How many calls did the water plant get? Depressingly, how many would they have got if the presenters used H20 instead of dihydrogen monoxide?
My sad, sad guess is... about 10% of dihydrogen monoxide.
“Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
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Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, of course. But the overall cultural assumption that science is something dangerous that Washington is pushing on the Real Americans is pretty powerful. And since that cultural assumption is a power base and a profit base, there are a lot of entrenched interests keeping it right where it is. But this particular issue isn't even that. This particular issue is the fact that Americans have been trained for decades t…
True about the "it's not as simple" point - but why did the people call the water department first instead of a quick Googling of the term? I mean, it should be widely known that US news organizations often have a massive bias cough Fox News cough , so it should be the first thing to do to do at least a bit of fact checking.
"If people Googled before believing what they see or hear, I wouldn't have so many quotes misattributed to me." - Albert Einstein
Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#13As an European, all I can say is "Fuckin' stupid American rednecks". Jeez, do the US have at least A BIT chemistry lessons in their education system?
As an Australian, all I can say is "Stop being a racist European". Thanks.
Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#14"My understanding is it is a felony to call in a false water quality issue" Is this a local or state or federal issue?
Also, how does essentially saying: "The water supply is full of water" qualify as calling in a false water quality issue?
It was something facetious and intended as an "is your refrigerator running"-style prank. I am sure that most recipients of that call did in fact have refrigerators that were running, too. As a waste of government resources, such pranks are a problem. That line is intended as an emergency number. Chemical spills and biological contamination in water supplies is not a joke. These people just thought they were being clever.
Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#15Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#16As an European, all I can say is "Fuckin' stupid American rednecks". Jeez, do the US have at least A BIT chemistry lessons in their education system?
Yes, of course. But the overall cultural assumption that science is something dangerous that Washington is pushing on the Real Americans is pretty powerful. And since that cultural assumption is a power base and a profit base, there are a lot of entrenched interests keeping it right where it is. But this particular issue isn't even that. This particular issue is the fact that Americans have been trained for decades t…
> It's not as simple as just "stupid". It never is.
You are of course correct. It is not "stupid" but it is "ignorant" (both of the chemical terms used in the prank and of the critical thinking skills necessary to work out that "dihydrogen monoxide" is just "water")
Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#17Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#18Another example of chemophobia in the general public. The perception that all chemicals are bad for you is commonly accepted, although far from the truth.
Slate magazine did an excellent teardown on this issue, I share this link frequently:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa...
Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#19The big issue here is not that "the public can't even understand a basic chemical formula"--it's that so many people are willing to take something they hear in a morning radio show at face value (and panickedly call up the local utility, rather than search online for verification).
Re: “Dihydrogen monoxide” joke gets DJs suspended
#20[deleted]