megateeth Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 ...when I look at some posts. You all know all the names and detailed identification info about all of these fossils. Someone posts something and most of you know exactly what it is. A lot of it is really cool looking but I do not know what I am looking at most of the time. I end up googling the names that you give so I am slowly picking some of it up but I do not know 2% of what most of you know. Megateeth Fossils - Megalodon Teeth, Other Shark Teeth and Info about Megalodon shark tooth collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1nickeless1 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 2%? Have some pride, man. I am a diluted .02%! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefootgirl Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Don't ever feel stupid because your learning. We aren't born knowing this stuff and everyone on here had to learn it from somebody else. I still know next to nothing and forget most of what I do learn. Your only stupid when you think you have learned everything and there is nothing else to learn. In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress toward victory. Alfred North Whithead 'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 you know it is possible to share too much. when somebody tosses out a bunch of scientific mumbledygook, you're supposed to just nod sagely and mutter, "in theory..." then you walk out and leave them frantically researching for days to come up with something to prove to you that they know more than you, while you're having beers on the veranda and/or collecting fossils that, although nameless, are in your possession and none the less cool. besides, everyone can't be heroes, because then there'd be nobody to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. i think will rogers said that, or something very close. i do study a lot, but usually only what i'm interested in. some things are like scotch - i just can't acquire a taste for them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldom Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I don't know about that Meg I for one don't want to get into a shark tooth debate with you, I can not win. But your right most here know more then me but that just means that I need to learn more. I google stuff on all most every post. Google is my new BFF Galveston Island 32 miles long 2 miles wide 134 bars 23 liquor stores any questions? Evolution is Chimp Change. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain! "I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." Ernest Hemingway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." -Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant ...and I'm good with that "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdog Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I'm sure some members feel stupid because they know so much, but can't find the teeth that you are able to bring up. Personally, if I was finding half the stuff you find, I wouldn't doubt myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepinthemud Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I never had much of a background in fossils, although I suppose I know a little more than the average joe... After coming here, Ive realized (as with most topics) I only know the very surface... I still cannot identify anything, except looking at something and going "maybe coral?" or "some type of gastropod" ...even then, I am usually not confident in my guess. We come to this forum not to show off to others what we know, but to learn. We want to learn what other people know... MAYBE -heres a suggestion- Maybe if the people who identify it, they could tell us why. IE: This is a "Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth BECAUSE......." and explain us why. Teach Us. We will listen! I agree though, that people just spit out a scientific word... but if people start explain WHY they think it is something, then we could all learn! "To do is to be." -Socrates "People are Stupid." -Wizard's First Rule "Happiness is a warm Jeep." -Auspex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 ...when I look at some posts. You all know all the names and detailed identification info about all of these fossils. Someone posts something and most of you know exactly what it is. A lot of it is really cool looking but I do not know what I am looking at most of the time. I end up googling the names that you give so I am slowly picking some of it up but I do not know 2% of what most of you know. Illusion. It's all illusion. And, I'll tell you how it works. The forum posts allow time to research (as you do) any bit of esoterica that interests you. You post your new-found or newly-confirmed information (with an appropriate citation, we hope); and, everyone thinks, "That was insightful! ...useful! ...interesting!" Everyone wins: The Fossil Forum builds a store of correct, useful information to be shared widely. Your own repution for posting good information is enhanced. And best of all for you -- you are learning new stuff. The Forum can dissapear at any time (as it did over the past weekend). The subscribers will come and go. But, the things you learn by doing a little research will be yours to keep. You are stocking your brain attic. “A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.” --Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle) in "The Sign of the Four" http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 A lot us us are in the same boat (hmmm, I'd like to be in that boat when the teeth first appear). We are doing what we like, even if we don't really know anything about it. I will never know as much as some of more more knowledgeable people here, but I know more than I did the day before. And I know I have people I can ask about what I don't know (and then I know ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I'm with you, Mikey! I love learning about this stuff--it'd be really boring if I knew everything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 MAYBE -heres a suggestion-Maybe if the people who identify it, they could tell us why. IE: This is a "Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth BECAUSE......." and explain us why. Teach Us. We will listen! I agree though, that people just spit out a scientific word... but if people start explain WHY they think it is something, then we could all learn! I am OK with you. Every person is interested or controls a subject which others do not know. A forum is made for distribution, to teach and to explain. I have never dived, I know nothing there, but I know "a bit " the actual sea urchins and the actual selachians... Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Harry that was the most insightful thing I think I've ever heard. But yeah I don't know hardly anything I know very little Pleistocene and some Miocene sharks. that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I think I googled all these names people use on the forum for at least 2 years before I started to be able to remember some of the more common ones. The best way I've found to learn and remember the names is to use them as soon as you learn them..often. I'll forget two or three days after googling something if I haven't used it in my head, talked to somebody about it or written it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixflood Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 And it is ok to ask questions about a topic posted if you don't understand. I can remember a time when I didn't know about auriculatus, angustidens, chubutensis. But now, for the most part, I can tell you the difference. Do I know everything about it? No. Are there members here that know more than me? Yes. But I know, for the most part, I won't be judged if I ask questions. We are all at different levels or learning. Soon you will be rattling off these names as well. I really know nothing about echinoids but I am learning. I never knew there were so many types! Sometimes it is good to have a hands on experience with some of these fossils. The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron E. Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 you know it is possible to share too much. when somebody tosses out a bunch of scientific mumbledygook, you're supposed to just nod sagely and mutter, "in theory..." then you walk out and leave them frantically researching for days to come up with something to prove to you that they know more than you, while you're having beers on the veranda and/or collecting fossils that, although nameless, are in your possession and none the less cool. besides, everyone can't be heroes, because then there'd be nobody to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. i think will rogers said that, or something very close. i do study a lot, but usually only what i'm interested in. some things are like scotch - i just can't acquire a taste for them... Thanks, tracer, for the comforting words. And hey, gang! I went out hunting last weekend and found some of those clam-lookin' thingies, only they're different, and a PERFECT one of those things that looks like that spot on my neighbor Bob's dog's left side!!! Oh, one last thing, have you ever sampled a nice single malt? Tastes NOTHING like that blended stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megateeth Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks for all the responses. I want to be a participant in discussions. I will open a post and all I can add is "That's cool" It is the truth, all of this is amazing, but I think to myself "Is that all you have to add? That's cool?" Usually that is all. Maybe because my finds are not diverse in period and are easily identified I never went much beyond what I knew. Coming here shows me how little I know about the fossil world. Megateeth Fossils - Megalodon Teeth, Other Shark Teeth and Info about Megalodon shark tooth collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks for all the responses. I want to be a participant in discussions. I will open a post and all I can add is "That's cool" It is the truth, all of this is amazing, but I think to myself "Is that all you have to add? That's cool?" Usually that is all. You have no doubt noticed that my level of erudition is well below that of the various members who actually know something of substance about a given subject. When I can, I post an "observation" about some detail of the item, in part to foment thought but mostly as a way to make myself look at it. I get to feel involved, further the discussion, and occasionally learn something. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 auspex, everybody knows you're a non-evil genius so quit messin' around. megachompers - you're clearly in the beginning stage of some weird mid-life crisis, which hopefully won't involve a 20-year-old bottle blonde, and/or a new motorcycle. ya'll should concentrate on the fact that a lucky couple of you are at least more centered than i. gotta go - helping tj with 'portant snarge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Sharks Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Bill: No need to feel stupid. 5 or so years ago, I couldn't tell you the difference between a mako and a great white, let alone "fancy" sharks like Hemipristis and Notorhynchus. Not to brag here, but a quick look in my gallery would show I've come a long way in a short time, simply due to an interest in the subject. The internet has been my most valuable tool, and identifying shark teeth is made simpler by the amount of good sites out there. Now that I'm collecting Ordovician-Devonian deposits mainly, the ID becomes much more difficult. Not as many sites to identify brachiopods and gastropods and reference books are often outdated or too vague to cover everything. If I can't find an ID I'll gladly post some pics here, often getting several different opinions from our local experts. Those I take as a starting point and further my search. Keep up the great hunting stories, I don't have access to teeth up here, and your posts make me dream of "someday" There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks for all the responses. I want to be a participant in discussions. I will open a post and all I can add is "That's cool" It is the truth, all of this is amazing, but I think to myself "Is that all you have to add? That's cool?" Usually that is all. Maybe because my finds are not diverse in period and are easily identified I never went much beyond what I knew. Coming here shows me how little I know about the fossil world. Hey, I've done (and thought) that, but what the hey. I've done it on your posts. I like those megs you find, don't know much about them, will pay a compliment and move on (he says, lusting over that 6+ inch tooth - where's my drool bucket?). I get more experience in the variations of what they look like from your pictures, so at least I've learned something. Oh, and that 20-year-old bottle blonde is a lot of fun for a while, but not really worth the trouble in the long run.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 This is going to sound stupid--but I feel exhilarated being around people who know more than I do about fossils. I love picking the brains of people with lots of experience--I can't help it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metopocetus Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 We all have unique and varied backgrounds. Our knowledge base consists of what we have been exposed to and what we have learned. Nobody here is stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megateeth Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 megachompers - you're clearly in the beginning stage of some weird mid-life crisis, which hopefully won't involve a 20-year-old bottle blonde, and/or a new motorcycle. Tracer , Nothing that serious. I just seem to only post my finds but I have fossil interests beyond my stuff and I do not add much on that to the discussions. Also no time for a crisis. I spend all my spare time underwater. Besides I would kill myself on the bike and my wife would make sure I met the same end if I took up with the blonde. Megateeth Fossils - Megalodon Teeth, Other Shark Teeth and Info about Megalodon shark tooth collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 yeah really...im a painter with a high school education. ive just read alot on alot of different subjects. besides...we all only fossil hunt because the chicks dig it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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