Bullshit

[jdw]

Since this section is behind the log in curtain, I'll toss it here. It's a recent subsection of an essay by Bill James that I thought was a good read.

 

* * * * *

 

IV. On the Practical Advantages of BS

 

Did you ever think about this: that Bullshit has a huge advantage over actual knowledge, in that bullshit can be created and deployed wherever it is needed, whereas actual knowledge has very limited ability to travel?

 

At this time of year I get a lot of questions from people who want to know who I think is going to win the World Series, and whether it is better to win your division and have a 7-day cooling off period before you go into the playoffs or whether it is better to have to compete right up to the end of the season, and whether it is meaningful that a team ends the season playing well as opposed to limping into the playoffs after a two-week slump, and whether a team whose best pitcher has two different-colored eyes has an advantage in post-season play.

 

The only honest answer to these kind of questions is "I have no idea." This is not a satisfying answer to those who ask the questions, nor is it particularly gratifying to me to have to answer so many questions by saying "I’m sorry; I really have no idea." Some of these questions I can’t answer because there is no answer; the only way to answer the question would be just to make something up and go with it. Others I could answer if I had done the right research, but the right research very often would be a two-week project, and I can’t really find space in my life to undertake an awful lot of two-week projects, and anyway, if I could, it would still be two weeks before I could answer the question.

 

From my perspective, then, it often seems that what people want from me is that I should be a bullshitter like the guys on TV. "The guys on ESPN,". . ..this is what I hear, when people ask me questions about which there is no relevant research. . .."The guys on ESPN are able to give expert opinions on every question under the sun. Why can’t you? Why can’t you just make something up and go with it, like everybody else does?"

 

Generally, we decry and denounce bullshit. My point here is that actually there is a huge advantage to bullshit. It fits everywhere. You never run out of it. It’s always in stock. Once you decide that you are happy answering questions with bullshit. . .you’re set. The cupboard is always full.

 

I was watching a football game today. Kansas University got ahead of a much better team 10-0, then settled in to lose the game 54-16. The announcer had a ready explanation for the surprising start (paraphrasing). "Texas Tech had to travel in here yesterday. They spent most of the day getting to the airport, taking the flight, getting on the bus to Lawrence, getting off the bus, getting into the hotel, sleeping in a strange room. Sometimes, particularly to a young team, it takes you a few minutes to get your feet on the ground and to get your head back into the game."

 

Bullshit? Of course its bullshit—but he got paid to say that. That’s the wonderful thing about bullshit: you can never run out of it. No matter what happens, you can make up an explanation for it on the spot. Every effect can always be traced back to some readily apparent cause. Whenever you have a condition (a) and an outcome (, you can always assert that a caused b. Since conditions and outcomes exist in almost limitless supply, any number of supposed causal links can be established.

 

That sounds pejorative, but I don’t mean it that way. We all do that. His assignment was to say something that might be true, and. . .that might be true. Nobody can prove that it isn’t. We all use bullshit, including myself, because we are all "asked questions" or confronted by issues for which there is no obvious answer except bullshit.

 

But research isn’t like that; research runs out. Research is always in limited supply. Research is never around when you need it most. That’s why knowledge can never take the place of good, old-fashioned, time-tested bullshit.

[marrklarr]

I love James.

 

Wouldn't it be great if he came up with some kind of workrate analysis for wrestling?

[jdw]

Not really.

[BrickHithouse]

I love James.

So do I

[Johnny Sorrow]

You know what rules?

 

Raspberry Iced Tea.

[BrickHithouse]

You know what rules?

 

Raspberry Iced Tea.

Nope.

 

Lemon.

[Johnny Sorrow]

In the United States, iced tea makes up about 85% of all tea consumed and is very popular as an alternative to carbonated soft drinks, especially in the hotter southern states: it is ubiquitous in restaurants, convenience stores, vending machines, and grocery stores. It may be freshly made on premises, or available in bottles and cans, and at self-serve soda fountains. Restaurants typically give the customer the choice of sweetened or unsweetened.

The oldest printed recipes for iced tea date back to the 1870s. Two of the earliest cookbooks with iced tea recipes are the Buckeye Cookbook by Estelle Woods Wilcox, first published in 1876, and Housekeeping in Old Virginia by Marion Cabell Tyree, first published in 1877. Iced tea had started to appear in the USA during the 1860s. Seen as a novelty at first, during the 1870s it became quite widespread. Not only did recipes appear in print, but iced tea was offered on hotel menus, and was on sale at railroad stations. Its popularity rapidly increased after Richard Blechynden introduced it at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

Iced tea's popularity in the United States has led to an addition to standard cutlery sets: the iced tea spoon is a teaspoon with a long handle, suitable for stirring sugar into glasses. In the summer, iced tea is at its most popular.

It is a common stereotype of the Southeastern United States due to the popularity of sweet iced tea in that region that unsweetened iced tea is not available and/or frowned upon. It is true that often the term "iced tea" is assumed to mean sweetened iced tea by default in that region.

Iced tea varieties

Iced tea is traditionally served with lemon slice used as a garnish, which is often placed on the rim of the glass. In the Southwest United States (or at least in restaurants with a Southwest theme), lime is also very popular (especially in Mexican restaurants). It is not entirely uncommon for establishments to put out slices of both lemon and lime for the customer to take for themselves.[citation needed]

Because of the varieties of eateries in the United States, as well as climatic and cultural differences, a variety of iced teas are available. Most prominent are:

In barbecue, soul food, and Southern cuisine-style, establishments, along with greasy spoons and general eateries, black tea is iced. This is by far the most commonly available form of freshly brewed iced tea, to which the above statements apply. Fruit-flavored teas and tisanes are also popular iced.

In some coffeehouses, more exotic varieties may be iced, such as Jasmine tea or Earl Grey tea.

Thai iced tea is common in Thai restaurants.

Iced Chai (spiced Indian tea) is available from some restaurants and stores. While not traditionally served iced, in the U.S. chai is frequently served iced, with honey as a sweetener, or pre-sweetened when bottled.

Iced Jasmine tea, Genmaicha, and Hojicha are available from some Chinese cuisine or other Asian cuisine restaurants, but rarely. It is more common to find one of these varieties hot, where the patron may pour the tea over ice.

But the tastiest is raspberry.

[BrickHithouse]

Restaurants typically give the customer the choice of sweetened or unsweetened.

Incorrect

 

The tea is sent to the table unsweetened. It is up to the consumer whether or not he/she sweetens the tea. So, rather than debate whether to sweeten or not to sweeten, let’s take a look at some of the different ways to sweeten tea that you may have overlooked. There are several sweetening options

 

I. The most obvious choice, and one that has been around forever is

A. just plain white sugar.

1. Opinions on how much is enough vary greatly from person to person. Some like a teaspoon. Some like four. It’s all a matter of taste.

 

II. Artificial Sweeteners

A. Aspartame and sucralose under brand names like NutraSweet and Splenda can be found on the tables of most restaurants these days as an alternative to sugar.

1. This is one of the reasons why there has been such a push to find natural ways to sweeten your cup of tea in recent years.

 

III. Natural sweeteners

A. Honey – This really isn’t very new when it comes to sweetening tea.

1. There are different types of honey

a. Comb Honey (honeycomb) Direct from the hive honey-filled beeswax comb as stored naturally by the bees.

b. Creamed Honey (granulated) Made by blending one part finely granulated honey with nine parts liquid honey. The mixture is stored at about 57 degrees until it becomes firm.

c. Chunk Honey Comb honey in a jar with liquid honey poured around it.

 

B. Agave Syrup – This is taken from the juice of the agave cactus and is 50% sweeter than sugar.

 

C. Stevia – The leaves of the stevia plant have been used as a natural sweetener in Latin America for centuries. But you only count US in your data

 

D. Maple Syrup – Most wouldn’t think of using maple syrup as a sweetener for tea, but it can really add a new dimension to the same old drink.

 

E. Misc. date sugar, cane sugar, brown rice syrup, or even molasses

 

As tea drinkers, we’re all individuals. And the way we sweeten our tea should be individual as well. Experiment a little, and try some new things until you find one that’s perfect for you.

 

Lemon Tastes better

 

 

The oldest printed recipes for iced tea date back to the 1870s.

I don't think people in the 1860s needed a piece of paper to tell them that adding frozen water to tea is worth trying

 

Iced tea is traditionally served with lemon

 

Fruit-flavored teas and tisanes are also popular iced.

Raspberry as an individual fruit did not get mentioned here

 

Lemon > Raspberry =

[JerryvonKramer]

Sirs, what is all this wild talk of putting fruit flavours and -- by jove -- ice in one's tea?!