Originally Posted By: dave5358
Originally Posted By: Trajan
You have to wonder, with the volume of evidence accumulating against oil additives, why so many of us still buy them. That's the million-dollar question, and it's just as difficult to answer as why so many of us smoke cigarettes, drink hard liquor or engage in any other number of questionable activities. We know they aren't good for us - but we go ahead and do them anyway.
Part of the answer may lie in what some psychiatrists call the "psychological placebo effect." Simply put, that means that many of us hunger for that peace of mind that comes with believing we have purchased the absolute best or most protection we can possibly get.
Even better, there's that wonderfully smug feeling that comes with thinking we might be a step ahead of the pack, possessing knowledge of something just a bit better than everyone else.
Then again, perhaps it comes from an ancient, deep-seated need we all seem to have to believe in magic. There has never been any shortage of unscrupulous types ready to cash in on our willingness to believe that there's some magical mystery potion we can buy to help
us lose weight, grow hair, attract the opposite sex or make our engines run longer and better. I doubt that there's a one of us who hasn't fallen for one of these at least once in our lifetimes. We just want it to be true so bad that we can't help ourselves.
Dr. Travan blesses us with his psycho-babble work! But, wait. It's not Dr. Travan's work at all - it's just something he plagiarized from Fred Rau, writing in the August 1992 edition of Road Rider. And, not surprisingly, Dr. Travan didn't even get the message right.
Fred Rau did a very thoughtful article on additives: Is that Additive a Negative? I would urge everyone to read it. Much of the article is directed to additives with Teflon or PTFE (it has no place in the crankcase) but he deals with a wide range of additives in an intelligent way. His remarks on Marvel Mystery Oil are not unkind (note: he is discussing MMO as an oil additive). But, read the article yourself and draw your own conclusions. It is well documented, and when he cites the work of others, he gives them full credit.
In another thread about Liqui-Moly's Ceratec product, Travan whined:
Originally Posted By: Trajan
What I find funny is that one is *required* to use a product to have an opinion on it. Even though one can read information in various threads, websites, etc. The Synlube lube 4 Life crowd had the same "you don't use it so you're not allowed to express an opinion." blather.
I have no idea what Travan's talking about, nor did another poster in that thread. But I frequently ask posters if they have used the product under discussion. I really want to know. My question doesn't seem to have stopped anyone (particularly Travan) from responding. But, when it becomes obvious that a responder has never used the product (and has no clue as to what it's about) his postings don't even amount to an anecdote.
Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Instead of "have you used this product", I should ask "Is your response your own?" Or, "Is your response something you've ripped from another writer, because you have no thoughts of your own?"
In almost every additive thread, Travan and a few of his friends can be counted upon to belittle the original poster, make fun of a product (which he has never used), distract the thread and contribute absolutely nothing. And now, it seems, these distracting words aren't even his own words? Whew.
Travan: don't plagiarize other people's work. And,you might take a break from posting and consider getting professional help.
Thank you. The threadpooping around here can get thoroughly annoying....especially the ones that feel the need to share their "wisdom" 10-15 times in a thread.
Originally Posted By: Trajan
You have to wonder, with the volume of evidence accumulating against oil additives, why so many of us still buy them. That's the million-dollar question, and it's just as difficult to answer as why so many of us smoke cigarettes, drink hard liquor or engage in any other number of questionable activities. We know they aren't good for us - but we go ahead and do them anyway.
Part of the answer may lie in what some psychiatrists call the "psychological placebo effect." Simply put, that means that many of us hunger for that peace of mind that comes with believing we have purchased the absolute best or most protection we can possibly get.
Even better, there's that wonderfully smug feeling that comes with thinking we might be a step ahead of the pack, possessing knowledge of something just a bit better than everyone else.
Then again, perhaps it comes from an ancient, deep-seated need we all seem to have to believe in magic. There has never been any shortage of unscrupulous types ready to cash in on our willingness to believe that there's some magical mystery potion we can buy to help
us lose weight, grow hair, attract the opposite sex or make our engines run longer and better. I doubt that there's a one of us who hasn't fallen for one of these at least once in our lifetimes. We just want it to be true so bad that we can't help ourselves.
Dr. Travan blesses us with his psycho-babble work! But, wait. It's not Dr. Travan's work at all - it's just something he plagiarized from Fred Rau, writing in the August 1992 edition of Road Rider. And, not surprisingly, Dr. Travan didn't even get the message right.
Fred Rau did a very thoughtful article on additives: Is that Additive a Negative? I would urge everyone to read it. Much of the article is directed to additives with Teflon or PTFE (it has no place in the crankcase) but he deals with a wide range of additives in an intelligent way. His remarks on Marvel Mystery Oil are not unkind (note: he is discussing MMO as an oil additive). But, read the article yourself and draw your own conclusions. It is well documented, and when he cites the work of others, he gives them full credit.
In another thread about Liqui-Moly's Ceratec product, Travan whined:
Originally Posted By: Trajan
What I find funny is that one is *required* to use a product to have an opinion on it. Even though one can read information in various threads, websites, etc. The Synlube lube 4 Life crowd had the same "you don't use it so you're not allowed to express an opinion." blather.
I have no idea what Travan's talking about, nor did another poster in that thread. But I frequently ask posters if they have used the product under discussion. I really want to know. My question doesn't seem to have stopped anyone (particularly Travan) from responding. But, when it becomes obvious that a responder has never used the product (and has no clue as to what it's about) his postings don't even amount to an anecdote.
Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Instead of "have you used this product", I should ask "Is your response your own?" Or, "Is your response something you've ripped from another writer, because you have no thoughts of your own?"
In almost every additive thread, Travan and a few of his friends can be counted upon to belittle the original poster, make fun of a product (which he has never used), distract the thread and contribute absolutely nothing. And now, it seems, these distracting words aren't even his own words? Whew.
Travan: don't plagiarize other people's work. And,you might take a break from posting and consider getting professional help.
Thank you. The threadpooping around here can get thoroughly annoying....especially the ones that feel the need to share their "wisdom" 10-15 times in a thread.
