Paul ([info]happyfunpaul) wrote,
@ 2009-03-17 22:14:00
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[links] (request) mad scientist
Odd request, but... there was an online comic I like and thought I'd saved, but apparently didn't. The gist: Most fictional mad "scientists" don't actually do science, with a control sample and whatnot; they're actually engineers or technicians. (And now, by retelling it badly, I've totally killed the joke for any who haven't seen it yet.) Anyway, does anyone have a link to the original?

[Edit: Thanks, folks! Here's a copy, below. It's kind of blurry because... well, actually I'm too tired to figure out why. I'm going to bed, now. :-) Fixed now!]

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(Anonymous)
2009-03-18 02:33 am UTC (link)
http://cowbirdsinlove.com/46

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[info]happyfunpaul
2009-03-18 03:35 am UTC (link)
Yes, that's the one! Thanks.

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(Anonymous)
2009-03-18 12:37 pm UTC (link)
You're welcome. :) It's blurry because you put the wrong URL in the IMG tag; take off the /s320x240 at the end of the SRC attribute. (I wouldn't specify the height and width either... at best it's useless, at worst it makes your browser try to do scaling that you should have done in an image manipulation program.)

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[info]happyfunpaul
2009-03-18 04:17 pm UTC (link)
I didn't choose that URL manually; that's what happened when I let LJ import a picture from a file. I misunderstood and thought that for some reason the pic got (poorly) rescaled automatically when it uploaded; apparently, no, it uploads the image correctly but sticks on that size attribute for no good reason. Huh. Anyway, thanks; fixed now.

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[info]bikergeek
2009-03-18 02:39 am UTC (link)
http://cowbirdsinlove.com/46

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[info]happyfunpaul
2009-03-18 03:35 am UTC (link)
That's the one! Thanks.

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[info]bikergeek
2009-03-18 03:47 am UTC (link)
you're welcome! I found it quickly because I had recently seen it posted in someone's LJ, so I went back there to look for the URL.

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[info]dianec42
2009-03-18 02:52 am UTC (link)
Was it today's Irregular Webcomic! by any chance?

http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2242.html

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[info]happyfunpaul
2009-03-18 03:34 am UTC (link)
No, but that was what reminded me of the other one.

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[info]twoeleven
2009-03-18 02:55 am UTC (link)
many real scientists are also actually engineers or technicians, at least part of the time. playing with the legos is often just as interesting as discovering new blocks. :)

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[info]happyfunpaul
2009-03-18 03:35 am UTC (link)
Well, yes, but see the link in comments above.

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[info]twoeleven
2009-03-18 03:43 am UTC (link)
yup. :) i will neither confirm nor deny plans to take over the world, nor if so, to leave a control group. i don't wanna bias hypothetical subjects, y'see...

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[info]happyfunpaul
2009-03-18 03:48 am UTC (link)
Y'know, your combination-virus plan from a couple decades ago still scares me.

Edited at 2009-03-18 03:48 am UTC

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[info]twoeleven
2009-03-18 03:56 am UTC (link)
ah, you remembered! i'm touched! :) and i guess you'll be pleased to know that i've since learned that sort of thing is much harder than i knew... otoh, it may not please you to know that i learned that from a guy who used to do germ warfare research at fort dietrich.

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[info]his_regard
2009-03-18 04:51 am UTC (link)
Engineering is applied science. But for the picky, actual mad science involves proving the existence of, then harnessing for [con/de]structive use, an N-ray or what have you. After all, the discovery of a new thing is still science; no one will ever complain that Darwin never had a Lamarcian control group.

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[info]luckymarty
2009-03-18 04:30 pm UTC (link)
The control group thing isn't central, certainly. But can we agree that building a death ray just so you can kill people isn't science? Building a death ray to prove your ellipton-wave theory, that's science.

I suppose taking over the world with your death ray could be considered a large-scale experiment in political science, but I'm confident your average mad scientist looks down on the social sciences just as much as your average non-mad scientist.

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[info]his_regard
2009-03-18 04:46 pm UTC (link)
But can we agree that building a death ray just so you can kill people isn't science?

Oh, absolutely. Building the death ray is mad science. Threatening to kill and/or killing people with it is just mad.

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[info]madfilkentist
2009-03-18 10:00 am UTC (link)
If you control the whole world, that's the biggest control group there is!

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[info]ultimatepsi
2009-03-18 01:41 pm UTC (link)
Thank you for making me laugh.

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