[edit: clarity] NOTE: This is pretty much fluff, but kind of funny:

Has anyone seen the most recent The Simpsons [halloween] "Treehouse of Horror" where the Simpson family makes "the fantastic voyage" into Mr. Burns' body? While in Mr. Burns' body Homer was voicing to Lisa his disdain for science, "Has science ever kissed a woman; won the Superbowl, or landed men on the moon?" he asked. Of course, it's up to us to infer that Homer is either ignorant or he is an HB.

From evidence in a prior episode of The Simpsons, I have deduced that Homer must be an HB. I determined this from a particular episode where the question arose "Where were you and what were you doing when Apollo 11 landed on the moon?" or something to that effect. Homer then had one of his silly flashbacks; in it his dad was intently watching Neil Armstrong at the base of the ladder. After his [Neil's] famous "giant leap" quote, the scene then panned over to young Homer who was [I think] on a bean bag chair with headphones singing, "Yummy yummy yummy I got love in my tummy..."

Obviously he recalled what he was doing during the first moon landing, yet in the latest "Treehouse of Horror" episode he implied that science had not landed men on the moon. But I think I will still like his character. Usually when Homer encouters or does anything strange, it is usually only episodic. I'm sure in a future episode Homer may imply that men have landed on the moon.

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If only closed minds came with closed mouths!

Well... Science being more of an abstract concept or philosophy than it is a thing or person, I'd have to argue that science hasn't kissed a woman, won a superbowl, or landed on the moon. Really, it doesn't do anything.

Ignoring that, though...

You're looking at this quote through a bizarre set of filtered glasses. I'd call you a cynic if I were to judge you based on this one comment. I say this, because you've missed something.

You have to assume that the things listed have something in common. The thing that's brought up front is that science hasn't done these things. The other is that men have. If you extend your sentiment from the Moon comment to the rest of the quote, you end up denying that women have been kissed, or superbowls been won.

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"I'm making wheatloaf. It's like meatloaf, only with wheat"
"Isn't that just...bread?"

Nah, obviously he recalled what he was doing during the "moon landing".

I remember what I was doing when the Imperial Star Destroyer chased the Rebel Blockade Runner -- eating popcorn -- but that doesn't mean some Imperial Star Destroyer actually chased a Rebel Blockade Runner.

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Homer would not be a typical HB though since he has in fact been in space aboard a shuttle.

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"Man has always found it easier to sacrifice his life than learn the multiplication table." - Somerset Maugham

Agreed. But Homer did not say, "Science has not landed on the moon," he said, "Science has not landed men on the moon." But as you said, science can't really do anything, so it really can't land men on the moon.

I beg to differ, and call you the cynic. I'm pretty sure that when Homer said, "Has science ever kissed a woman; won the Superbowl, or landed men on the moon?" he did not have in mind the implications that "Science...is an abstract concept or philosophy...[that] doesn't do anything,...[therefore] you end up denying that women have been kissed, or superbowls been won." That would require too much thought on Homer's part. Anyone who has seen this particular episode of Simpsons knows that Homer (being an idiot) simply was implying that men HAVE NOT fulfilled the scientific feat of landing on the moon, that's all. Hence, my original post questioning whether Homer is an HB.

That's a funny episode, where he eats floating potato chips all the while "On the Blue Danube" is playing as background music. I agree that he wouldn't be a typical HB, which is why I included that fact that a lot of what Homer does is unique to just a single episode [of the show]; which is why I will let him get away with it. :wink:

[edit: correction]

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If only closed minds came with closed mouths!

[-X It is the walzer "Danube Blue"!
Also, nice scene of Homer matching the spin of a floating chip, while approaching.

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papageno


"Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?" - Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)

"It's all about context!" - Vince Noir (The Mighty Boosh)

"I've never heard of such a brutal and shocking injustice that I cared so little about!" - Zapp Brannigan (Futurama)

Thanks for the correction, I think I had a brain fart, i.e., I know both pieces are completely different [yet featured in 2001: A Space Odyssy], so when I said, "Also Sprach Zarathustra" I was, in fact, thinking of "The Blue Danube," I just typed the incorrect title. I have made the appropriate correction.

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If only closed minds came with closed mouths!

maybe he thought all the astronauts were women?

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Surely if you are going to start a conspiracy theory it is best to start with something that might have a grain of truth or reality in it. To start with the preposterous and go downhill from there is just stupid. steve(primus) (Avatar)

Homer's the perfect HB: he has no idea what he's talking about, but he says it anyway.

He believed in Lisa's "tiger repellent" stone among other things.

maybe Homer didn't actually remember what he was doing when men first landed on the moon- they just showed what he was doing when men landed on the moon. it wasn't him remembering that moment in time- it was him doing something at the same time.-
i thinlk he was oblivious to everything except the music in the headphones.
know what i mean?

I just think he doesn't know any better, not that he's really an HB. However, being a cartoon character it's tough to tell.

Actually I think his references to the moon landing are more of a stab at HBers on the part of the writers.

I agree with you. The writers of The Simpsons are not stupid. There are so many jokes in the show that require an ample amount of intelligence/non-conventional knowledge to even get the joke.

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If only closed minds came with closed mouths!

It's probably akin to satire really. I'd like to see them really lampoon the HBers one of these days! But then again, it is FOX!

To me, it sound as a joke that Homer doesn't know what science does or is, i.e. he clearly knows that men have landed on th moon, but what the heck has science to do with that? Nothing! No HB, but a science ignorant.

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Knowledge is a curse, but ignorance is worse

It seems that the writers of "The Simpsons" seem to put views in the mouths of their characters (particularly Homer) that directly contradict their own. We need only see Homer's response to Fox itself, let alone his apparent absence of any common sense or morals, to see this in action. So, when Homer says (or implies) that men didn't land on the moon, the writers are expressing their belief that they did. That's what I reckon, anyway!

Could there also be a play on the cliche "if they can put a man on the moon, then why can't they..." there? :wink:

At this point I think the writers just write anything they feel like and that means slamming anyone and everyone. What is FOX gonna do, fire them, cancel the show? Ha, they would laugh all the way to their mansions. Sometimes it seems they are trying to see how far they can go and get away with it.

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"Man has always found it easier to sacrifice his life than learn the multiplication table." - Somerset Maugham

Yeah, they definitely have the clout to do just about anything they want, including FOX news.