Hm.. I wonder if PAL could defragment Daves Brain.

adciv wrote:Hm.. I wonder if PAL could defragment Daves Brain.

Not without the help of the dormant Monolith coffee table.

And as long as Dave didn't have the blue screen of death happen. (And yes, it's happened before. I wish I could remember which day in the RL Comics.)

gagh

Why would you contribute to the myth that humans only use 10% of our brains?
It is for the purpose of a joke, but it just isnt worth it

Did you ever think that maybe just Dave uses 10% of his brain?

Kovac wrote:gagh

Why would you contribute to the myth that humans only use 10% of our brains?
It is for the purpose of a joke, but it just isnt worth it

Allow me to quote Scientific American, so you foreigners can quit being such dicks about it. (Seriously, I've recieved another e-mail from someone else today telling us Americans to quit being so ignorant. Is this just a pet peeve of everyone on the other side of an ocean from us, or something?)

Anyway, as I was saying:

Scientific American wrote:Another mystery hidden within our crinkled cortices is that out of all the brain's cells, only 10 percent are neurons; the other 90 percent are glial cells, which encapsulate and support neurons, but whose function remains largely unknown. Ultimately, it's not that we use 10 percent of our brains, merely that we only understand about 10 percent of how it functions.

NOW. While I will grant you that the concept that "we only use 10% of our brains" is silly, it's also been used for DECADES as the basis for a lot of fun "what-if" style storytelling. Powder and Phenomenon are two excellent movies that come to mind which deal specifically with this idea. So, I think what I'm saying is, quit being such a fucktard about something so INSIGNIFICANTLY POINTLESS as this, and just try to enjoy the fucking comic.

I'm sorry if I'm getting a little on the offensive here, but this pedantic bullshit just pisses me off. Especially when it's passed off in the guise of "Gee, you Americans sure are stupid." (I know you didn't do that specifically, but that was the tone of the other e-mail I recieved, and it stuck in my craw a little.)

Greg Dean wrote:

Scientific American wrote:Another mystery hidden within our crinkled cortices is that out of all the brain's cells, only 10 percent are neurons; the other 90 percent are glial cells, which encapsulate and support neurons, but whose function remains largely unknown. Ultimately, it's not that we use 10 percent of our brains, merely that we only understand about 10 percent of how it functions.

...Huh. How old is that issue of Scientific American?

February. Link.

My point, though, is that despite the fact that "using 10% of your brain" is incorrect, it makes for a good storytelling device - as evidenced by the previous films I noted. That is, it does, unless know-it-alls with no ability to suspend disbelief come in here and bitch and moan about it. Seriously - does something that minor really annoy you THAT much?

Nope. Now PALDave should hop in the internet, use his mighty new power to hack into the NSA files, get the guy declared an enemy combatant, and let him go back home only to be executed or something, because he can totally just get on the internet and change a few documents in a government database and suddenly the guy's a huge criminal, and everyone'll go along with it. Surely, everyone's seen Hackers, and surely what they did was child's play compared to what PAL could do.



On the other hand, if such stupid and blatantly wrong myths keep getting perpetuated, whatever they are, without comment or note, people will go on believing them, eh...?

Greg Dean wrote:

Scientific American wrote:Another mystery hidden within our crinkled cortices is that out of all the brain's cells, only 10 percent are neurons; the other 90 percent are glial cells, which encapsulate and support neurons, but whose function remains largely unknown. Ultimately, it's not that we use 10 percent of our brains, merely that we only understand about 10 percent of how it functions.

Neat!

And StruckingFuggle brought up a point of what do we call the Dave Pal merger. PALDave doesn't quite roll off the tongue. I think I'll call him DaPal ;p

D-PAL?

P-Dave?

Palve?

Dal?

D4V3?

PALaDave? Prounounced similarly to Paladin?

Hm. Dave is now gone. He has ceased to exist. He is an ex-parrot.

There is no more Dave.

Zuul?

I'm surprised that someone would specifically associate the myth with Americans as I had viewed it as something very common to television/movies in general.
And I would never abuse someone for being mistaken over it as it is a very easy mistake to make when the idea is so widespread.

I'm quite aware that it has been used as a plot device for some time, but it is starting to get a little on the stale side.
Particuarly since we are at the point where a fairly large number of people know that it just isnt true.

Some great movies may have used the idea but does that mean that it has to be churned out over and over again?

Greg Dean wrote:My point, though, is that despite the fact that "using 10% of your brain" is incorrect, it makes for a good storytelling device - as evidenced by the previous films I noted. That is, it does, unless know-it-alls with no ability to suspend disbelief come in here and bitch and moan about it.

It makes for a lazy storytelling device.

I have a perfectly adequite ability to suspend disbelief - This one just happens to be one of my pet peeves as it is one of those facts that the entertainment industry has managed to convince people is true.

And then you get psychics and cons taking advantage of that by claiming 'Of course humans can be taught telekensis/telepathy, we only use 10% so it must be possible.'

Of course snopes said it best

It's the old myth heard time and again about how people use only ten percent of their brains. While for the people who repeat that myth, it's probably true, the rest of us happily use all of our brains. - Snopes

And yeah, it isnt a major issue but it bugs me enough to at least mention it.

I, for one, believe that brains are ten times the standard size in the RLComics universe, with the extra 90% reserved for the AI of a sentient computer. A sentient computer that can make a ViewMaster.. capable of reprograming brains... pop out of the ceiling... of a huge orbiting ecosystem by the name of Death Station 1.

Also, I think an excellent name for the new PalDave would be Da5id.

And by excellent, I mean humorously plagiarized.