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Car Forum / BMW Cars / August 2006

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RAK's recurrent ruminations on cars, chicks and courtship

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RichAsianKid - 17 Jul 2006 03:01 GMT
I was cruising around in my Bimmer coupe this morning and thinking
about sex.

It's unhealthy. I was thinking of a subject from recent postings on
newsgroups - which means that newsgroups are spilling into 'real
life'. I really have to stop. But still the point is a very
interesting one.

After an energetic exchange with helenuhm at soc.culture.korean, and
inspired by Drydem's post at soc.culture.china on how to upgrade the
NSX to a fake Ferrari in Japan, I was left with a question of why men,
especially younger guys, love cars, and why women *pretend* not to get
it.

I was also struck by why some older people of both sexes only see
cars as utility vehicles used for getting from point A to point B. And
why I personally think of it more as a drifting toy (and less of a drag
toy......as the 330Ci doesn't go fast enough.......shucks) and much
less as
a status symbol.......until some university friends helpfully oriented
me to reality.

But why? RichAsianKid's not-so-original hypothesis: Sexual selection.

What are the most important things or "vectors" in life?  In
biological terms, it's fitness and fecundity. Fitness is Darwianian
survival; fecundity is the ability to mate and multiply fruitfully.

See this very readable Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection

"Another, more recently developed theory, the Handicap principle due
to Amotz Zahavi, Russell Lande and W.D. Hamilton, holds that the fact
that the male of the species is able to survive until and through the
age of reproduction with such a seemingly maladaptive trait is
effectively considered by the female to be a testament to his overall
fitness. In literature, as in the 1925 novel gentlemen prefer blondes,
the blonde protagonist Lorelei Lee forced suitors to spend vast amounts
of money on her, to show how much they really had. It's the handicap
principle: people who cannot afford it will not be able to show it,
thus the good itself becomes a useful index of a guy's wealth.  The
principle of costly display, i.e. some kind of financial handicap, is
in fact imposed by women, who for his men to show how much they have
and this review of themselves. A less costly display would be of less
discrimination value, and be prone to cheating."

In fact, even the human brain may be considered as such - not because
of historical survival value in the Pleistocene, but perhaps because of
so-called runaway selection and the above Handicap Principle. This is
also addressed in the Wikipedia entry above. A girlfriend of mine
reiterated the clichéd adage that the sexiest organ is the brain.

Then, in the field of economics, there is this idea of conspicuous
consumption, as promulgated by Veblen's Theory of the Leisure class
in 1899. In modern urban societies, where strangers come and go, people
increasingly advertise their wealth by ornamenting themselves with
costly luxuries to demonstrate their status and for show.

And if they can get away with it: perhaps to fake it:  like upgrading
from an Acura NSX to a Ferrari, as drydem indicated.
http://www.6park.com/enter7/messages/gvk21098.html

So why are females choosier?  Well, biologically, women do most of the
work in terms of childbearing.  Think about this:

    Men only need a few minutes of recreational sex and 2 ounces of
semen
    Women need nine months of procreational sex and 2 gallons of
breast milk

Some sort of paternal investment may be called for to balance out the
biological equation! So women get to choose. But there needs to be a
sieve with sufficient discriminatory ability to weed out real the men
vs boyz........getting a suit from Brooks Brothers vs a pleated tee
from Walmart is not of much discriminatory power. Ask men how much they
have, and they lie. Diamonds, until recently, however, don't lie.

And this explains why cars are so important for young guys. Like
antlers of deer and the peacock's tail, it is a conspicuous - and until
now, difficult to fake - display of a male's financial health, and
status, and hence marketability and perhaps innate biological quality.

(By the way, there is *nothing* to be ashamed of the Acura NSX. I'd
drive it gladly...though the chassis is too 1990s, and yes it's
overpriced [even *I* say that]. But since cars are now possible to
fake,
then this additional noise factor will need to be factored in the
future....)

The two male-female worldviews are simply different, and feminists
will be soooo very delighted I'm sure: men shoot (no pun there) for
quantity,
and women shoot for quality.

Not surprisingly cars are less meaningful in North America - they are
cheaper and practically everyone can afford a car, and thus the
discriminatory ability and hence their utility as an index of measure
of the financial fitness of a male is correspondingly less. In upper
middle class circles and near-rich circles cars have lost their
discriminatory value as ornaments: *everyone* can afford a "luxury"
car, and differences reflect utility value and personal tastes, like
whether one prefers blue to green, not financial capability. Guys who
love driving and drifting may get a, say, BMW, and those who love
offroad utility may get a Hummer.

And that explains why women don't buy flashy cars - men don't dig
rich but post-menopausal old women. They are of little reproductive
value. Men's efforts may well be directed at additional matings with
younger, poorer but fertile women.

And that's why older people (of both sexes) don't need or want flashy
cars either. They're past their age of reproduction, and are not driven
by the same biological imperative.

I now love my bimmer even more. In selected circles of course. I never
thought of this topic so explicitly in evolutionary terms before, but I
now realize that cars are more than just toys.

Think of cars as courtship in motion. Or if you prefer, mating gear.

That is, the love of cars is firmly grounded in biological reality.

And that's just common sense.   ;)
E28 Guy© - 17 Jul 2006 21:15 GMT
RichAsianKid wrote a large Crock O' Shite mercifully snipped ...

Oh.
--
C.R. Krieger
oreely - 18 Jul 2006 14:18 GMT
Gently reclines back into sumptuous leather chair simultaneously smoking
pipe held in right hand, basking in the warmth of a perfect fire, and says "
here here" referring to "crock O shite" post.

> RichAsianKid wrote a large Crock O' Shite mercifully snipped ...
>
> Oh.
> --
> C.R. Krieger
Dori A Schmetterling - 18 Jul 2006 16:26 GMT
Did you mean " hear hear"?  Perhaps you did not get the 'ruminations'?

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]
> here here" referring to "crock O shite" post.
[...]
Richard Sexton - 20 Jul 2006 01:41 GMT
>Gently reclines back into sumptuous leather chair simultaneously smoking
>pipe held in right hand, basking in the warmth of a perfect fire, and says "
>here here" referring to "crock O shite" post.

Yeah, but he's probably not wrong. It's just not in the right newsgroup.

Signature

  Need Mercedes parts?   http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton       | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

yaofeng - 25 Jul 2006 17:44 GMT
> RichAsianKid wrote a large Crock O' Shite mercifully snipped ...
>
> Oh.
> --
> C.R. Krieger

CR, you're too kind.
E28 Guy© - 26 Jul 2006 18:58 GMT
> > RichAsianKid wrote a large Crock O' Shite mercifully snipped ...
> >
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> CR, you're too kind.

Hey!  Howzit goin', Yaofeng?  When am I goin' to lay eyes on you at
some BMW-type event?
--
C.R.
(Don't have that 'roof in yet)
yaofeng - 26 Jul 2006 21:08 GMT
> > > RichAsianKid wrote a large Crock O' Shite mercifully snipped ...
> > >
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> C.R.
> (Don't have that 'roof in yet)

Roof not in yet?  There is no way you'll be as busy as I.
Realistically when I put the 540 V8 back in with the 6 speed conversion
completed I may consider any event.
Lawrence Lugar - 18 Jul 2006 08:15 GMT
that's one way to give it a spin.

i don't like car conversions - like that nsx to a ferrari body conversion,
(nice photos by the way).
for me at least, the overall concept is tacky and cheezy, and a dare say
superficial. and all bark, and no bite.

i'm a guy with substance, or atleast consider myself to be, so driving that
"ferrari" NSX would just get to me too much.

I was cruising around in my Bimmer coupe this morning and thinking
about sex.

It's unhealthy. I was thinking of a subject from recent postings on
newsgroups - which means that newsgroups are spilling into 'real
life'. I really have to stop. But still the point is a very
interesting one.

After an energetic exchange with helenuhm at soc.culture.korean, and
inspired by Drydem's post at soc.culture.china on how to upgrade the
NSX to a fake Ferrari in Japan, I was left with a question of why men,
especially younger guys, love cars, and why women *pretend* not to get
it.

I was also struck by why some older people of both sexes only see
cars as utility vehicles used for getting from point A to point B. And
why I personally think of it more as a drifting toy (and less of a drag
toy......as the 330Ci doesn't go fast enough.......shucks) and much
less as
a status symbol.......until some university friends helpfully oriented
me to reality.

But why? RichAsianKid's not-so-original hypothesis: Sexual selection.

What are the most important things or "vectors" in life?  In
biological terms, it's fitness and fecundity. Fitness is Darwianian
survival; fecundity is the ability to mate and multiply fruitfully.

See this very readable Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection

"Another, more recently developed theory, the Handicap principle due
to Amotz Zahavi, Russell Lande and W.D. Hamilton, holds that the fact
that the male of the species is able to survive until and through the
age of reproduction with such a seemingly maladaptive trait is
effectively considered by the female to be a testament to his overall
fitness. In literature, as in the 1925 novel gentlemen prefer blondes,
the blonde protagonist Lorelei Lee forced suitors to spend vast amounts
of money on her, to show how much they really had. It's the handicap
principle: people who cannot afford it will not be able to show it,
thus the good itself becomes a useful index of a guy's wealth.  The
principle of costly display, i.e. some kind of financial handicap, is
in fact imposed by women, who for his men to show how much they have
and this review of themselves. A less costly display would be of less
discrimination value, and be prone to cheating."

In fact, even the human brain may be considered as such - not because
of historical survival value in the Pleistocene, but perhaps because of
so-called runaway selection and the above Handicap Principle. This is
also addressed in the Wikipedia entry above. A girlfriend of mine
reiterated the clichéd adage that the sexiest organ is the brain.

Then, in the field of economics, there is this idea of conspicuous
consumption, as promulgated by Veblen's Theory of the Leisure class
in 1899. In modern urban societies, where strangers come and go, people
increasingly advertise their wealth by ornamenting themselves with
costly luxuries to demonstrate their status and for show.

And if they can get away with it: perhaps to fake it:  like upgrading
from an Acura NSX to a Ferrari, as drydem indicated.
http://www.6park.com/enter7/messages/gvk21098.html

So why are females choosier?  Well, biologically, women do most of the
work in terms of childbearing.  Think about this:

    Men only need a few minutes of recreational sex and 2 ounces of
semen
    Women need nine months of procreational sex and 2 gallons of
breast milk

Some sort of paternal investment may be called for to balance out the
biological equation! So women get to choose. But there needs to be a
sieve with sufficient discriminatory ability to weed out real the men
vs boyz........getting a suit from Brooks Brothers vs a pleated tee
from Walmart is not of much discriminatory power. Ask men how much they
have, and they lie. Diamonds, until recently, however, don't lie.

And this explains why cars are so important for young guys. Like
antlers of deer and the peacock's tail, it is a conspicuous - and until
now, difficult to fake - display of a male's financial health, and
status, and hence marketability and perhaps innate biological quality.

(By the way, there is *nothing* to be ashamed of the Acura NSX. I'd
drive it gladly...though the chassis is too 1990s, and yes it's
overpriced [even *I* say that]. But since cars are now possible to
fake,
then this additional noise factor will need to be factored in the
future....)

The two male-female worldviews are simply different, and feminists
will be soooo very delighted I'm sure: men shoot (no pun there) for
quantity,
and women shoot for quality.

Not surprisingly cars are less meaningful in North America - they are
cheaper and practically everyone can afford a car, and thus the
discriminatory ability and hence their utility as an index of measure
of the financial fitness of a male is correspondingly less. In upper
middle class circles and near-rich circles cars have lost their
discriminatory value as ornaments: *everyone* can afford a "luxury"
car, and differences reflect utility value and personal tastes, like
whether one prefers blue to green, not financial capability. Guys who
love driving and drifting may get a, say, BMW, and those who love
offroad utility may get a Hummer.

And that explains why women don't buy flashy cars - men don't dig
rich but post-menopausal old women. They are of little reproductive
value. Men's efforts may well be directed at additional matings with
younger, poorer but fertile women.

And that's why older people (of both sexes) don't need or want flashy
cars either. They're past their age of reproduction, and are not driven
by the same biological imperative.

I now love my bimmer even more. In selected circles of course. I never
thought of this topic so explicitly in evolutionary terms before, but I
now realize that cars are more than just toys.

Think of cars as courtship in motion. Or if you prefer, mating gear.

That is, the love of cars is firmly grounded in biological reality.

And that's just common sense.   ;)
Lawrence Lugar - 18 Jul 2006 08:32 GMT
regarding the biological thingy hypothesis...i got lost somewhere in the
translation but,

bottom line: guys(generally) are dogs. they're shallow, so they seek shallow
things - hence the fast cars..and even faster women(dumb ditzes).

ps. that's the only reason why they make those conversion ferrari kits for.
guys who want alot of flash, but cannot afford it.  lol

I was cruising around in my Bimmer coupe this morning and thinking
about sex.

It's unhealthy. I was thinking of a subject from recent postings on
newsgroups - which means that newsgroups are spilling into 'real
life'. I really have to stop. But still the point is a very
interesting one.

After an energetic exchange with helenuhm at soc.culture.korean, and
inspired by Drydem's post at soc.culture.china on how to upgrade the
NSX to a fake Ferrari in Japan, I was left with a question of why men,
especially younger guys, love cars, and why women *pretend* not to get
it.

I was also struck by why some older people of both sexes only see
cars as utility vehicles used for getting from point A to point B. And
why I personally think of it more as a drifting toy (and less of a drag
toy......as the 330Ci doesn't go fast enough.......shucks) and much
less as
a status symbol.......until some university friends helpfully oriented
me to reality.

But why? RichAsianKid's not-so-original hypothesis: Sexual selection.

What are the most important things or "vectors" in life?  In
biological terms, it's fitness and fecundity. Fitness is Darwianian
survival; fecundity is the ability to mate and multiply fruitfully.

See this very readable Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection

"Another, more recently developed theory, the Handicap principle due
to Amotz Zahavi, Russell Lande and W.D. Hamilton, holds that the fact
that the male of the species is able to survive until and through the
age of reproduction with such a seemingly maladaptive trait is
effectively considered by the female to be a testament to his overall
fitness. In literature, as in the 1925 novel gentlemen prefer blondes,
the blonde protagonist Lorelei Lee forced suitors to spend vast amounts
of money on her, to show how much they really had. It's the handicap
principle: people who cannot afford it will not be able to show it,
thus the good itself becomes a useful index of a guy's wealth.  The
principle of costly display, i.e. some kind of financial handicap, is
in fact imposed by women, who for his men to show how much they have
and this review of themselves. A less costly display would be of less
discrimination value, and be prone to cheating."

In fact, even the human brain may be considered as such - not because
of historical survival value in the Pleistocene, but perhaps because of
so-called runaway selection and the above Handicap Principle. This is
also addressed in the Wikipedia entry above. A girlfriend of mine
reiterated the clichéd adage that the sexiest organ is the brain.

Then, in the field of economics, there is this idea of conspicuous
consumption, as promulgated by Veblen's Theory of the Leisure class
in 1899. In modern urban societies, where strangers come and go, people
increasingly advertise their wealth by ornamenting themselves with
costly luxuries to demonstrate their status and for show.

And if they can get away with it: perhaps to fake it:  like upgrading
from an Acura NSX to a Ferrari, as drydem indicated.
http://www.6park.com/enter7/messages/gvk21098.html

So why are females choosier?  Well, biologically, women do most of the
work in terms of childbearing.  Think about this:

    Men only need a few minutes of recreational sex and 2 ounces of
semen
    Women need nine months of procreational sex and 2 gallons of
breast milk

Some sort of paternal investment may be called for to balance out the
biological equation! So women get to choose. But there needs to be a
sieve with sufficient discriminatory ability to weed out real the men
vs boyz........getting a suit from Brooks Brothers vs a pleated tee
from Walmart is not of much discriminatory power. Ask men how much they
have, and they lie. Diamonds, until recently, however, don't lie.

And this explains why cars are so important for young guys. Like
antlers of deer and the peacock's tail, it is a conspicuous - and until
now, difficult to fake - display of a male's financial health, and
status, and hence marketability and perhaps innate biological quality.

(By the way, there is *nothing* to be ashamed of the Acura NSX. I'd
drive it gladly...though the chassis is too 1990s, and yes it's
overpriced [even *I* say that]. But since cars are now possible to
fake,
then this additional noise factor will need to be factored in the
future....)

The two male-female worldviews are simply different, and feminists
will be soooo very delighted I'm sure: men shoot (no pun there) for
quantity,
and women shoot for quality.

Not surprisingly cars are less meaningful in North America - they are
cheaper and practically everyone can afford a car, and thus the
discriminatory ability and hence their utility as an index of measure
of the financial fitness of a male is correspondingly less. In upper
middle class circles and near-rich circles cars have lost their
discriminatory value as ornaments: *everyone* can afford a "luxury"
car, and differences reflect utility value and personal tastes, like
whether one prefers blue to green, not financial capability. Guys who
love driving and drifting may get a, say, BMW, and those who love
offroad utility may get a Hummer.

And that explains why women don't buy flashy cars - men don't dig
rich but post-menopausal old women. They are of little reproductive
value. Men's efforts may well be directed at additional matings with
younger, poorer but fertile women.

And that's why older people (of both sexes) don't need or want flashy
cars either. They're past their age of reproduction, and are not driven
by the same biological imperative.

I now love my bimmer even more. In selected circles of course. I never
thought of this topic so explicitly in evolutionary terms before, but I
now realize that cars are more than just toys.

Think of cars as courtship in motion. Or if you prefer, mating gear.

That is, the love of cars is firmly grounded in biological reality.

And that's just common sense.   ;)
RichAsianKid - 18 Jul 2006 13:33 GMT
> that's one way to give it a spin.
> i don't like car conversions - like that nsx to a ferrari body conversion,
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> i'm a guy with substance, or atleast consider myself to be, so driving that
> "ferrari" NSX would just get to me too much.

Absolutely agree there - I'd never do a nsx to ferrari body conversion
either. It's basically pretending to be something that you're not. But
then again if that's what women want then.....it's like the equivalent
of men's makeup.

Interestingly by extension one wonders if people who purchase the
lowest ranked car of a class may be guilty of the same to a smaller
degree... e.g. BMW 525i vs someone who gets a M3, or someone who gets a
S350 vs someone who gets a E55, E280 (in Europe?) vs C55 etc.

One friend of mine actually is a very practical guy and said that the
good thing about the M3 is that it's so understated...wolf in sheep's
clothing.

>  regarding the biological thingy hypothesis...i got lost somewhere in the
> translation but,
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> ps. that's the only reason why they make those conversion ferrari kits for.
> guys who want alot of flash, but cannot afford it.  lol

Yes, agree there! The new modern minimalist 'in' thing to do is to
unpimp yer ride....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgEvy60bZYI&search=volkswagen%20unpimp
Stupid commercial

> I was cruising around in my Bimmer coupe this morning and thinking
> about sex.
[quoted text clipped - 119 lines]
>
> And that's just common sense.   ;)
Dori A Schmetterling - 18 Jul 2006 16:29 GMT
Dunno.  In Europe many/most BMWs and Mercs have their designations removed
so you can't tell the engine size.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]
Interestingly by extension one wonders if people who purchase the
lowest ranked car of a class may be guilty of the same to a smaller
degree... e.g. BMW 525i vs someone who gets a M3, or someone who gets a
S350 vs someone who gets a E55, E280 (in Europe?) vs C55 etc.

One friend of mine actually is a very practical guy and said that the
good thing about the M3 is that it's so understated...wolf in sheep's
clothing.
[...]
Lawrence Lugar - 19 Jul 2006 05:25 GMT
even if it's a "subtle" change from a 3 series bmw to an m-series body. the
overall concept is Still Cheap.

appreciate it for what it is. don't morph it into something it isn't.

Lawrence Lugar wrote:

> that's one way to give it a spin.
> i don't like car conversions - like that nsx to a ferrari body conversion,
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> that
> "ferrari" NSX would just get to me too much.

Absolutely agree there - I'd never do a nsx to ferrari body conversion
either. It's basically pretending to be something that you're not. But
then again if that's what women want then.....it's like the equivalent
of men's makeup.

Interestingly by extension one wonders if people who purchase the
lowest ranked car of a class may be guilty of the same to a smaller
degree... e.g. BMW 525i vs someone who gets a M3, or someone who gets a
S350 vs someone who gets a E55, E280 (in Europe?) vs C55 etc.

One friend of mine actually is a very practical guy and said that the
good thing about the M3 is that it's so understated...wolf in sheep's
clothing.

>  regarding the biological thingy hypothesis...i got lost somewhere in the
> translation but,
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> for.
> guys who want alot of flash, but cannot afford it.  lol

Yes, agree there! The new modern minimalist 'in' thing to do is to
unpimp yer ride....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgEvy60bZYI&search=volkswagen%20unpimp
Stupid commercial

> I was cruising around in my Bimmer coupe this morning and thinking
> about sex.
[quoted text clipped - 119 lines]
>
> And that's just common sense.   ;)
RichAsianKid - 19 Jul 2006 05:39 GMT
> even if it's a "subtle" change from a 3 series bmw to an m-series body. the
> overall concept is Still Cheap.
>
> appreciate it for what it is. don't morph it into something it isn't.

3-series to M-series is relatively ok, seriously believe me. At least,
it's not like some guy who took out the 0 from his cheap cheap C240 and
then stuck a fake AMG onto the right side of his trunk! Mercedes
drivers are the worst! Hahaha!

> Lawrence Lugar wrote:
> >
[quoted text clipped - 160 lines]
> >
> > And that's just common sense.   ;)
Lawrence Lugar - 19 Jul 2006 07:15 GMT
lol.

i just shake my head at those clowns who 'upgrade' their cars w/ those tacky
conversion kits.

Lawrence Lugar wrote:
> even if it's a "subtle" change from a 3 series bmw to an m-series body.
> the
> overall concept is Still Cheap.
>
> appreciate it for what it is. don't morph it into something it isn't.

3-series to M-series is relatively ok, seriously believe me. At least,
it's not like some guy who took out the 0 from his cheap cheap C240 and
then stuck a fake AMG onto the right side of his trunk! Mercedes
drivers are the worst! Hahaha!

> > that's one way to give it a spin.
> > i don't like car conversions - like that nsx to a ferrari body
[quoted text clipped - 162 lines]
> >
> > And that's just common sense.   ;)
dizzy - 25 Jul 2006 00:34 GMT
>lol.
>
>i just shake my head at those clowns who 'upgrade' their cars w/ those tacky
>conversion kits.

I just shake my head at those clowns who don't capitalize and who
leave a 212-line-long post for a 4-line comment.
Lawrence Lugar - 25 Jul 2006 04:39 GMT
it's a casual conversation, dumbass....forgive me if i don't punctualize my
sentences correct, mr. english teacher

>>lol.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> I just shake my head at those clowns who don't capitalize and who
> leave a 212-line-long post for a 4-line comment.
Martin Joseph - 25 Jul 2006 04:50 GMT
> it's a casual conversation, dumbass....forgive me if i don't
> punctualize my sentences correct, mr. english teacher

Hey top poster,

Dumb a.s is two words and "I" and "English" should be capitalized, also
it should be "punctuate" and "correctly".
Lawrence Lugar - 25 Jul 2006 04:56 GMT
...i rest my case. good god, are porsche guys usually this bitchy about
proper punctuation - it's a f'n casual newgroup, not a damn official press
release.

>> it's a casual conversation, dumbass....forgive me if i don't punctualize
>> my sentences correct, mr. english teacher
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Dumb a.s is two words and "I" and "English" should be capitalized, also it
> should be "punctuate" and "correctly".
The Dead Senator - 26 Jul 2006 02:06 GMT
> ...i rest my case. good god, are porsche guys usually this bitchy about
> proper punctuation - it's a f'n casual newgroup, not a damn official press
> release.

Methinks he's a Merc man.

No, us Porsche guys don't give a rip how you spell or where you
punctuate, if at all.

DS
95 993 Coupe
someone@somewhere.net - 26 Jul 2006 03:27 GMT
I don't "care" but I'll judge people by it. Being an idiot is your choice.

A typo here or there is one thing but an inability to spell or punctuate
make the writer sound stupid. At least know how to run the spell
checker. And "leet," "733t" or whatever is for mindless children of any age.

> No, us Porsche guys don't give a rip how you spell or where you
> punctuate, if at all.
The Dead Senator - 26 Jul 2006 05:22 GMT
> I don't "care" but I'll judge people by it. Being an idiot is your choice.
>
> A typo here or there is one thing but an inability to spell or punctuate
> make the writer sound stupid. At least know how to run the spell
> checker. And "leet," "733t" or whatever is for mindless children of any
> age.

    I do not disagree too awfully much with you, but don't forget that
Usenet spans many countries that do not use English as a primary
language.  With that in mind, I'll not be too critical of grammar
skills.  As you say, I may make a mental note of it, but I'll read past
them.  If the poster is truly stupid, it will show in other ways.  If I
attempted to post in Italian, French or Spanish, my spelling and
punctuation skills would guarantee me to look like an id10t.

    I appreciate other folks posting in whatever form of English so that I
may enjoy their comments.
RichAsianKid - 26 Jul 2006 07:04 GMT
Leet proper's 1337, grammar's for women, some "expensive" porsche
drivers just ain't gettin' any!!!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4891758
It's sort of a joke but it really isn't....   :)

> > I don't "care" but I'll judge people by it. Being an idiot is your choice.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>     I appreciate other folks posting in whatever form of English so that I
> may enjoy their comments.
James O'Riley - 26 Jul 2006 18:56 GMT
>> I don't "care" but I'll judge people by it. Being an idiot is your
>> choice.
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>     I appreciate other folks posting in whatever form of English so that
> I may enjoy their comments.

I believe Mozilla's Thundbird's spell checker will work with many languages; I've not tried anything but English. With TB's checker you can also add words that aren't in its dictionary.  It's hard to miss misspelled words because they are underlined in RED.
Dori A Schmetterling - 01 Aug 2006 11:14 GMT
Mots posters, at least in the Merc & BMW groups live in NA and there the
question arises, what do most people speak...  :-) ....

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]
I do not disagree too awfully much with you, but don't forget that
> Usenet spans many countries that do not use English as a primary language.
> With that in mind, I'll not be too critical of grammar
[...]
Mike Scheer - 26 Jul 2006 11:27 GMT
> No, us Porsche guys don't give a rip how you spell or where you
> punctuate, if at all.
>
> DS
> 95 993 Coupe

That should be "we" Porsche guys.
The Dead Senator - 26 Jul 2006 17:21 GMT
>> No, us Porsche guys don't give a rip how you spell or where you
>> punctuate, if at all.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> That should be "we" Porsche guys.

D'oh.  Thanks, now don't I look like an id10t? ;~P  I should have
mentioned that I didn't care much about grammar, either.  That's always
been a fuzzy area for me (plural objective form pronouns).  In this
instance, 'us' seems to roll off of the tongue just fine like gents
talking in a pub, while 'we' seems too proper.

Enough, I must go driving now.

DS
Richard Sexton - 26 Jul 2006 20:57 GMT
>> ...i rest my case. good god, are porsche guys usually this bitchy about
>> proper punctuation - it's a f'n casual newgroup, not a damn official press
>> release.
>
>Methinks he's a Merc man.

Nah, they're just as bad.

>No, us Porsche guys don't give a rip how you spell or where you
>punctuate, if at all.

It's the curse of the newbie top-posters that's the most annoying. If I
can read what you write I don't care how or if it's spelled.

Signature

  Need Mercedes parts?   http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton       | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

Dori A Schmetterling - 19 Jul 2006 11:45 GMT
I did not give you the correct Merc NG address in order for you to fire
cheap and stupid shots at its readers.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

3-series to M-series is relatively ok, seriously believe me. At least,
it's not like some guy who took out the 0 from his cheap cheap C240 and
then stuck a fake AMG onto the right side of his trunk! Mercedes
drivers are the worst! Hahaha!
[...]
RichAsianKid - 19 Jul 2006 20:47 GMT
You'll realize that I did not use the correct Mercedes NG address in
all these messages so they didn't get it. Hmm, maybe I should have!
Thanks for the info!

You should also check out some of BMW boards and Mercedes boards with
all the flamming wars - what I wrote was NOTHING!

And it's true - BMW and porsche drivers share something in common, e.g.
passion in driving, but many Mercedes drivers are (1) older bald men at
the door of retirement homes or (2) middle aged women with Halloween
style makeup driving at 20 mph below the speed limit, can't do a
3-point turn, and who likes to show off their cars at their
golf/country clubs when their husbands are at work (3) the angry
insecure young 20-30s type - wearing pimped up clothing, and I've had a
few challenging me to drag race - including a 40s guy with a bumper
sticker "I got new cash". The pattern is there if you observe it - and
overall Mercedes drivers are more concerned with show and status than
anything else - not even reliability now after the Chrysler merge
perhaps, and not luxury as why not get a Lexus?  (I've observed that
people who drive the Nissan Z350 are friendlier too.. a few gave me the
nod at gas stations or even driving and I returned compliments - but
Mercedes? Ha! Never!  (with some exceptions allowed for vintage and AMG
model owners of course)

> I did not give you the correct Merc NG address in order for you to fire
> cheap and stupid shots at its readers.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> drivers are the worst! Hahaha!
> [...]
mcbrue - 19 Jul 2006 23:50 GMT
Is it big enough to drive my S Klass into? Are the chairs - er - driver
seats - large and comfortable? Could I put the boyz in tha bak into tha
bak of this sprinter comfortably? Wuld their be room fer them beverages
an what nots laik tubs wif ice ta keep them ole silvery beverage
containers cool? Hmmm ... maybe i need ta wait for it ta come hear.

mcbrue largely under the bridge in the trailer down by the river

96 S420 (steering moanlessly)
Juergen . - 20 Jul 2006 00:08 GMT
> Is it big enough to drive my S Klass into? Are the chairs - er - driver
> seats - large and comfortable? Could I put the boyz in tha bak into tha
> bak of this sprinter comfortably? Wuld their be room fer them beverages
> an what nots laik tubs wif ice ta keep them ole silvery beverage
> containers cool? Hmmm ... maybe i need ta wait for it ta come hear.

http://www.fl-sprinter.com/Pass/pass.html
http://www.dodge.com/sprinter/index.html
old model, successor went in production lately

new model here
http://sprinter-microsite.syzygy.de/2/start/en-GB/

Juergen
greek_philosophizer - 21 Jul 2006 02:26 GMT
> > Is it big enough to drive my S Klass into? Are the chairs - er - driver
> > seats - large and comfortable? Could I put the boyz in tha bak into tha
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Juergen

and the funny thing is they are still doing reviews of
the old version that is no longer in production.....

http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/roadtest,view,DODGE.spy?artid=65616

The S class would not fit but a couple of Smarts would fit.

The boyz would be very happy, but you would have to throw a
nice leather couch or two in the back.

You could probably get a dozen Asian girls back there too.

http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/roadtest,view,DODGE.spy?artid=65616

.
greek_philosophizer - 21 Jul 2006 02:35 GMT
> > > Is it big enough to drive my S Klass into? Are the chairs - er - driver
> > > seats - large and comfortable? Could I put the boyz in tha bak into tha
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> .

and I forgot to add that the one in the picture is only the middle size
van,
the old model has a longer version and the new model has an even longer
version so there would be plenty of room to keep very large containers
cold....

The annoying thing is if you do not want a white one you have to
special
order it and that takes months.

.
cp - 24 Jul 2006 07:55 GMT
Juergen, what's the differenece between the Dodge Sprinter and the Benz version? We have MANY here in Vancouver, some of them are
Mercedes branded. I figure they had to sell it here as a Dodge or all the Dodge Ram van driving yahoos wouldn't buy a benz.

cp

>> Is it big enough to drive my S Klass into? Are the chairs - er - driver
>> seats - large and comfortable? Could I put the boyz in tha bak into tha
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Juergen
Dori A Schmetterling - 19 Jul 2006 23:57 GMT
So you justify your comments by the even worse comments of others?  Yes,
there can plenty of swearing and rudeness in these car newsgroups but that
doesn't mean you have to add to it.

Your piffle below does not merit any detailed reply (a shame, since you
started the thread quite interestingly).  I have to remind (inform) you that
the Merc C-Class is a top-selling vehicle in Germany (no. 2 or 3) and
therefore driven by a cross-section of the car-driving population.  Similar
applies to BMW 3.  These cars are all a dime a dozen where I live in London.
Even Saab (GM) tried the  'exclusivity in the company car park' angle but
where I live the 'rare' cabrios are often seen.  Probably because they are
cheaper than the nearest BMW and Merc equivalents.

At one stage the average age of the BMW driver was a bit lower than than of
the Merc driver but I suggest that had more to do with the higher prices of
the Merc entry models.  This changed with the 190 / C-Class and now the
A-Class.

BMW was very clever in marketing the two-door cars as something special and
charging more for them, something that others have copied.

Neither Merc nor BMW have any exclusivity whatsoever unless one has the very
big engines or the big bodies.  However, as you may know, big cars (and
big-engined) ones depreciate much more rapidly that smaller ones, so it is
possible to buy a used E-Class or BMW 5 for a reasonable price.  Just a
decision on insurance and running costs has to be made.

Audi has managed to acquire a great image in the UK a long time ago whereas
in Germany it was for years still just a jumped-up Volkswagen.  However,
product quality has apparently risen so far that Audi deserves to be spoken
of in the same breath as Merc and BMW.  Personally I find the shape boring,
even if the A8 is imposing, but that is just a personal opinion.

Maybe you buy the ads.  Ultimate Driving Machine.  Vorsprung durch Technik
(Audi).  Fine.  Buy a subscription for the house publications.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

> You'll realize that I did not use the correct Mercedes NG address in
> all these messages so they didn't get it. Hmm, maybe I should have!
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>> drivers are the worst! Hahaha!
>> [...]
RichAsianKid - 20 Jul 2006 04:27 GMT
A lot of what you said actually jives with my original post, namely
when a commodity becomes common enough and readily accessible enough
across wide segments of society, it will no longer be valued. The key
to prestige and the establishment of hierarchy is, I think, defined by
what your neighbors cannot have - the handicap principle that I have
quoted in my original post. It's part and parcel with a not so rosy but
realistic view of human nature, where genie asks farmer 'I can grant
you one wish, but everyone else in your village will have twice of what
you have.' Farmer thinks for a minute and wishes half his crops
destroyed.  You're therefore very correct about the fact that BMWs and
Mercedes are so common in Europe and I concur that they are no longer
prestige vehicles. The removal of engine designations in Europe and the
availability of 2nd hand cars, 3rd hand cars etc - further adds noise
to the signal - did the guy pay half price for that? Is he merely a
poseur? I say guy for a reason - women are motivated by different
factors and cars which are most desired by men are quite different from
cars which are most desired by women.

With respect models available, to maintain the 'prestige' of these
brands, you'll notice that a lot of the lower models that are available
in Europe are not available in North America. The E200, E240, E280 of
Mercedes, for instance - quite common for taxicabs in Germany - are not
available in the US and Canada I believe. Likewise with the lower
3-series models like 318, 320 etc - again assuming that these are the
correct designations. This again ties in with my original post about
prestige and reputation - lower classes of automobiles may lead to a
loss of prestige and the tarnishing of reputation of some of these
brands that their respective companies are obviously trying to preserve
- and marketing strategy is therefore different. Toyota has to do the
same by inventing a new brand - AFAIK in Japan there is no 'Lexus', and
it's only marketed as such in North America to give that aura of luxury
and sophistication to lure buyers. People at the higher end of the auto
market don't buy cars for practicality or even for fun - the
psychological element of the handicap principle and of conspicuous
consumption probably plays an increasing role.

Why cars? As discussed, because cars need to be show pieces to a
certain extent - in affluent North American societies most people can
afford a car - any car - and thus they lose their discriminating value
of the financial health of the driver. Still, why cars?  You touched on
this: depreciation - and contrary to some who deride people purchasing
expensive cars that depreciate quickly, lambasting them as impractical
etc, it is *precisely* this fact that drive some (young guys
especially) to purchase them. Even poor people may pay a huge mortgage
in order to upgrade from a house to a mansion - because (1) it's an
investment, so it makes financial sense in the long run, and (2) it's
practical, because you reside in your residence many hours a day. But
poor people will not purchase very expensive cars because they are not
an investment, do not make financial sense in the long run, are not
practical, and many people do not spend hours and hours in their cars.
These two qualities - *depreciation* and *impracticality* - fit with
the handicap principle perfectly. Expensive cars scream out: "look how
much I have, and how much I can afford to waste." Only truly
"financially healthy" people would be able to afford such "guady men's
jewellery" - an indicator of hierarchy and status in a man's world, and
a sign of financial health and mating suitability in a woman's world.

And cars' modus operandi fit the above psychology so perfectly: they're
a very *visual* and *conspicuous* demonstration for all to see - like
the deer antlers discussed initially. But most importantly - it's
*portable* unlike real estate - flashing your zip code around just
doesn't have the same wowing and stunning psychological effect on other
men and women as driving a Ferrari. It's almost a secondary sexual
characteristic if you will - in more ways than one, you are what you
drive, as you're almost advertising your Darwinian fitness. Well, sort
of. Which, often, pays off biologically: BMW may mean Bayerische
Motoren Werke in Germany, but translated into English, it stands for
for Brings Me Women - again as quoted before:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4891758

Cheers!!
RAK

> So you justify your comments by the even worse comments of others?  Yes,
> there can plenty of swearing and rudeness in these car newsgroups but that
[quoted text clipped - 76 lines]
> >> drivers are the worst! Hahaha!
> >> [...]
Dori A Schmetterling - 20 Jul 2006 13:03 GMT
Good, back on track of polite ruminations... ;-)

- The farmer's wish indeed shows the dark side of human nature.  Also why
Coomunist apparatchiks were happy with their relatively poor lot because
they were better off than most of the populace.
The sensible wish is to ask for an infinite number of wishes.

- About brand reflection, the opposite is possible.  E.g. Mercedes used the
'prestige' and technical advance of its top models to reflect on its mundane
ones.  BMW is not much different.  A large chunk of its sales (40%?) is the
3 Series, and I bet most of those are around the 2-litre engine mark.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

>A lot of what you said actually jives with my original post, namely
> when a commodity becomes common enough and readily accessible enough
[quoted text clipped - 68 lines]
> Cheers!!
> RAK
[...]
RichAsianKid - 21 Jul 2006 02:03 GMT
> Good, back on track of polite ruminations... ;-)
>
> - The farmer's wish indeed shows the dark side of human nature.  Also why
> Coomunist apparatchiks were happy with their relatively poor lot because
> they were better off than most of the populace.
> The sensible wish is to ask for an infinite number of wishes.

Good answer!

> - About brand reflection, the opposite is possible.  E.g. Mercedes used the
> 'prestige' and technical advance of its top models to reflect on its mundane
> ones.  BMW is not much different.  A large chunk of its sales (40%?) is the
> 3 Series, and I bet most of those are around the 2-litre engine mark.

Do BMW drivers in general buy higher models of a lower class, vs
Mercedes drivers who buy lower models of a higher class? Not sure!
North Americans do not get 2 liter BMW/Mercedes models.

In Germany a taxicab driver in his 50s told me: porsche > mercedes >
bmw > audi in terms of 'respect' locally. Who knows. See, maybe it's
defined by best. Porsche has the GT, Mercedes the SLR. (Is GT > SLR?)
BMW has/had the McLaren?

> DAS
>
[quoted text clipped - 74 lines]
> > RAK
> [...]
E28 Guy© - 25 Jul 2006 17:22 GMT
> A lot of what you said actually jives with my original post,

'jibes'

> With respect models available, (lotsa' crapola snipped)

Kid, as a longtime Audi & BMW driver, I can tell you; if you're just
tryin' to get 'respect' or get laid by using your car, I got three
little words for ya:

Jag You Are.
--
C.R. Krieger
(Has one of them, too)
BimmerBoy - 25 Jul 2006 23:42 GMT
> > A lot of what you said actually jives with my original post,
>
> 'jibes'

thx, I'm true romantic spanish at heart, like you know can't tell a 'b'
from a 'v'  ;)

> > With respect models available, (lotsa' crapola snipped)
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> C.R. Krieger
> (Has one of them, too)

Rebellion against parents knows no bounds....
RichAsianKid - 25 Jul 2006 23:48 GMT
Of course, bimmerboy = richasiankid
> > > A lot of what you said actually jives with my original post,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> Rebellion against parents knows no bounds....
E28 Guy© - 26 Jul 2006 19:01 GMT
> > Jag You Are.
> > --
> > C.R. Krieger
> > (Has one of them, too)
>
> Rebellion against parents knows no bounds....

WTF?  My parents would love to have my X-Type.  So would my 9-y-o
daughter.  FWIW, we are *all* AARP members ... except my kid.
--
C.R. Krieger
(Too old to be rebelling)
RichAsianKid - 26 Jul 2006 22:11 GMT
> > > Jag You Are.
> > > --
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> daughter.  FWIW, we are *all* AARP members ... except my kid.
> --

No, I was referring to the fact that some of the older family members
in Richasiankid's immediate and extended family drive a Jag and thus
RichAsianKid's rebelling against this. Who would like to drive parents'
car? I think no one under 40 should drive a Jag, even the XK, let alone
the 4-door ones. Just my humble opinion....

> C.R. Krieger
> (Too old to be rebelling)
greek_philosophizer - 19 Jul 2006 16:54 GMT
cars, chicks and courtship

1 get a Sprinter - car
2 get a girl         - chicks
3 half way through the pub crawl court her ship  in the Sprinter -
courtship

plus you can carry all sorts of stuff in the SPRINTER like bikes, atvs,
coolers, JBL SRX728 speakers, miscellaneous party supplies and you have
some elbow room instead of a claustrophobic little teeny car.

or you could go with the boringly conformist little car.

    (     Please do not get offended if you have a small 2 seat car  -
I find anything with less than several hundred cubic feet
claustrophobic. I like big and that is my right
as an American - queue the music and flag waving    )  

.
Dori A Schmetterling - 19 Jul 2006 18:20 GMT
You don't happen to like the Sprinter, do you?

Loads of room for various courtship activities.

What about your Unimog plan?

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

> cars, chicks and courtship
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> .
greek_philosophizer@hotmail.com - 19 Jul 2006 20:01 GMT
> You don't happen to like the Sprinter, do you?
>
> Loads of room for various courtship activities.
>
> What about your Unimog plan?

The Unimog lacks a van body in the USA so it is not useful to me.

I would probably order a Sprinter now if they were available in
the USA , the new model that is....

They have been making then since March in Europe
but are only supposed to be here in December or later.

I like the proximity initiated auto opening cargo doors that will be
available as
well as the sunroof and electric windows in the back, which are
two things that are new to vans here.

The 3 liter V6 CDI in nice too.

.
hands@your_throat.com - 20 Jul 2006 20:51 GMT
why enter into a running discourse with some dilettante student
whose parents still pay for his socks and underwear...really, it's
pointless

> > cars, chicks and courtship
> >
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> >
> > .
Sharkman BMW - 19 Jul 2006 20:45 GMT
this guy is so annoying
myhands@your_throat : ) John - 18 Jul 2006 13:39 GMT
RichAsianPest decided to share his mental mastubation session with
everybody...who knows why? I read 136 lbs of hubris stuffed into a used
3-series who has delusional thoughts.

> RichAsianKid wrote a large Crock O' Shite mercifully snipped ...
>
> Oh.
> --
> C.R. Krieger
Dori A Schmetterling - 18 Jul 2006 16:36 GMT
BTW, if you are going to crosspost you might as well know that the main Merc
NG is at one s less than the you used...
alt.auto.merc.

DAS
Always at your service

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

I was cruising around in my Bimmer coupe this morning and thinking
about sex.

It's unhealthy. I was thinking of a subject from recent postings on
newsgroups - which means that newsgroups are spilling into 'real
life'. I really have to stop. But still the point is a very
interesting one.

After an energetic exchange with helenuhm at soc.culture.korean, and
inspired by Drydem's post at soc.culture.china on how to upgrade the
NSX to a fake Ferrari in Japan, I was left with a question of why men,
especially younger guys, love cars, and why women *pretend* not to get
it.

I was also struck by why some older people of both sexes only see
cars as utility vehicles used for getting from point A to point B. And
why I personally think of it more as a drifting toy (and less of a drag
toy......as the 330Ci doesn't go fast enough.......shucks) and much
less as
a status symbol.......until some university friends helpfully oriented
me to reality.

But why? RichAsianKid's not-so-original hypothesis: Sexual selection.

What are the most important things or "vectors" in life?  In
biological terms, it's fitness and fecundity. Fitness is Darwianian
survival; fecundity is the ability to mate and multiply fruitfully.

See this very readable Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_selection

"Another, more recently developed theory, the Handicap principle due
to Amotz Zahavi, Russell Lande and W.D. Hamilton, holds that the fact
that the male of the species is able to survive until and through the
age of reproduction with such a seemingly maladaptive trait is
effectively considered by the female to be a testament to his overall
fitness. In literature, as in the 1925 novel gentlemen prefer blondes,
the blonde protagonist Lorelei Lee forced suitors to spend vast amounts
of money on her, to show how much they really had. It's the handicap
principle: people who cannot afford it will not be able to show it,
thus the good itself becomes a useful index of a guy's wealth.  The
principle of costly display, i.e. some kind of financial handicap, is
in fact imposed by women, who for his men to show how much they have
and this review of themselves. A less costly display would be of less
discrimination value, and be prone to cheating."

In fact, even the human brain may be considered as such - not because
of historical survival value in the Pleistocene, but perhaps because of
so-called runaway selection and the above Handicap Principle. This is
also addressed in the Wikipedia entry above. A girlfriend of mine
reiterated the clichéd adage that the sexiest organ is the brain.

Then, in the field of economics, there is this idea of conspicuous
consumption, as promulgated by Veblen's Theory of the Leisure class
in 1899. In modern urban societies, where strangers come and go, people
increasingly advertise their wealth by ornamenting themselves with
costly luxuries to demonstrate their status and for show.

And if they can get away with it: perhaps to fake it:  like upgrading
from an Acura NSX to a Ferrari, as drydem indicated.
http://www.6park.com/enter7/messages/gvk21098.html

So why are females choosier?  Well, biologically, women do most of the
work in terms of childbearing.  Think about this:

    Men only need a few minutes of recreational sex and 2 ounces of
semen
    Women need nine months of procreational sex and 2 gallons of
breast milk

Some sort of paternal investment may be called for to balance out the
biological equation! So women get to choose. But there needs to be a
sieve with sufficient discriminatory ability to weed out real the men
vs boyz........getting a suit from Brooks Brothers vs a pleated tee
from Walmart is not of much discriminatory power. Ask men how much they
have, and they lie. Diamonds, until recently, however, don't lie.

And this explains why cars are so important for young guys. Like
antlers of deer and the peacock's tail, it is a conspicuous - and until
now, difficult to fake - display of a male's financial health, and
status, and hence marketability and perhaps innate biological quality.

(By the way, there is *nothing* to be ashamed of the Acura NSX. I'd
drive it gladly...though the chassis is too 1990s, and yes it's
overpriced [even *I* say that]. But since cars are now possible to
fake,
then this additional noise factor will need to be factored in the
future....)

The two male-female worldviews are simply different, and feminists
will be soooo very delighted I'm sure: men shoot (no pun there) for
quantity,
and women shoot for quality.

Not surprisingly cars are less meaningful in North America - they are
cheaper and practically everyone can afford a car, and thus the
discriminatory ability and hence their utility as an index of measure
of the financial fitness of a male is correspondingly less. In upper
middle class circles and near-rich circles cars have lost their
discriminatory value as ornaments: *everyone* can afford a "luxury"
car, and differences reflect utility value and personal tastes, like
whether one prefers blue to green, not financial capability. Guys who
love driving and drifting may get a, say, BMW, and those who love
offroad utility may get a Hummer.

And that explains why women don't buy flashy cars - men don't dig
rich but post-menopausal old women. They are of little reproductive
value. Men's efforts may well be directed at additional matings with
younger, poorer but fertile women.

And that's why older people (of both sexes) don't need or want flashy
cars either. They're past their age of reproduction, and are not driven
by the same biological imperative.

I now love my bimmer even more. In selected circles of course. I never
thought of this topic so explicitly in evolutionary terms before, but I
now realize that cars are more than just toys.

Think of cars as courtship in motion. Or if you prefer, mating gear.

That is, the love of cars is firmly grounded in biological reality.

And that's just common sense.   ;)
RichAsianKid - 19 Jul 2006 00:59 GMT
Thanks. I just assumed....

Incidentally this is so funny & ironic in two ways:

1. Mercedes produces so many different classes of cars these days
compared to porsche or BMW, yet the newsgroup name is decidedly
singular
2. What I wrote probably has most relevance to that ng!

Cheers  ;)

> BTW, if you are going to crosspost you might as well know that the main Merc
> NG is at one s less than the you used...
[quoted text clipped - 129 lines]
>
> And that's just common sense.   ;)
Dori A Schmetterling - 19 Jul 2006 12:10 GMT
Yes, we're being a bit of an a.s... especially as you immediately use the
correct information to make asinine generalisations about the readers of
that NG.

By all means ruminate, but don't be rude, even if it's unregulated usenet.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]
I just assumed....

[..]
Sharkman BMW - 19 Jul 2006 20:41 GMT
Is it just me, or is this guy always posting long, blabbering, annoying
garbage?
 
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