ikkyu2 is a one-man AskMeFi machine today

January 22, 2006 2:31 PM

ikkyu2 is a one-man AskMeFi machine today, even more so than most days. At the moment, every single "fantastic answer" is one of his, and well-deserved. Outstanding work. Thanks.
posted by gleuschk to Etiquette/Policy at 2:31 PM (32 comments total)

Yeah, his answers on the phosphorus biochem post were really great.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:35 PM on January 22, 2006

No disrespect to ikkyu2 (I've agreed with him in many a science discussion) but his phosphate answer was pretty much irrelevant to the question asked. It's just a lot of first-year chemistry. Although ubersturm's answer was a similarly large mess of factoids, it does contain the correct answer (P=P hydrolysis has high activation energy and is very exergonic).
posted by rxrfrx at 2:45 PM on January 22, 2006

I would have answered, but I fear science.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:47 PM on January 22, 2006

Add it to the Smile Upon column!
posted by Captaintripps at 2:58 PM on January 22, 2006

and by P=P i of course mean O=P-P

jeez
posted by rxrfrx at 2:59 PM on January 22, 2006

So long as we are praising Ikkyu2: the Tom Cruise comment from a deleted thread.
posted by LarryC at 3:01 PM on January 22, 2006

Thanks for the kind words. Thankfully, answering questions is fun on its own and so it is its own reward.

rxrfrx, indeed I described a lot of first year chemistry. One of the questions the person asked was "What's so special about phosphorus," and that's not really a question about phosphate. So I tried to give some insight as to how phosphorus was different from other elements, from a first-year chemistry perspective. For all you or I know, the asker may never have been exposed to first year chemistry; in my own home state of California, it's (shamefully) possible to attend public school through high school graduation and never receive any science instruction at all.

I did briefly mention pyrophosphate at the end of my answer, though it'd already been mentioned in the thread. I don't know why evolution didn't choose some other compound capable of storing energy instead of one involving phosphates, and I think that's the really interesting question, so I left it alone.
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:01 PM on January 22, 2006

You down wit' O=P-P ?
posted by 31d1 at 3:08 PM on January 22, 2006

ikkyu2: I have had plenty of chemistry, both in high school and in college (and got A's, believe it or not), but it's not an especially strong subject for me. The information about orbitals and the relatively large size of a phosphorus atom was not really something I would have remembered/figured out on my own, so your answer was very useful and appropriate. Thank you.
posted by feathermeat at 3:15 PM on January 22, 2006

I have no doubt he'd eat dokken for lunch. And would be able to describe their nutritional properties with clarity and deft wit!
posted by scody at 3:49 PM on January 22, 2006

Yeah, you know me.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 3:51 PM on January 22, 2006

He's a dream warrior.
posted by spicynuts at 3:54 PM on January 22, 2006

If you're so smart about what causes tumors, why did you get cancer in the first place?

Harsh, but makes you think. :P

Seriously, though Ikkyu2 rocks. I kind of like his 'crotchety lecturer' prose style.

The his phosphorus answer was pretty basic, but OTOH ubersturm's answer was packed with jargon and hard to follow. The question was hard to answer because you have to figure out what the asker meant by 'special'.
posted by delmoi at 4:33 PM on January 22, 2006

Wait, isn't "every single fantastic answer" in the same thread?

Not that I'm hating on ikkyu2 or anything, he's solid, but are the fantastic answers usually dominated by one thread? I never think to read it. It seems like it'd be more useful if it combined votes for a particular comment. "490515 suggested by filmgeek, the bishop of turkey, mendel, and 36 others" for example. Just thinking out loud, not demanding pony shipments or anything.
posted by furiousthought at 4:54 PM on January 22, 2006

[applause]
posted by scarabic at 6:16 PM on January 22, 2006

Yea, that guy knows about guitars too! Thanks ikkyu2.
posted by snsranch at 6:20 PM on January 22, 2006

Not that I'm hating on ikkyu2 or anything, he's solid, but are the fantastic answers usually dominated by one thread?

Yeah, at this very moment, "every single fantastic answer" is... five answers. And in only two threads.
posted by smackfu at 7:05 PM on January 22, 2006

(Also, fantastic answers seem to be a victim of feedback.)
posted by smackfu at 7:08 PM on January 22, 2006

16 questions to > 1600 answers is an unbelievable ratio for any AskMe participant - especially when the answers are so frequently intelligent & helpful. Good for you, ikkyu2, the site could do with more like you!
posted by jonson at 7:55 PM on January 22, 2006

Good job ikkyu2, I've always loved your posts, and while we're at it, I love Clay201 as well :-D.
posted by onalark at 8:49 PM on January 22, 2006

[this is helpful]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:54 PM on January 22, 2006

For the interested, I just performed a brief experiment involving several guitars and a Mesa Mark IV, and I can state confidently for the record that George Lynch is in no danger whatsoever from my guitar stylings.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:17 PM on January 22, 2006

Seriously, the woman who thinks she can use herbs and diet to defeat cancer is seriously mistaken. I wonder how common this kind of thinking is.
posted by skallas at 5:44 PM PST on January 22

It's unbelievably, insanely common. It stems from a culture that trashes intellectuals and science and that thinks "if you're so smart, why aren't you rich" is a question actually means something.

You see, if you sell a bunch of books that say some herbal mishmash cures cancer, the fact that your book sold well is proof of its accuracy.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:17 PM on January 22, 2006

Seriously, the woman who thinks she can use herbs and diet to defeat cancer is seriously mistaken. I wonder how common this kind of thinking is.
posted by skallas at 5:44 PM PST on January 22

I don't know what she'll end up doing, but one result of the AskMe thread seems to be that she'll be getting some second opinions, both on her pathology and from another oncologist. She is talking a lot about doing alternative therapies in conjunction with traditional, so that's a positive sign.
posted by agropyron at 11:49 PM on January 22, 2006

And yes, I'd agree with Optimus that this kind of thinking is common. I've got family members on both sides that are into natural cures and down on traditional medicine.
posted by agropyron at 11:57 PM on January 22, 2006

It's unbelievably, insanely common. It stems from a culture that trashes intellectuals and science and that thinks "if you're so smart, why aren't you rich" is a question actually means something.

The "intellectuals" who work as physicians, or in sales or development for biotech and pharma companies usually are rich. Why someone would listen to Kevin Trudeau and ignore hundreds of thousands of scientists and physicians is well explained by stupidity, for sure, but not necessarily by anti-intellectualism. I'm completely talking out of my ass here, but hippie tree-worship (everything we need is in nature, man) and anti-authoritarianism (Pfizer has a cure, dude, but they make more money on the palliatives) seem to me to be better explanations.
posted by Kwantsar at 12:09 AM on January 23, 2006

Thank you Ikkuyu2!
posted by Wilder at 6:04 AM on January 23, 2006

I plan to start asking people, "If you're so rich, why aren't you smart?"
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:29 AM on January 23, 2006

I'm not rich, does that make me smart?

(Well done ikkyu2!)
posted by OmieWise at 7:38 AM on January 23, 2006

Thank you ikkyu2 for your prodigious good will in helping answering others and sharing your knowledge for our sake. For some reason, when I read your answers with such regularity, I think of Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments. And I still get a kick out of the Tom Cruise post.
posted by dios at 8:25 AM on January 23, 2006

After reading ikkyu2's post in the cancer thread, I thought about coming here to call him out. You know, in a good way. As someone pointed out recently, we're quick to attack and sometimes slow to thank. gleuschk got here first, so all that remains is for me to doff my cap. Jolly good show, chap.
posted by blag at 8:30 AM on January 23, 2006

I applaud the ikkyu2 shoutout. Upon joining MeFi, he was one of the first people I listed as a contact, because of the thoughtful quality and generosity of his answers. So, hey, it's your day. Way to be.
posted by Miko at 12:31 PM on January 23, 2006