A Note from Cecil Adams about the Straight Dope

https://www.straightdope.com/a-note-from-cecil-adams-about-the-straight-dope/

by severine • 8 years ago

125 25 8 years ago

gedy• 8 years ago

It's really cool he's been doing this for 45 years. I stumbled on The Straight Dope book in the 80s, and it's hard to describe how cool this was to read, pre-Internet. So much cool info in clever and hilarious format, I read it for hours and over and over. A big salute to Cecil Adams.

GCA10• 8 years ago

Agreed. Quora's grandfather.

zantana• 8 years ago

Yes, I devoured trivia troves like the Straight Dope, the bathroom reader series and predecessors, which for me were the Book of Lists.

It is funny to go back now and see ones which have obvious errors. They will always have a place in my heart, I'm tempted to pick up all the books now so I will have them to reminisce.

sparky_z• 8 years ago

So, I just checked his wikipedia page, and was shocked to find out that Cecil Adams is not a real individual person. He's a pseudonym for a rotating collection of ghostwriters, like Franklin W Dixon.

stingraycharles2• 8 years ago

I’ve looked at his Wikipedia page, but can’t find where it says it is a collection of writers. All I see is that it is a pseudonym.

okket2• 8 years ago

It is also not confirmed that it is a sole author... "The true identity of Adams, whether a single individual or a group of authors, has remained unknown."

Keeping an authorship pseudonymous successfully for 40+ years is rather unusual. I'd argue saying it is a sole author is at least as speculative as saying it is a group.

bitexploder2• 8 years ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Zotti

This makes it pretty clear ;)

okket2• 8 years ago

For those wondering... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Adams

bitexploder2• 8 years ago

Well, it is obviously not one person, but Ed Zotti is the 'editor in chief' and has been for a long time. He is definitely the "heart" of Cecil Adams as I know him. Sure others are involved, but, Ed has admitted he writes most of Cecil's words.

mherdeg• 8 years ago

The author's point should be well taken about the unique value of forums like the Straight Dope Message Board.

A lot of Internet culture comes from, or grows on, newsgroups, web forums, and subreddits. It's hard to quantify what good thing we get out of the existence of these communities -- there is not some metric I can point and say "this -- this is what these forums are worth". But I know it's a big deal.

Nice to see that they recognized the value and are keeping this particular community up and running.

ddingus• 8 years ago

Whoever "owns" the SD is about to realize they dont actually own the value. It's a dynamic thing. Readers, writers, community with norms, culture, etc...

If I were them, I would work with the people who value TSD to find a successor and carry on a good thing.

drawkbox• 8 years ago

The Straight Dope from Cecil Adams is like lots of that neat content that was essentially the internet before the internet.

Books and mags like MAD Magazine, Nintendo Power, comic books and more were where you learned about life and it's cynicism, sarcasm and fun aspects, some with great write-ins.

Malls/bookstores where you socialized, record stores and movie theaters where you got your pop culture.

Arcades, convenience stores like 7/11 and video/game rentals to entertain yourself and play with others, bike your way over to the nearest adventure.

Bulletin boards, mailing lists, IRC and message boards of the early internet were really great and in-depth.

All of that greatness is turning to vaporwave nostalgia.

So long Cecil.

kbp• 8 years ago

The Straight Dope from Cecil Adams is like lots of that neat content that was essentially the internet before the internet.

You start with this, and then go into more examples of "content that was essentially the internet before the internet" like going to 7/11 with friends, reading Nintendo Power, and riding your bike. That sounds a lot more like missing your childhood than any cultural changes, especially when your pre-internet internet includes things like IRC and message boards. It seems like you're just using "internet" as a synonym for "the present".

All of that greatness is turning to vaporwave nostalgia.

The only criteria for being included in "that greatness" is that you enjoyed it and it's not popular anymore: it isn't turning to nostalgia, it's nostalgia by definition.

Replace Cecil Adams and the Straight Dope with whatever you like, and this is just as fitting of a sappy eulogy.

b1daly• 8 years ago

The grandparent comment makes a nice point. Humans imbue their lived environment with meaning and functionality.

Our lived environment now includes a whole different element, that of being ever connected in the present to a global information network.

This means that there is a real loss, to society, of the utility of previously physical common spaces. People derived meaning and value there, and it has gone away.

Losing something meaningful and valuable is sad. The fact that it happens a lot doesn’t make it less so.

Obviously, the WWW offers all sorts of opportunities to create meaning and value, perhaps more.

But something fundamental has changed, in that we now engage in important social activities through telecommunications and mediated is experiences. This is devaluing sone types of social infrastructure that previously provided these functions.

I think we have crossed a “social singularity,” from which there is no going back. Similar to other technologies that changed human societies profoundly, and permanently.

The other I was trying to recall what it felt like to “not have the internet,” and I couldn’t get the feeling back, even though I lived half my life like that.

lisper• 8 years ago

whatever you like

Car Talk. RIP. :-(

jsmthrowaway• 8 years ago

One of the unique pleasures of Hacker News is the slightest of smiles caused by someone unafraid to share a feeling that is powerful to them, followed up immediately by an exhaustive and somewhat mocking explanation of how their feeling is grievously incorrect.

To contribute to the conversation, the fast service convenience chain with ‘hot’ ‘dogs’, an electrical and surprisingly loud ‘nacho’ ‘cheese’ squirting device representing a vast achievement of modern engineering, half gallon fountain beverages, and many delightful American locations is called 7-Eleven. No, I don’t get it either, and I hate that I know it. Merely helping international folks Google just what the hell this thread is about, though I wonder if you were missing much without my aid, because 7-Eleven is practically Americana made into a storefront and I’m pretty sure you already know exactly what goes on at one.

Within this audience, they’re known as the place to step over homeless sleepers and incognito buy cigarettes before their morning standup sees them at Sightglass or Four Barrel or whatever.

axaxs• 8 years ago

I think anyone who has been around the internet a while will hold SD fondly. I wish it had become what Snopes is used for, minus the shady owner and partisanship.

ars• 8 years ago

I'll be forever annoyed at him for the incorrect answer here: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1260/how-does-one-s...

(And yes, I emailed him but got no reply.)

The simple answer is yes, air pressure can push even something limp like spaghetti. And yes, if you increase the pressure the limp spaghetti will be forced in.

Think of a limp bag of water. If you push on the end it just buckles. But if you squeeze everywhere but one, water will come out of that spot.

But despite that, it's a great resource!

Anyone else remember imponderables (the books)?

hoistbypetard• 8 years ago

Anyone else remember imponderables (the books)?

I used to read those voraciously in the late 80s/early 90s. Going to the book store and seeing that there was a new one was such a treat.

I wonder what experience will be similar for my kids.

Simon_says• 8 years ago

Great. Now I'm annoyed too.

tombert• 8 years ago

My dad had the entire collection of Straight Dope books, so when he found out that I was frequenting Snopes.com when I was 11, he told me that they would be right up my alley.

He was right. I immediately fell in love with the combination of trivia and dry humor.

I quickly read through the set, and even sent a letter to Cecil (he did not respond and my letter wasn't published, but I did get a letter back from one of his assistants answering my question).

All things must come to an end, but I'm sad to see it go.

andrewl• 8 years ago

The book Return of the Straight Dope (copyright 1994) has this question "Why do so many public buildings want you to use the revolving doors rather than the regular doors?" After a brief discussion about protecting against loss of air conditioned or heated air, Adams concludes with:

So much for the rationalizations. The real reason you're told to use the revolving doors is so the real estate operators of the world can test your willingness to play ball. Do you follow directions and use the revolving door, or are you one of those independent types who insist on doing their own thing and entering through the swinging version? If the latter, be forewarned: when Donald Trump takes over, you're history.

I thought it was funny at the time.

A Note from Cecil Adams about the Straight Dope

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