Nikola Tesla day is July 10th

May 21, 2012 1:08 PM

Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal published a comic entitled "Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived.." Alex Knapp at Forbes responds with "Nikola Tesla Wasn't God And Thomas Edison Wasn't The Devil" Inman responds to the response very succinctly. (the oatmeal previously)
posted by rebent (97 comments total)

It is always hard for me to decide which is my favourite nerdfight: Tesla vs Edison, or Leibniz vs Newton.
posted by elizardbits at 1:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [26 favorites]

I read this earlier ... great piece ... but I was pedantically, geekily annoyed that they both seemed to miss the point about radar and submarines (although Inman is more right than Knapp).

Of course radar doesn't work underwater.

But submarines in World War I didn't spend all, or even most, of their time underwater!

Until the advent of nuclear power, submarines were designed to operate on the surface most of the time and submerge only for evasion or for daylight attacks.

So, yes, using radar to locate and track submarines in World War I would have been a pretty big 'effing deal.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [18 favorites]

but the Wrong People like tesla plus edison is a strong successful alpha capitalist

I don't know what to do!
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 1:15 PM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

Forbes vs the Oatmeal... now that's a three-way tie for last.

The other being the rest of humanity for being complicate in allowing this to happen.
posted by wcfields at 1:16 PM on May 21, 2012 [11 favorites]

What a surprise that Forbes would pick the side of Edison the industrialist mogul over Tesla the mad engineer.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:18 PM on May 21, 2012 [31 favorites]

I don't think it should be Edison v Tesla -
It should be Edison v Westinghouse.

Edison and Westinghouse were similar type men - hard-nosed "inventors" that were really in it for the business and the money. Both of them take lots of credit for work done by others. BUt that said, Westinghouse is still the better man.

Tesla is a totally different type person. He was a pure inventor. A true scientist. A thinker.

Comparing Edison to Tesla is comparing apples and oranges
posted by Flood at 1:18 PM on May 21, 2012 [19 favorites]

Please, let's not forget Charles Proteus Steinmetz, one of the more fascinating characters in early electrical research.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 1:19 PM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

Once again, Inman puts out something that I think would be great on a high school classroom wall... and then I read further and think, "Wait, no. I can't get away with that. Sigh. Dammit."

I've seen the "How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell" poster in a computer skills classroom, but by and large his other stuff just wouldn't fly. Sadly.

(Pretty sure I'd get in trouble for the "imploding buttholes" line...)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:19 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm under the impression that there are few Edison fanboys left amoung the Nerds.
posted by humanfont at 1:19 PM on May 21, 2012

I need to find a way to use "How in Zeus's thunder-clapping butthole...?" in conversation.

Yes, apparently I appreciate the rhetoric of a precocious 12 year-old.
posted by smirkette at 1:20 PM on May 21, 2012

He keeps ranting about the cats and dogs Edison killed.

Does he not know about the elephant ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 1:21 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

it looks like someone has thrown a pair of bloomers into the machine
posted by elizardbits at 1:21 PM on May 21, 2012 [22 favorites]

Metafilter: What kind of humanitarian electrocutes cats?
posted by eugenen at 1:22 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

Tesla and Edison both suck because they didn't anticipate the development of CC a.k.a. Clickbait Current. That's what you generate when you rub the likes of Forbes Online and the Oatmeal together. I am eagerly awaiting Farhad Manjoo's arrival to mediate. We'll be powering the East Coast in no time.
posted by mph at 1:23 PM on May 21, 2012 [18 favorites]

Here is my comic, it is thirteen feet of white-on-black text
posted by shakespeherian at 1:23 PM on May 21, 2012 [15 favorites]

It is always hard for me to decide which is my favourite nerdfight: Tesla vs Edison, or Leibniz vs Newton.

Richards vs. von Doom
posted by griphus at 1:23 PM on May 21, 2012 [13 favorites]

"Don't you just HATE pedantic shitheads who sharpshoot minor errors in your work in order to undermine the bigger message?"

FUCK YES.
posted by zarq at 1:24 PM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

I did not find this rebuttal very succinct.
posted by tigrefacile at 1:24 PM on May 21, 2012 [19 favorites]

Does he not know about the elephant ?

He does. He mentioned it.
posted by JHarris at 1:25 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

What I'm taking away from this discussion is that Hippolyte Pixii is the greatest name in the history of naming things and I want to be named that now.
posted by darksasami at 1:25 PM on May 21, 2012 [21 favorites]

I happen to quite like Tesla, Edison, Forbes and The Oatmeal. I hate it when the grownups fight.

It does strike me that it is a lot more fun to learn about the accomplishments of these men than it is to try to undercut them.
posted by poe at 1:27 PM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

What I'm taking away from this discussion is that Hippolyte Pixii is the greatest name in the history of naming things and I want to be named that now.

Yeah, idek, I was going to name my new puppy Lord Rupert Stanley Picklebottom III but I am now far more inspired by Sieur Pixii.
posted by elizardbits at 1:28 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's not like there was any question Edison was a dick.
posted by tommasz at 1:30 PM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

yeah ahm...can we have a comic about the definition of 'succinct' now please?
posted by spicynuts at 1:31 PM on May 21, 2012

It is always hard for me to decide which is my favourite nerdfight: Tesla vs Edison, or Leibniz vs Newton.

Newton is the fucking daddy.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:31 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

yeah but check out Leibniz's pimp king wig
posted by elizardbits at 1:33 PM on May 21, 2012 [8 favorites]

I look forward to The Oatmeal and Forbes weighing in on Philo Farnsworth vs. David Sarnoff; I wonder who will take which side?
posted by TedW at 1:34 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Here is my comic, it is thirteen feet of white-on-black text

My thoughts exactly. It's really more a wordy powerpoint slide.
posted by doctor_negative at 1:34 PM on May 21, 2012

Is a Legion of Pixies a Pixii?
posted by benzenedream at 1:46 PM on May 21, 2012

Ron Thanagar: "Please, let's not forget Charles Proteus Steinmetz, one of the more fascinating characters in early electrical research."

Possibly apocryphal, but:

One day a whole roomful of General Electric's most expensive machinery went out of order. By this time Steinmetz had retired, but the company's baffled engineers called him back as a consultant. Steinmetz ambled from machine to machine, taking a measurement here, scribbling something in his notebook there. After about an hour, he took out a large piece of chalk and marked a large 'X' on the casing of one machine. Workers pried off the casing and found the problem at once. But when the company executives got Steinmetz's bill for $10,000, they were reluctant to pay it. "This seems a bit excessive for one chalk mark," Steinmetz was told. "Perhaps you'd better itemize your charges." Within a few days, they received the following itemized bill:

    Making one chalk mark:  $1.00
   Knowing where to make one chalk mark:  $9,999.00

posted by namewithoutwords at 1:51 PM on May 21, 2012 [31 favorites]

I look forward to The Oatmeal and Forbes weighing in on Philo Farnsworth vs. David Sarnoff; I wonder who will take which side?

~Waves his John Logie Baird banner...
posted by Thorzdad at 1:52 PM on May 21, 2012 [5 favorites]

"99% of people don't know who Tesla is..."

Dude, they sell his cars in Menlo Park. I hear they're fast, but you can brick the batteries and it's really expensive to fix that...
posted by Chuffy at 1:53 PM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

Here is my comic, it is thirteen feet of white-on-black text

Attached please find Complaint Form 433, "An artist created art I do not approve of." You'll want to fill out section A (All Complaints), make sure to check box 22 ("I do not think the art fulfills the requirements of the category I believe it belongs to,") and be sure to initial the line for "I do not think this artist should deviate from the format of his/her most common works."
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:57 PM on May 21, 2012 [34 favorites]

OK, I think, Tesla gets a lot of big-ups who maybe don't understand his work or the difference between practical stuff he did like build generators and wackier stuff that sounded cool but never came to anything like earthquake causing raygun towers. And yes, people DO love to demonise Edison. So maybe I'll give this article a chance...

Keep that in mind and consider this: could it be that Edison wasn’t “a douchebag” in the Oatmeal’s words? Is it possible – just possible – that Edison honestly believed that AC was dangerous and honestly did not think it should be used?

Ahahahahahahahahahahah... NO.
posted by Artw at 2:00 PM on May 21, 2012 [7 favorites]

Also can the Atomic Robo guy do the next comic?
posted by Artw at 2:01 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is my favourite Tesla comic.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:03 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

I know that The Oatmeal was started in 2009 but for some reason it seems hopelessly stuck in 2006. I can't explain this feeling, but there it is.

Further Observations About The Oatmeal:

1. It is occasionally funny/relevant
2. It is even more occasionally "douchey"
3. Inman is very good at promoting Inman, little else
4. The are is really quite terrible

I've been reading him from the start...I feel like he's the Ken Rockwell of the webcomics world. So.
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:06 PM on May 21, 2012 [9 favorites]

4. The art is really quite terrible

*hangs head in shame, cries for edit window*
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:07 PM on May 21, 2012

Comparing Edison to Tesla is comparing apples and oranges

That was sort of the point.

It should be Edison v Westinghouse.

Why would you compare those two to decide 'the greatest geek who ever lived'?
posted by robertc at 2:07 PM on May 21, 2012

5. All in all, about what you would expect from a partially-reformed SEO "consultant".
posted by gilrain at 2:11 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

If people really want to read a comic about Tesla vs Edison that doesn't get bogged down about the facts (as Inman's response seems to indicate) then there's The Five Fists of Science.
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 2:13 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

5. All in all, about what you would expect from a partially-reformed SEO "consultant".


Emphasis on partially-reformed.
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Out of this whole thing, I'm probably most shocked that Tesla was being offered sex from the age of 0.

And now we shall waltz, to The Handsome Family's Tesla's Hotel Room.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Jesus christ is that Oatmeal dude a douchebag. He finishes his long screed with this: "Lastly, I'm a comedian and I speak in hyperbole. If you sharpshoot my work you will find that I exaggerate for the sake of comedy." What, really? Because the initial Oatmeal comic is not funny at all. Its intent seems to be a pretty serious screed against Edison and in favor of Tesla, with some (not actually funny) comic asides. If you're gonna rant about the historical record being wrong about Tesla and then complain that you weren't actually trying to be accurate when someone calls you out on your inaccuracies, that is a rich, rich irony.
posted by Frobenius Twist at 2:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [20 favorites]

Oh boy, I hope forbes takes on XKCD next!

I love these moments of excellent nerd-baiting for page impressions, and I'm glad to see that mefi still has people who appreciate the artistry of trolling for pageviews as much as I do. I look forward to the inevitable articles Forbes will soon be publishing:

The Next Generation: Worst Speculative Fiction TV Show of All Time? (double the clicks by dragging up the Sci-Fi/Speculative Fiction debate!)
Android Phones - Why Google Will Fail At The Mobile OS War
iPhones - Why Apple Will Fail At The Mobile OS War
Video Games - Waste of Time or Danger To Our Children?
Message Boards: 4Chan and The Threat To American Freedom
Why Magic The Gathering Causes Sterility
HEY NERDS EVERYONE HATES YOU BUT IF YOU CLICK HERE YOU CAN PROVE THEM WRONG
Yelling On The Internet: Public Menace? Iron Man says [click here to read]
Netflix Instant Streaming Is Why Your Girlfriend Left You
Schools Should Continue Teaching Non-Math Disciplines

posted by shmegegge at 2:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [14 favorites]

Message Boards: 4Chan and The Threat To American Freedom

The macros that would arise from this would be magnificent.
posted by elizardbits at 2:16 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

I know that The Oatmeal was started in 2009 but for some reason it seems hopelessly stuck in 2006. I can't explain this feeling, but there it is.

The pseudo-handwriting-y typeface, maybe?
posted by shakespeherian at 2:17 PM on May 21, 2012

I want to know which refugee from kuro5hin is now working at Forbes.
posted by localroger at 2:17 PM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

Come on, I found myself deeply touched by the image of Edison brooding alone by the fire, worried about the dangers of alternating current. "I know it's wrong to kill animals on stage," he mutters. "But think of the children!"

"Your money bath is ready, sir."

"Watkins! I didn't hear you come in. Very well."

Edison walks with heavy heart towards the bathroom, where he undresses and dives into a vat of gold coins.

Yes, he decides, spitting out a stream of doubloons. If it saves even one human life... then I'll be the demon they need. Perhaps one day, someone will be rich enough to understand me. Perhaps one day... someone will found Forbes magazine.

"Watson!" he calls.

"Yes, sir?"

"Get me... an elephant!"
posted by No-sword at 2:18 PM on May 21, 2012 [39 favorites]

Ooooh, doleful for the win!

Ken MF-ing Rockwell? Dude, you didn't! But I'm so glad you did!
posted by Lynsey at 2:19 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

On reflection, I am also curious as to how much Inman paid the kuro5hin refugee to pick this fight, which is likely to introduce thousands of people like me who had heard of Forbes but not of Inman to Inman's strip.
posted by localroger at 2:22 PM on May 21, 2012

Forbes vs the Oatmeal... now that's a three-way tie for last.

Are we... hating the Oatmeal now? I must have missed the memo.
posted by Sebmojo at 2:29 PM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

The pseudo-handwriting-y typeface, maybe?

Yes, that's definitely part of it. Also I think the general choice of subject matter, just the overall sensibility of Inman's output feels stunted. It's an awkward feeling for me, because sometimes I enjoy his work, but, well...I probably wouldn't invite him to a party. Because I think he'd be a drag, especially after a few beers.

Ken MF-ing Rockwell? Dude, you didn't! But I'm so glad you did!

I should point out that I still check out Rockwell's site from time to time. I'm fully aware of his shtick but I still like to read what he has to say, even if only to roll my eyes at it. Rockwell, a lot like Inman: not a terrible human being but not not on my guest list, either.*

*I may be carrying this metaphor too far. I have never hosted a party in my entire life, other than a family birthday party. I'm not some social maven, okay? I'm just using it as shorthand to judge these two people I never met! You know, because Internet.
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:29 PM on May 21, 2012

I'm under the impression that there are few Edison fanboys left amoung the Nerds.

The nerds need to read Tim Powers' Expiration Date. All about ghosts, the mystic and supernatural city of Los Angeles... and Edison.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 2:31 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

So how old is this Inman guy? 13? Maybe 14?
posted by txmon at 2:43 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Tesla is one of my favorite historical people, and likely my very favorite historical person to show up randomly in works of fiction, because there is little spec-fic wackiness I could not plausibly envision him dabbling in. At the moment my favorite Fictional Tesla is a toss-up between steampunk-mecha-superhero!Tesla of Five Fists of Science, dapper-wizard-David-Bowie!Tesla of The Prestige, and/or chaste-sex-symbol-woobie!Tesla of Hark A Vagrant.

But really I still want someone to go all-out with Fictional Tesla and embrace his obsessive love of pigeons. Because PIGEONS ARE AWESOME.
posted by nicebookrack at 2:43 PM on May 21, 2012

I think The Oatmeal does a better job of proving their point whatever you think of the comic itself, and I'd write a reasoned explanation of why I feel that way, but first I need to wrap my mind around the fact that "Who would win in a fight - the Romulans or the Minbari?" is an editorial that might appear in Forbes someday.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 2:47 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

Are we... hating the Oatmeal now? I must have missed the memo.

Probably because that post was deleted.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:48 PM on May 21, 2012

And I don't think "we" are hating the Oatmeal now...though a few of us are remarking that maybe The Oatmeal isn't actually so great after all. Just a little public confession, nothing to worry about.
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:51 PM on May 21, 2012

People were hating on The Oatmeal roughly a geologic epoch prior to that post Church.

"How to pander to social media sites with bland shitty "comics" as pioneered by The Oatmeal." was the complete text of an FPP in 2010.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 2:55 PM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

"... and then Tesla broke free from the electric chair and grabbed the remote-control for his death ray. But Edison was quicker and dove behind the elephant..."
posted by mmrtnt at 3:02 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

The Oatmeal is pretty awful...it has fans? Weird.
posted by maxwelton at 3:03 PM on May 21, 2012

"How to pander to social media sites with bland shitty "comics" as pioneered by The Oatmeal." was the complete text of an FPP in 2010.

I stand corrected, then.

I like it, FWIW.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 3:04 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I really like the Chainsawsuit parody of The Oatmeal.
posted by painquale at 3:04 PM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

If Tesla was such a genius, how come he went his whole life without figuring out how to get laid?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:05 PM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

Probably because that post was deleted.

Oh in the name of Elizabeth fucking Cady why did I read the comments on that Kotaku article

STAY CLASSY, INTERNET BOYZOBE
posted by nicebookrack at 3:08 PM on May 21, 2012

INTERNET BOYZOBE is a forthcoming single from Lady Gaga.
posted by shakespeherian at 3:10 PM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

The Real Truth of the Matter

is that the stories of

Tesla and Edison were both

a lot more complicated

than SAYING HYPERBOLIC BUTTHOLE

but hey if it makes you

feel smart to reinvent Tesla

AND DEATHRAY EXPLOSION

let me say AWESOME because

I make up for lack of range and depth

WITH VOLUME
posted by klangklangston at 3:29 PM on May 21, 2012 [12 favorites]

I am surprised to find that the Oatmeal has critics.

I had thought that it was pretty much golden. It's on the "Banned for being Awesome" list in the webcomics subreddit, right there with XKCD and the rest of the heavies.

I'm not sure what to say... just when I thought I knew my way around the internet.
posted by mmrtnt at 3:31 PM on May 21, 2012

Just popped in to say: Monads.

I'll show myself out.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:36 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

painquale. Thanks for this. Can't wait to check it out at home.
posted by mmrtnt at 3:51 PM on May 21, 2012

Tesla and Edison and Westinghouse (and Sarnoff and Deforest and Marconi and...) as massive, unreconstructed, ocean-going 24-carat industrial-strength copper-bottomed dreadnought-class pains in the arse.

For reasons too tedious to detail right now, I am trying to unravel various bits of the history of electricity and wireless. Trying to hack my way through what actually happened back then is like trying to work out what was actually going on in Apple/Google/MS/whoever's engineering departments based on 100-year-old marketing materials, flavoured by fermented fanboi spittle and patent troll court filings. If I had the time to go to primary sources, then it might be easier. Life's not that kind.

(If you want a genuine hero, though, Edwin Armstrong's yer man. If anyone's got a lead on what he did in WWII beyond 'gave the patents to the state and worked on advanced radar', keen to hear it. I know that stuff's out there, but not got it yet.)
posted by Devonian at 4:05 PM on May 21, 2012

Why Tesla? Because nobody would team Edison up with H.P. Lovecraft.

Also, The Oatmeal is neither as good as its fans claim nor as bad as its haters say (but for me, it leans slightly more toward 'bad' with specific exceptions). And I can not help but suspect that Inman is getting money under the table from Randall Munroe to keep making xkcd look good by comparison.

And has Forbes hired away one of the NYT's "MetaFilter Linkbait" specialists?
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:06 PM on May 21, 2012

Look elizardbits, I’m really happy for you and Imma Let you finish, but the Bone Wars is the best nerdfight of all time. The best nerdfight of all time!
posted by nooneyouknow at 4:30 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

F this nerdfight, I'm going with the dark horse: John Hays Hammond Jr., who held over 800 patents on more than 400 inventions, is considered the father of radio control, and built a goddamn castle that still stands, bitches.

while doing recent genealogical research on my family, I was at first excited to believe I was related, then dismayed to find out I was not, but still, a castle. Suck it, Hearst.
posted by davejay at 4:32 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Who built the massive hydroelectric plant in Niagara? George did.

(but yes, Nicky designed it, and waived his royalties, and was a stunnning genius).
posted by ovvl at 5:01 PM on May 21, 2012

If you want to be all "Meh, Edison" as an inventor, consider the fact that the tip of the thermionic emission iceberg was at one point dubbed "The Edison Effect" but despite this, Edison labs filed a single patent based on a simple extrapolation of the observation but didn't bother to figure out the underlying principles and, as a result, failed to invent the vacuum tube. This is where Edison really fails to grasp or even flail at the brass ring of alpha geekdom, no matter how good of a project manager he might have been.

If you doubt this, look at another alpha geek besides Tesla (whose story these days contains more fiction than fact). One of my favorite examples is Irving Langmuir. He's the one who actually created the incandescent light bulb you're probably familiar with, but he also invented TIG welding, cloud seeding and the diffusion vacuum pump; received a Nobel prize for his work on surface chemistry, including his description of oil films which allowed the first structural analysis of any sort of molecule, was the first person to describe wind driven surface circulation in the sea, was an early critic of "pathological sciences", has an equation, a research laboratory and a scientific journal named after him; was a pilot, the archetype on which Vonegut based Cat's Cradle's Felix Hoenikker and widely toured with his rock group which was known for their heavy use of syncopated rhythm.

OK, that last one was Buckaroo Banzi, but you understand my confusion.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 5:24 PM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

Metafilter: Zeus' Thunderclapping Butthole
posted by symbioid at 5:32 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

since it's a Favorite Engineers post.
posted by gorestainedrunes at 5:54 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

Westinghouse is still the better man.

He died with the plans for the first electric wheelchair beneath his fingers. Fitting, as the invention that made his fortune, the air-brake, made rail travel immensely safer, and his first invention, a rotary steam engine, lightyears ahead of its time, was meant to make life better for the average farmer. He served in both the Army, in the New York 16th Volunteer Cavalry during the Gettysburg campaign, and then the Navy, as an engineer aboard a Union ironclad, the USS Muscoota, which was sent to prevent Jefferson Davis from escaping abroad!

You can have your Jobs and Gates and Ellisons and Zuckerbergs. I'll take Westinghouse, any day.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:20 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

"Does this mean we should gargle Steve Ballmer's sweaty testicles because he did such a good job hiring smart people?"

No, that's not why.
posted by George_Spiggott at 6:38 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

The three things that I was pretty sure about before this that I'm even more sure of now:

1) Forbes' attempts to latch onto geek culture still really aren't latching on very well.

2) The one indisputable great thing that Tesla did was invent that one gun in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Man, that thing rocked!

3) If you have to end your endlessly nitpicky retort to someone else's critique of your comic by giving yourself an excuse to punt on the facts whenever you feel like it because you're a COMEDIAN and you're a FUNNY GUY and LAY OFF ME, MAAAAAN, IT'S HUMOR DAMNIT, well, guess what?
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:03 PM on May 21, 2012

Wait, Tesla sells a car that runs on DC batteries? Whatever happened to wireless energy...is HAARP the answer?
posted by crushedhope at 7:07 PM on May 21, 2012

xkcd nailed this years ago: someone is wrong on the internet.

I think the thread has already said what's necessary to say about both the Oatmeal and Forbes.
posted by spitefulcrow at 7:40 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: complicate in allowing this to happen.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:09 PM on May 21, 2012

The elephant thing...shit that really gets me.
posted by nzero at 8:16 PM on May 21, 2012

Meanwhile, Alexander Graham Bell is chilling up in Canada, not giving a flying flip about all of this drama. Hell yeah. Canada will live forever.
posted by Apocryphon at 8:47 PM on May 21, 2012

"99% of people don't know who Tesla is..."

He was portrayed by a mega-rock star in a Hollywood movie. Can a scientist get any more mainstream than that?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:49 PM on May 21, 2012

Meanwhile, Alexander Graham Bell is chilling up in Canada breeding multi-nippled sheep. Like a boss. (?)
posted by hattifattener at 9:08 PM on May 21, 2012

hattifattener: "Meanwhile, Alexander Graham Bell is chilling up in Canada breeding multi-nippled sheep."

OK, so I am willing to admit that there's a lot about sheep that I don't know, but surely your standard sheep is already multi-nippled, right?

Maybe this is one of those questions I don't want answered.

Actually, since the one-nippled sheep is stuck in my brain along with the 40-nippled sheep, let's just have the answer.
posted by Copronymus at 10:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Wait, I have multiple nipples!

Is this why they keep calling me sheeple?
posted by straight at 11:11 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Edison didn't even invent the lightbulb, but of course that doesn't help the American myth that they invented everything electrical ever.
posted by Quantum's Deadly Fist at 1:46 AM on May 22, 2012

Let's not forget Charles Proteus Steinmetz, one of the more fascinating characters in early electrical research.

Ron Thanagar, thanks for reminding me of one of my early heroes. An honest-to-god hunchback scientist playing with lightning... with the heart of Quasimodo and the brains of Frankenstein.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:28 AM on May 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Marvel did an excellent run about Tesla, Newton, DaVinci, etc. as founding members of SHIELD. Keeping on the same theme, one of them is an evil bastard.
posted by popaopee at 12:00 PM on May 22, 2012

So now making a webcomic is what it takes to get kids interested in history?

Goddammit.
posted by Monochrome at 5:26 PM on May 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Another vote for Tesla
posted by inigo2 at 5:21 AM on May 24, 2012

This thread certainly took a weird turn.
posted by JHarris at 9:36 AM on May 24, 2012