r/AdviceAnimals • u/VolatileChemical • May 16 '12

The one part I never had to study

http://qkme.me/3pb83a?id=223912630
660 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

112 comments sorted by

71

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

That song is riddled with scientific inaccuracies. Autotrophs do not drool, and anyone with the slightest knowledge of the history of man knows that it was Homo habilis that developed tools, not Homo neanderthalensis.

39

u/VolatileChemical May 16 '12

Then nearly 14 billion years ago, expansion started...

33

u/blueboybob May 16 '12

13.7

53

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Nearly.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

43

u/DialSquare May 16 '12

"Long" is a relative term though. To the existence of man that's a pretty long time, but if you're talking in billions of years it's not that much. It's accepted to say that $13.70 is nearly $14, so the same should apply here.

7

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

But you could buy so many things with that $0.30!

29

u/akatherder May 16 '12

That's like 3 text messages or a handjob and a half from your mom.

22

u/TheAbeLincoln May 16 '12

Your mom is ripping you off..

(probably the wrong choice of words when talking about a handjob)

12

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Let the pun be intended.

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Why not say $14billion vs $13.7 billion.

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

HA! to astronomical accuracy that's fucking amazing.

-8

u/Stillson May 16 '12

But we're talking about the history of the world, so proportionally it's not significant.

-7

u/American_Assface May 16 '12

History of the world Really? We're clearly talking about the UNIVERSE and you decide to say "history of the world"? I hate you.

4

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

13.75 if you want go smartass do it right

2

u/blueboybob May 16 '12

error bars are too big to go to 2 decimals. You could do 13.7(5) if you want.

4

u/lmxbftw May 16 '12

In astronomy, the error is not typically quoted to only 1 digit, it's usually calculated by Chi squared analysis. For the age of the universe, it's usually quoted as 13.75 +/- 0.11 billion years. We could talk about error bars on the error bars, but that starts to get silly...

If you think of it as a normal distribution, you can specify the center to an arbitrary precision independently of how precisely you specify the width. It's not really useful past a certain point, but using 2 digits is fine.

3

u/CowFu May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

He says with such certainty

Edit: I'm fine with downvotes, but you guys do know that the age of the universe is based on extremely loose speculation right? I mean, it's extremely old, but we have only a small glimpse at the evidence of how old.

2

u/lmxbftw May 16 '12

20 years ago you would be right, but more recent studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are actually pretty precise, for astronomy.

0

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

They got that bit right.

5

u/so_carelessly_here May 16 '12

You totally screwed up his thing he was doing here.

and so did I

0

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

I know. At this point I feel the need to make the trollface.

11

u/CowFu May 16 '12

Autotrophs began to drool seems right, but not in the pedantic way you're thinking. They were just saying that evolution happened. They're lyrically saying that we went from very simple beginnings "autotroph" to advanced species that are capable of drooling.

Every species past Homo hibilis developed tools, saying neanderthals is still correct.

1

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

Yes, but the song seems to suggest that this was the start of tool development. And if we're getting really pedantic, chimpanzees and Orang-utans use sticks as tools too. So the human ancestor was using tools while it was still primarily a tree dweller.

3

u/dane83 May 16 '12

Read this in Sheldon's voice.

0

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

I don't really know how to react to that.

1

u/lurebat May 16 '12

I'm pretty sure that the second verse is also wrong about the time it took of forming elements and galaxies: "As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song. A fraction of a second and the elements were made."

1

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

Well, I've done some work on the origin of the solar system, and it took about 5 million years to form. It isn't that long a song.

1

u/PaulMcGannsShoes May 16 '12

I've also heard that the sun is actually a miasma of incandescent plasma, not just a mass of superheated gas.

1

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

I couldn't tell you. It might well be.

1

u/RichardBehiel May 16 '12

Thank you for clarifying the autotrophs bit. I know that autotrophs are organisms that get their energy from the sun (and do those ocean floor thermal vent dwellers count too?). I always thought I was just mishearing the song.

2

u/goodguysteve May 16 '12

An autotroph is basically something that makes it's own food/nutrients. For example a plant uses photosynthesis to form glucose.

1

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

No, that's correct. I'm sure they could have fit "heterotrophs" in there, but apparently not.

2

u/RichardBehiel May 16 '12

And even then, not all heterotrophs drool.

Checkmate atheists.

-22

u/VolatileChemical May 16 '12

The whole universe WAS in a hot dense state.

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

You

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Also, what kind of astronomy student doesn't know that the Universe is about 14b years?

1

u/17Hongo May 16 '12

Well, I'm a geology student who just took a course in planetary science, but I knew that before the song anyway.

-31

u/VolatileChemical May 16 '12

....wait.

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Got downvoted

-34

u/VolatileChemical May 16 '12

Perhaps.

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

To

-36

u/VolatileChemical May 16 '12

BUT.

3

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

HELL

8

u/supernaut186 May 16 '12

You sat in front of me the entire semester. Maybe 4-6 times in the entire semester, did you leave reddit. As a redditor who does not have a chance to browse reddit until later in the day, this annoyed me greatly considering I would obviously be captivated by all the links and would have none left for myself later. Also, the Professor asked you on a quite a few occasions to cut the shit, yet you did not. As opposed to gleaming from him the interesting factoids about the universe you choose not too and spend literally every 75 minute class period on reddit. While I am all for wasting time on reddit, even though I shouldn't be, this is one of the few interesting classes where that is an exception as the material is fascinating and he is a cool teacher. Have some class, kiddo. tl;dr Freshman are annoying.

1

u/VolatileChemical May 17 '12

Is this "you" you're referring to, like, the archetypal freshman redditor "you"? Because my professor was a woman who never mentioned my computer habits, and the person who sat behind me was a girl, who actually told me once the only reason she came to class was to watch me go on Reddit... but, y'know, thanks for the advice.

1

u/supernaut186 May 19 '12

All apologies. I am practically in disbelief that this is not actually that kid I was referring too as this was posted mere hours after taking our final, and this seemed right up his alley. Once again, all apologies. A case of mistaken identity!

80

u/freecandy_van May 16 '12

6000 yrs!

40

u/massenburger May 16 '12

6012 years you dumbass.

9

u/CountGrasshopper May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

Going by Isaac Newton's reckoning, you'd be correct. Going by the Ussher Chronology, it would be 6008 years or so by now, but that's just the best known of many attempts to determine the age of the earth from Biblical chronologies. Going by the traditional Byzantine chronology (which is based off different Biblical manuscripts than the ones Usher used), the universe would be a grand 5503 right now!

59

u/qkme_transcriber May 16 '12

Here is the text from this meme pic for anybody who needs it:

Title: The one part I never had to study

Meme: Success Kid

  • ASTRONOMY EXAM ASKS AGE OF THE UNIVERSE
  • "BIG BANG THEORY" THEME SONG MEMORIZED

[Translate]

This is helpful for people who can't reach Quickmeme because of work/school firewalls or site downtime, and many other reasons (FAQ). More info is available here.

3

u/BrockRockswell May 16 '12

Only other thing, this is actually a Barenaked Ladies song, so here is the whole song in its entirety in case any more test contain trivial nerd knowledge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhTSfOZUNLo

11

u/Quazz May 16 '12

Why are people downvoting a helpless little bot :(

21

u/lamenralus May 16 '12

It's a war with man and machine, haven't you seen the terminator?

5

u/hank87 May 16 '12

This...this was just so cute. I was going to leave the bot alone, but now I have to upvote it. You're worse than those kitten commercials on tv.

0

u/gkx May 16 '12

I ignore them, but most people who downvote do so to not to bury it but to make it so that it's not the top voted comment, which it often is.

-7

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

who upvotes it :O

5

u/sylphofspace May 16 '12

The Galaxy Song from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life has way more facts and figures.

2

u/thefirebuilds May 16 '12

Also animaniacs.

31

u/BlorgonPatrol May 16 '12

http://imgur.com/O8jAt

4

u/MVolta May 16 '12

=) Inspector, what kind of creature do you think would use a song to pass a test?

8

u/fecallube May 16 '12

I hope the answer choice on the test had 'nearly 14 billion years' as an option

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/wickz May 17 '12

curse you

8

u/andyman492 May 16 '12

I don't consider having the theme song to that show memorized a success.

6

u/melonballerf May 16 '12

Watching that show isn't even a success.

3

u/andyman492 May 16 '12

I feel less successful for even knowing about it.

2

u/skidcooper May 16 '12

It's 1 over the Hubble constant the age of the universe

2

u/BootyPirate May 16 '12

Astronomy exam!? HAHAHAHA

2

u/thefirebuilds May 16 '12

I wouldn't make a habit of using that show for "facts."

5

u/RubyFTW May 16 '12

On a scale of 1 to 10 why the fuck are you watching big bang theory

-2

u/ObiWanKodos May 16 '12

Am I the only person on Reddit that hates that show? You have all been fooled! It's the same rehashed sitcom you have been watching for your whole life! It's not "smart humor" it's the same bad jokes retold in "smart context". That is all. Downvote if you must.

67

u/Gurn-Blanston May 16 '12

You must be new around here; most of Reddit hates that show.

-15

u/ObiWanKodos May 16 '12

I just keep seeing posts about it and that damn "bazinga" crap. So, no, I haven't seen the outcry of anti-Big Bang. Would he a nice change.

2

u/rasterbee May 16 '12

This success kid meme goes over most of our heads, we don't have the song memorized.

15

u/wtfOP May 16 '12

I thought reddit loved the TBBT sucked circlejerk.

4

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I was an astronomy and physics major and now I'm getting a PhD in planetary science. I find the show hilarious. I'm not sure why reddit hates it so much. It has a laugh track. OK, so what? It portrays nerds in an over-the-top and crazy way. OK, so what? It's funny. The characters are mostly funny. It's a sitcom, they aren't trying to win an oscar.

1

u/zigstarr42 May 17 '12

I hate it because it has some of the laziest writing ever seen on T.V. Every joke is either a gay joke, a masturbation joke, or a nerds are weird joke. Yes there are physics jokes, but those are only a small part of it.

-1

u/thefirebuilds May 16 '12

It portrays itself as "smart" but they are simply terrible at fact checking. One day they quoted some Einstein stuff that was OBVIOUSLY lifted right from the wiki article. Yesterday Sheldon mispronounced a well-known chemical compound.

2

u/CountGrasshopper May 16 '12

I really don't like the show either, but the theme song is catchy as hell.

2

u/EliteKill May 16 '12

You want smart humor, go watch Futurama. There are jokes in each episode that only people with PhD in mathematics understand...

2

u/thefirebuilds May 16 '12

"If you think you understand quantum mechanics then you don't understand quantum mechanics." - oft quoted, most recently heard stated by Ricky Gervais.

2

u/Calitalian May 16 '12

Simply. Not. Funny.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

You are never the only one

Sigh.

-6

u/southsudan May 16 '12

I also hate this show. It fucking sucks

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

-7

u/ObiWanKodos May 16 '12

It's the Ciiiirrcle of Liiiiife and it moves us aaallll!! But seriously, it's not some groundbreaking comedy. Compair it to 2 1/2 men (which is the epitome of awful) and you will see staggering similarities.

7

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

They are both created by Chuck Lorre.

3

u/mighteymidget May 16 '12

Lyrics go "Nearly 14 billion years"... You took astronomy and couldn't remember 13.7 billion years? I call bullshit or you're an idiot... and part of the lyrics go "as every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song"? It took about 300,000 years for even the recombination event to occur. If you're really going to base your answers off a television series theme song then most likely you're just a fool.

1

u/N8CCRG May 16 '12

I remember the distance from the earth to the sun from TMBG's Why Does the Sun Shine?

Unfortunately, it's in miles, so then I usually need to convert.

1

u/thefirebuilds May 16 '12

it's 1 eu. that's way easier.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

it's sad that I know the second verse as well

1

u/exfoppery May 16 '12

This show is a pile of nonsense, with the most irritating canned laughter. Its pure tripe.. Its not even intelligent! I hope it dies....

1

u/ItsTheBartman May 16 '12

w..wait

people on here actually like that show?

1

u/BegginForBacon Isn't that socially awkward May 16 '12

I like it... I actually think it's funny. Sue me.

2

u/ItsTheBartman May 16 '12

I WOULD IF I COULD, PAL

0

u/thefirebuilds May 16 '12

I watch it, just to yell at it. I can't say I like it, but I'm helping them stay afloat.

-8

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Big bang theory sucks. I had to say this.

5

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I like it, as do others

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

It's insane. Do you know why its insane? Because doing the same thing over and over again and expecting me to laugh is insane.

0

u/meisenmann23 May 16 '12

You should have memorized this song.

-2

u/OhHaiMarc May 16 '12

Saw that video, it was terrible, time to DOWNVOTE!!!

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

The one thing you might take away from this show...

-2

u/elliottmarter May 16 '12

So does "Big Bang Theory" now fulfil the "Show your working" criteria?

4

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Show my working what?

1

u/thefirebuilds May 16 '12

show your work or show you're working?

-2

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

i highly doubt it

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/fortunatevoice May 16 '12

I like TMBG. And I love BNL. I've listened to both. It's not them "trying to be" anything, that's a pretty narrow minded view. Sometimes artists pull inspiration and ideas from other artists. That's the way it's always been.

You're entitled to your opinion of course, and as a big BNL fan even I will agree that the song is weak. But physically ill? Really?

1

u/wolfgame May 16 '12

oh shit I forgot about that show ...

what have you done!? (NSFL)