Slashdot Helping to Spread the Word...
 

Here's a link to the latest Slashdot article, which is a link to Green Car Reports article "Miles-per-gallon Is Just Stupid. No, Really, It Is."

SlashDot Link:
Slashdot Technology Story | 2 In 3 Misunderstand Gas Mileage; Here's Why

Green Car Reports Link:
Miles-Per-Gallon Is Just Stupid. No, Really, It Is. - Green Car Reports

Though the author could have used more tact when describing the masses, he does ask the standard "trick question" that most of us have come to embrace. If you have two vehicles and one goes from 10 to 20 MPG, and the other goes from 33 to 50 MPG, which saves more gas?

The math is proven, yet the amazing number of vicious and blatantly ignorant comments about the article is unnerving. Why are we so resistant about learning another way of viewing fuel economy? Perhaps it's the metric system (yes, that last evil bastion of the hell-spawn)?

I can't fathom how these commenters that can't form two intelligent, thought-out sentences, perform in the real world. It is disturbing and it causes me to lose faith in the human brain and its ability to adapt. Are we all that is left of a civilization that believes that the data speaks for itself, and we must have more of it to move on to the next challenge? When people don't have to think and gather information from their surroundings, and instead, defer to a smart-phone or Google on their computer for the answer, are they really learning something? Are they that easily convinced that the answer given by these electronic devices is truth? I end my rant with a question, If there is only one way of measuring efficiency, should it not be in a mathematical formula that is easily transferable between platforms and makes the most sense?

I yield to your comments.

Slashdot is an armpit of the Internet. Their articles are invariably sensationalist, usually at the expense of accurately representing the facts.

However, the commenters over there don't seem too bad.

As to the comments at GCR, well, they're almost as bad as the comments on a typical YouTube video. However, here's an interesting experiment: read only the non-anonymous comments. Those are the ones with hyperlinks for names. Since the commenters don't feel quite so anonymous, and chances are they're more invested in the site, they're less likely to tap out something emotional and disruptive.

The anonymous commenters don't need to think before they type. If this is the norm at GCR, they need to block anonymous commenting.

rotflol

the universal math formula is called:

money.

I run a carburator, keep reciepts..its very simple.

slashdot is the same as its always been. the obvious is so obvious, commentors reverse at it.

When my low fuel light comes on and I assume I have about 3 liters left, how many kilometers can I go on those 3 liters if my fuel consumption is 4.7L/100km? If I have a gallon left, I know I can go 33 miles at 33 mpg.

There's nothing particularly "better" about one or the other; some measurements are better for different reasons. I can easily divide 2,700 miles by 34 mpg and figure out how many gallons I'll have to buy to make the trip.

BTW, whenever this type of article comes out on Slashdot or Fark, the "independents" trot out the "see, Priuses are a waste because a hybrid truck saves more gas." While driving home, I can see that 90% of the SUV and pickup drivers on the road should be trading in that single-occupancy 10 mpg truck for a 50 mpg car instead of a 20 mpg truck.

True. Miles per gallons and gallons per 100 miles (mixing liters and kilometers into this is beside the point) are equivalent - you know one, you know the other, as long as you can divide. Some things are easier to grasp when using mpg, others when using g/100mi.

I can see the owner of a Hummer look up at the gas pump and do a quick mental calculation: "Hmm, I'm gonna have to drive real slow, like only 65mph, if I want to make it to the next gas station 200 miles away."

Exactly. MPG is much more generally useful. And as for the trick question about which vehicle choice saves more gas, the simple, OBVIOUSLY CORRECT but not allowed, answer is to go to the 50 mpg vehicle, regardless of what you're driving now.