Pet Peeves

OK, stealing more posting ideas from lady k., here is a short list of things that annoy me:

• When someone says “I have a theory,” and then proceeds to tell you a hypothesis. Note: if your little idea about why the girl at the coffee shop is rude to you hasn't been intensively peer-reviewed, it isn't a theory.
• As an addendum to #1, especially irritating are the bible-thumper types who say “evolution is just a theory, you know.” Yes, yes it is a theory, and happens to be the best one we have, and will be replaced if the scientific method reveals a better explanation. Now, what if someone comes up with a better creation myth than your particular religion's, will you drop yours for this new and improved version?
• People who can't be convinced of something through a well-constructed argument. Especially when said people happen to have somehow acquired the authority to make decisions in some environment. This is why it is necessary for otherwise thinking, rational human beings to construct showy stunts to try and 'show' why the might have a point. An example would be Homer setting fire to a dollar bill while giving the presentation his secretary, Karl, wrote for him, because it was a theatrical method to impress upon the muckymucks that the plant was wasting money. This idea is explained in that old book How to Win Friends and Influence People, but frankly, it's a depressing idea, that this wonderful thing human beings have invented called language can be subsumed by simple gestures.
• George W. Bush and every thought he's ever had in that head of his.
• There are more but apparently I'm much more wordy than Kayla, so I'll have to write a few more later.

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