I'm irritated. Seriously irritated. Like cactus spine or porcupine quill under my skin irritated.
I understand about stupidity. I really do. Some people are just stupid, and really can't help that. I have several friends that just plain give everything they have and come up a little short in the IQ department.
What I don't understand is willful ignorance. I mean really.
Source Milky Way, Pennsylvania, USA, Northern Hemisphere
I read around 50 posts every day. Many of them are friends and colleagues whose opinions and posts I love. Some are 'fresh meat'. I just really love finding a great new author to follow along with.
I have certain categories that I am attracted to. Motorcycles, dogs, travel are just sucker bets to get me to read. I really like astronomy and engineering geeks, too. Great photography and music and art absolutely boggle me.
Source Milky Way, Moab, Utah, US, Northern Hemisphere
So it was with a certain amount of amusement that I read a post the other day from a young person that took a trip to New Zealand. According to his post, one of the main reasons he took said trip was to be able to view the Milky Way which is not available in the Northern Hemisphere.
I laughed in real time, imagining Forest Gump saying stupid is as stupid does.
A week into it, I haven't forgotten. In fact, it's like a cactus spine that has to pus up before you can dig it out from under your skin.
I look at the Milky Way most nights. I am in the Northern Hemisphere. Ergo the dimwit is wrong.
I live in a bit of a light puddle and so seeing the Milky Way (especially on nights with a gibbous moon) can be problematic but even on the full moon I can at least see the outline. All I have to do to catch the full glory is travel 10 miles east or north to full darkness. It's spectacular.
He obviously presumed since he'd never noticed the Milky Way until he spent a night in a tent in New Zealand that he couldn't see it in Europe. He'd just never looked in the right place at the right time. AND DIDN'T DO ONE IOTA OF RESEARCH for his post. That's ignorance. Plain and simple.
So how about this? Don't be that guy. If you aren't certain either don't say it or look it up. It would have taken him 15 seconds to see Northern Hemisphere photos of the Milky Way and no more that 10 minutes to find out where he made his mistake.
Source
Milky Way with Aurora Borealis, Alaska, USA, Northern Hemisphere.
In the dimwit's defense I know this to be absolute fact: It's not the stuff I don't know that bites me on the ass. It's the stuff I do know that is wrong that really hurts.
I have some specialty tools for picking a cactus spine out from under my skin. A magnifying glass, a scalpel sharp knife and a couple of probes that I have sharpened on a hook sharpener until they are quite small. All in all, it's a hell of a lot easier to just trust google for information when there is the slightest doubt.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
The words are all mine, the photographs are properly sourced
You want some really cool stuff? Check these authors, they will not disappoint.
