More Irrational Science Funding Cuts

Dumb actually means 'unable to speak'.

This has been colloquially associated with lack of intelligence, usually by people lacking intelligence and/or literacy.

Interestingly this association seems based in 'the inability to voice an answer to a question like a "normal" person'.

In that sense, and in the true meaning of the word; Hawking is dumb.

But, in fact, if you examine the colloquial inference, it is simply built on arrogance, or the elitist need in 'the herd', to demean and demark. so ostensibly 'rise above' (by dragging down, rather rise though superior ability) (aside from the ability to blather).

Similarly the word 'disabled' applies across a broader field than intelligence.

E.g. Victims of accidents, disease, or Veterans of war, who may be 'disabled' are not ipso facto 'dumb' or 'retarded'.

In the true meaning; Hawking is disabled

"retarded" of course means 'delayed'. It is adjectival - or needs a noun, or object in a sentence to apply to. E.g. in "mentally retarded" it applies to cognitive function. In "ignition retarded" it applies to ICE's. Or literally speaking, saying a person is retarded, could mean they are running late, or suffering 'negative acceleration'.

Perhaps it's worthwhile mentioning 'deaf, dumb and blind' are physical conditions that are measurable. As are, arguably, IQ and flight delays.

There is, however, so far as I know, no measure for;

A. inability to receive and/or, process a message (colloquially: "cannot be told anything")

B. a coefficient for willfully misconstruing input (colloq. "hears what he wants to hear")

C. for 'social interaction skills' - ("social klutz") though there are quite a few scholarly articles probing the development of these skills, due to the existence of a growing "retarded percentile". _{(there is also quite a bit on group phenomena - but no formal measurement system)}

D. a 'broadband quotient fulfillment' index - meaning for a given IQ ^{_{(where intelligence is vocationally compartmentalised and quotient means potential)}} has the wider potential been achieved, exceeded, or fallen short?

Well okay Mr. Smartie pants.

What is the opposite of pink?

Cream chartreuse. (At least insofar as I can read a color wheel.)

Ummmm - interesting question, though acerbically put;

Pink is not a color in the sense of a color wheel, which deals in primary, secondary, tertiary etcetera, and has 'opposites'

Pink is a tone created from the primary red + white.

Therefore; the opposite would be green + black.

So depending on the % white, the opposite could be, say, olive to British Racing Green?

_{(the answer you sought to inflict, is not the one your question posed - ponder that Budding Buddha)}

Roger, who is telling you dumb means "disabled"?

According to www.dictionary.com, dumb is an adjective meaning:

1. lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid; dull-witted.
2. lacking the power of speech (often offensive when applied to humans): a dumb animal.
3. temporarily unable to speak: dumb with astonishment.
4. refraining from any or much speech; silent.
5. made, done, etc., without speech.
6. lacking some usual property, characteristic, etc.
7. performed in pantomime; mimed.
8. Computers . pertaining to the inability to do processing locally: A dumb terminal can input, output, and display data, but cannot process it.
   

I have never heard the word dumb used as 'disabled'. I have heard it used to refer to describe someone lacking intelligence and someone not able to speak.

I see no problem with you (or anyone else) using the word dumb to describe someone they think of as intelligent, or to describe someone's actions they think are not intelligent.

EXPAND

I think that it may have a slightly different meaning in England (closer to the original archaic meaning). Two countries separated by a common language, right? Read below:

dumbness n.Our Living Language In ordinary spoken English, a sentence such as He is dumb will be interpreted to mean "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech." "Lacking the power of speech" is, however, the original sense of the word, but it has been eclipsed by the meaning "stupid." For this change in meaning, it appears that the Germans are responsible. German has a similar and related word dumm that means "stupid," and over time, as a result of the waves of German immigrants to the United States, it has come to influence the meaning of English dumb. This is one of dozens of marks left by German on American English. Some words, like kindergarten, dachshund, and schnapps still have a German feel or are associated to some extent with Germany, but others, like bum, cookbook, fresh (in the meaning "impertinent"), rifle, and noodle have become so thoroughly Americanized their German origins may surprise some.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dumb

So then it sounds like we're all in agreement that it is totally irrational that this weather satellite is being cut to save 700 million dollars in next year's budget. I appreciate the open-minded reception and discussion regarding my humble "Existentialism run amok" explanation.

[So was the response the Roger from the alternate timeline (See Eureka Season 4) gave unaware he was in a new, slightly different timeline.]

Pretty much - but entertaining

Interesting to analyze where it came apart though

The knee-jerk political 'us and them' in post #5 was ignored, so failed to disrupt, but a repeat of ilk in #10 was 'recognized' and #12 opened the 'personal' door.

#16 was on topic though, but the last, I think.

That's odd... It appears that in this timeline my marriage to Brooklyn Decker never happened. Andy Roddick? Seriously?

I'm sorry Roger.

To defer the risk of turning your political thread into a religious one, I will say that I talked to the sky today.

The sky said, "You dumba$$. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times..............you've got two gifts. The first one is burning bridges.............the second, is building them."

The sky went on to explain to me, that unless I want to spend eternity watching reruns of me intentionally going out of my way to hurt people, I had better change my ways..............................NOW!

That said...........................with your permission, can we turn this thread into a kind of....................place to vent? A ventilation station? Why waste it?