more than once
I'm of the sort that if I'm doing something around the house, or doing some domestic shopping, I don't carry a phone along with me.
I focus on things at hand.
It sits at home, on the charger, in the kitchen.
When I'm through with whatever I'm doing, there's always that "convenient" thing called an answering machine/voicemail that I can check at my own leisure for messages.
The only time I'll carry it with me is if I'm out with a friend in some store - they go their way, I go mine.
If we get too lost in a big store, it's a way to help find them when I want to leave.
I don't allow myself to be glued to a cellphone, as the general population does, which turns them into zombies.
Then you gotta see this one:
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6moons audio reviews: LessLoss Blackbody
They have the most crazy things I have seen, all in one homepage
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And I thought things were already ridicules, then I saw this: Finite Elemente Pagoda APS Reference Audiophile Amp Stand | Cabinets, Racks & Stands | Gila, New Mexico 88038 | Audiogon
Better hury at $5000 these amp STANDS are gonna go fast!
Better hury at $5000 these amp STANDS are gonna go fast!
Wait theres more: Kemp Elektroniks MAXiiMUS P40 Standalone Field Generator - StereoTimes' Most Wanted Component Award 2016 | AC Distribution | Audiogon
They need to change there name to moneygon.
They need to change there name to moneygon.
Magico now makes som $40000 racks...
Magico Introduces MRACK Audio Equipment Stand | The Absolute Sound
A fascinating field, and one which I never heard of when I was in elementary and middle school. Otherwise I might have chosen to study it.
I was cleaning out our cat's litter-box some twenty years ago when I started thinking about why cats bury their faeces. We've all heard the biologist's opinions, the survival advantages, but the cat doesn't know any of those reasons. So the cat must do it because it feels good. It's obviously not thinking about the benefits, so it's mindless activity that happens to feel good to the cat.
Somewhere along the way, a mutant cat got a few wires crossed in its brain, and as a result, got a little jolt of the reward-neurotransmitter dopamine every time it buried it's own faeces. The survival benefits kept that mutation going, until it took over virtually the entire small African wildcat population (which is what our domestic cats are, I believe.)
And that got me thinking, what wiring is there in my own human brain, that rewards me for my own mindless activities?
That is a fascinating line of thought to pursue. And that's how I first stumbled across the term "evolutionary biology".
So, sometimes, particularly when confronted with some particularly unpleasant, unwise, or repulsive behaviour from my fellow humans, I try to stand aside and watch my own species as it goes about it's daily business, and draw conclusions the same way a biologist observing a new species does.
Harder still is to stand aside from one's own activities, and try to observe them from a dispassionate viewpoint. It doesn't happen often, but it can be very illuminating when it does.
I would say all of us rely purely on instinct most of the time, with the higher executive functions only rarely called upon.
Most human activity has to be instinctual - you cannot think your way from sitting down to standing up, for example. It's far too complex a process, involving far too many muscles, to logically think through. Robotics researchers tried for decades to create a two-legged walking robot using logic before they finally succeed. A newborn horse stands up and walks within half an hour...with no logical thinking involved.
Did you know that there is a statistically higher-than-random chance that you and your wife's names rhyme, or share at least one syllable? Don is more likely to marry Donna than Judy; Judy is more likely to marry Rudy than Thomas.
Even in what we consider one of the most important decisions we make in life (choosing a spouse), instinct drives the decision...
There is a famous human holding high political office whose existence might disprove that assertion.
-Gnobuddy
There is a famous human holding high political office whose existence might disprove that assertion.
-Gnobuddy
At least he doesn't act like he's playing Al Jolson.
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