Comments

  2. bunnycatch3r says

    All answers to this question will be woo filled and subject to a future Richard Dawkins’ book: “The Purpose Filled Life Delusion”. The truth is that no matter what narrative arc we use to frame our dreary lives it matters not.

  3. Dawn says

    What am I doing here? Creating happiness wherever I go, of course. Isn’t that what we were put on earth for? ;)

  12. Grendels Dad says

    Well, at the moment I’m muttering under my breath about people who post links to videos that are “no longer available”. Grumble, grumble. ;^)

  15. Nerd of Redhead says

    Today, helping the Redhead give a special dinner to a few of her friends. Tomorrow, who knows?

  17. Sarcastro says

    I’m just waiting around long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike, as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I want to look up into your lifeless eyes and wave… like this. Can you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?

    Oh shit, wrong question.

  18. ggab says

    Crawlin’
    Walkin’
    Runnin’
    Jumpin’
    Eatin’
    Drinkin’
    Pissin’
    Dumpin’
    Rubin’
    Kissin’
    Strokin’
    Missin’
    Workin’
    Earnin’
    Payin’
    Learnin’
    Smokin’
    Sleepin’
    Laughin’
    Weepin’
    Watchin’
    Waitin’
    Grinin’
    Statein’
    Screamin’
    Cryin’
    Dreamin’
    Lyin’
    Scrapin’
    Slapin’
    Livin’
    Dyin’
    Nutin’ Why do you ask?

  20. sjburnt says

    Looking at about 7:27 in this long video of Whoodom, and deciphering what the new doctor is really saying…

  29. DanW says

    I’m just here for the hors d’oeuvres.

    Cheeze-whiz?
    Ham? (That ain’t kosher!)
    Crackers anyone? (That ain’t funny!)

  32. says

    Now try the same thing with the phrase “The question is…” in Star Trek DS9!

    I am certain it’s said somewhere in every single episode.

  33. tsg says

    I’m trying to find myself. If anybody sees me, kindly let me know.

    Writing a reply to a blog post that has a video of Dr. Who Clips.

    Completely OT (well, as far off as it can be in a thread with no topic), but that reminds me of a good joke:

    A contractor is lost in a hot-air balloon. He descends and comes across someone on the ground. “Excuse me. Can you tell me where I am?” he asks.

    The man on the ground replies, “You are in a hot-air balloon several feet above the ground.”

    The contractor smiles and says, “You must be an engineer.”

    “Yes I am, how did you know?”

    “Because your answer was completely correct but useless.”

    The engineer says, “you must be a contractor.”

    “I am. How did you know?”

    The engineer answers, “because you are in the same situation you were in before you met me, but now it’s my fault.”

  36. frog says

    bunnycatch3r: The truth is that no matter what narrative arc we use to frame our dreary lives it matters not.

    Wow, you must be fun at parties!

    Why do people insist on pretending there exists a “God’s eye-view” of our lives? Lives can only be seen from the inside — there is no life independent of the narrative arcs we create. It’s only subjective — the objective view is a religious Delusion.

  38. says

    Pondering the underlying motives for such a question…
    Really, what are “here” or “there” but subjective observations relative to one’s own frame of reference which may or may not represent the views of the target of said question. For example: “What are you doing here?”
    “But I’m not there, I’m here”
    “well, you certainly seem to be here to me”
    “But ‘here,’ for you, would imply my being in your specific location, which I am not, I am in my own location, thus, to you, I would be ‘there.'”

  40. Not that Louis says

    The real question is how can you be in two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all.

  41. Andy James says

    Taking in chemicals, using the differential energy within those bonds, and excreting a set of chemicals with a lowered energy level. At the moment, thin-crust pizza is undergoing this process. You’re welcome ecosystem.

  43. Screechy Monkey says

    Preaching to the choir of my fellow angry militant fundamentalist extreme atheists, of course.

  44. Scott from Oregon says

    At the moment trying to rehabilitate a stroke victim and give her her extra years.

    …while harrassing sycophants on the side…

  47. frog says

    Andy Jones: Taking in chemicals, using the differential energy within those bonds, and excreting a set of chemicals with a lowered energy level.

    Don’t forget the entropy — you’re a non-equilibrium system!

  50. Patricia says

    Oh shut up maditude! You have no right to just burst in here and demand anything. ;o)

  53. Chris P says

    Trying to design better products that use less energy and cost less to make.

    And in my spare time design transportation systems that use less energy.

    More fun than going to church and watching mindless TV

  57. tsg says

    Rev, of course you’re not here, you’re there.

    No, he’s not. I’m there, and if he were here, I’d see him.

  67. bPer says

    Having just finished viewing the video, and then read comment #12, I’d say I’m …

    Proposing a new (AFAIK) Internet law:

    No comment thread on a blog entry containing an embedded video is complete until someone incorrectly complains that the video is no longer available.

  69. tsg says

    You don’t know shit from Shinola, bub.

    I always thought that said more about Shinola than it did about me.

  70. Phyllis says

    Procrastinating reading World English lit (before 1650). Current time in literature – Christian Europe, New Testament. Ugh.

  75. Rich says

    Today I’m not sure. Some days when I wake up, a reason pops into my head and makes life worth living. For the other days, I’ve learned to endure, maybe help others with their quest or just wait for tomorrow.

  78. JenWolf says

    Breathing, digesting the cookie I just ate, and typing a response to your demanding question. Then, clicking post.

  79. Patricia says

    I’m putting off writing an essay on pagan customs in Europe, and rehearsing what I’m going to tell my whippersnapper, know it all teacher when I don’t hand it in on time.

  89. Nick says

    What I’m doing here:

    -Not working
    -Loving science
    -Building a career
    -Wondering how Dr. Who writers keep getting paid

  90. tsg says

    procrasturbating

    “I know I should, but I really don’t feel like masturbating right now.”

  91. says

    If I may?

    pleading,
    needing,
    bleeding,
    breeding,
    feeding,
    exceeding,

    where is everybody?

    trying,
    lying,
    defying,
    denying,
    crying,
    dying,

    where is everybody?

  95. Qwerty says

    Why, I am posting a comment, of course.

    “What are you doing here?” Now, that’s a question I’d like to ask Congress. Especially after their last giveaway!

    Oh, hell, let’s just ask anybody: What are you doing here?

  98. Newfie says

    Existing
    and self medicating back spasms, getting old sucks
    / that’s not an argument, that’s just contradiction

  99. Jonathon says

    I must say that even though I consider myself a hard-core Dr. Who fan, I never noticed how much that line is repeated.

    The phrase that I look for in every episode is “Of course!”. That is pretty much in every episode.

    Thanks for the walk down Dr. Who memory lane!!

  103. says

    To grossly oversimplify the last 13.7 Billion years of cosmology and evolution, humans are simply sentience born out of energy. As far as we know, we are the only entities capable of understanding the universe. Because of this, we as a species have a (rather self-defined) purpose to do just that.

    Me, specifically? I’m just one guy with strange ideas.

    Here, specifically? I’m bored and my next class starts an hour from now.

  104. says

    Looking forward to Atheist Alliance International’s 2009 Conference, which will be here in Colorado in September. Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins are supposed to be here. Will you be here with us again, PZ? I owe you drinks, you know.

  110. Qwerty says

    There once was a man named P-Zed.
    His ilk and his minions he led.
    Thought none bought creation,
    This Pharyngulanation,
    And this is what all of them said:

    What are you doing here?

    (With apologies to Cuttlefish.)

  112. Armed Pacifist says

    Like so many of my peers in this thread I am fooling around at work rather than shove paper around. Specifically I am smoking tobacco, drinking coffee and listening to Jerry Lee Lewis sing “High School Hop”. I skipped watching the video clip because I was too lazy to allow NoScript to let it run.

  113. JohnnieCanuck, FCD says

    Patricia,

    Given that you eat any trolls that show up here, the poo you find to fling at trolls must logically be…

  116. Patricia says

    JohnnieCanuck, Only partially, I have thirteen pullets out back. I need all the help I can get when it comes to flinging it with the trebuchet.

  118. says

    It’s similar to Eastenders (BBC) where in practically every episode someone bursts into a room and demands “What’s goin’ on ‘ere then?” to which the answer is inevitably: “Naffin’!” (“Nothing” for U.S. readers).

    btw I don’t watch Eastenders but my mum does, and I get subjected to it whenever I visit her. That’s my excuse anyway.

  126. steve_h says

    NmcC@97: I think that’s her asking the eternal question at 5.22

    El Herring: Leave it aat, you’re doin’ my ‘ead in.

  127. Tim H says

    If, in fact, I know that I am here, I cannot precisely define what I am doing. And, of course, if I know what I am doing, I cannot precisely state that I am in fact, here.

    The case above would be a best case scenario. In all likelihood, I have no idea where I am or what I’m doing.

  128. pubcat says

    Wondering if the frequency with which the question is asked is enough to make that a very, very dangerous drnking game, or whether there are so many episodes of Dr who you would need a drink between drinks…

  129. The Chimp's Raging Id says

    Waiting for either

    1. another dumb poll to crash or
    2. pictures of cephalapods getting it on.

    Oh and avoiding getting anything productive done.

    What are YOU doing here?

  130. The Chimp's Raging Id says

    In all likelihood, I have no idea where I am or what I’m doing.

    I usually feel that way after leaving the pub.

  134. says

    Christopher: that’s what’s “doin’ my ‘ed in” at the moment. It rings a bell but I can’t place it.

    Okay, I’ll just have to ask (I think this is the correct response anyway): what’s a ftmsh?

  135. says

    Chortling – that’s one I do know (being a bit of a Lewis Carroll fan). It’s one of what he called his “portmanteau” words, made from combining “chuckle” and “snort”. It was of course used in the Jabberwocky poem.

    And on that subject, allow me to use that as an excuse to provide a link to said poem with my own original “sequel” written eight years ago. Enjoy.

  136. judgemc says

    Refereeing fights between the kids, the cat and the dog, the husband and the kids, the husband and the cat (the cat is winning btw) ect….

  137. Akari_House says

    Taking comfort in evidence for the existence of rational life forms on this little rock I’m sitting on.

  142. says

    Sent here by Rebbecca Watson on the Skeptic’s Guide podcast. Now you’re in my RSS feed reader, and you’ll have to be really boring or obnoxious to escape!

    So far, it’s too interesting to ignore ;)

  145. Janine ID AKA The Lone Drinker says

    I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubble gum.

  146. Dutch Delight says

    What!? Why would you want to know!? Should I give you a copy of my passport while we’re at it?!

    Nosy bloggers, can’t trust ‘m.

  147. The Chimp's Raging Id says

    So you hadn’t heard that SciBlogs now has its own Patriot Act? PZ has been appointed Head of Blogland Security. Now hand over your papers!

  148. steve_h says

    what’s a ftmsh?

    Ftmsh was a head-skewering demon, accidentally summoned as a result of a Grauniad misprint in a boring(?) episode of “The Young Ones” (BBC, the eighties)

  150. woozy says

    The real question is how can you be in two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all.

    Where do you go when you’re toad away?

  151. ddr says

    Drinking my 3rd Mountain Dew for the day and waiting for another 25 minutes to tick off the clock so I can go home.

  152. woozy says

    The real question is how can you be in two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all.

    Where do you go when you’re toad away?

  153. Mike says

    There isn’t a day goes by I don’t ask myself that very question as I struggle to teach English in Korea….

  161. says

    Ftmsh was a head-skewering demon, accidentally summoned as a result of a Grauniad misprint in a boring(?) episode of “The Young Ones” (BBC, the eighties)

    Boring episode of the Young ones?!?!?!?

  162. Rick Schauer says

    I’ll tell you…but first, who wants to know?

    And, why pray tell do they want to know it?

  164. cyan says

    “What are you doing here?”
    “What are you doing there?”

    That’s my business, not yours.

    If you try to figure out what you’re doing here based on what the answer is that a majority of other people infer that they are doing here, that’s pathetic.

    Sheep-ers, creepers!

    Or, less vituperatively & more to the source: WHO … are you? (buh-buh, …. buh-buh!)

  165. Dag Yo says

    ZOMG how freaking long did it take to make that video? That was crazy.

    …and more directly, catching up on PZs awesomeness.

  167. cyan says

    scooter,

    thanks for your rational & humorous link!
    wish all ‘mericuns would appreciate its pinpointing of Palin’s thinkin’

  168. says

    Terry @ 133: by the way, what does chortling mean?

    It’s actually a sex thing. Perhaps you have heard of a humm job. Chortling is a laugh job. You simply get your partner going on you, then begin telling really funny jokes.

    It’s awesome.

    Actually it works for vaginal sex as well, come to think of it (no pun)

  172. aeryn987 says

    Specifically? Right now? Looking for educational ways to avoid my homework.

    In a more general sense? Saving the world.

  174. Patricia says

    See – I told ya, you haven’t seen nothin’ till Scooter and Quiet Desperation show up.

    Next thang ya know, the strumpets and sluts will sa-shay in.

    Are w00+ and Cuttlefish gonna dodge this one? Oh, say it isn’t so! They are – the boys in the back room.

  178. Arbutus says

    Shortening my handle. I’m tired of writing Arbutus Grove all the time.

    Come to think of it that’s a dumb handle. Any ideas for a different one?

  179. says

    I honestly don’t know. Killing time? Trying to get exposure for my blog? Probably because it’s a place where I can interact with many of high intellect on topics of interest. If this were a pub, I’d never leave.

  180. biopunk says

    Avoiding reviewing eukaryotic chromosome mapping techniques and being impressed that P.Z. posts some Who!

    Now back to the tetratypes…

    Any study tips out there? (Aside from the obvious…)

  181. Katkinkate says

    Posted by: Lago @ 35
    “Ah, more evidence in my, “Good British TV is a Myth!” argument.”

    HEY! Don’t diss the Doctor!

  186. CortxVortx says

    Loo: And who are they?
    Dr. Klahn: Just lost drunken men who don’t know where they are and no longer care.
    Prisoner #1: Where are we?
    Prisoner #2: I don’t care!
    Loo: And these?
    Dr. Klahn: These are lost drunken men who don’t know where they are, but do care! And these are men who know where they are and care, but don’t drink.

    Kentucky Fried Movie

  187. csrster says

    ‘All answers to this question will be woo filled and subject to a future Richard Dawkins’ book: “The Purpose Filled Life Delusion”. The truth is that no matter what narrative arc we use to frame our dreary lives it matters not.’

    Does that explain the brief appearance of Mrs. Dawkins in this clip :-) ?

  188. Cactus Wren says

    Reminding myself that I’m going to bed in another fifteen minutes … every hour or so.

  190. says

    steve_h: thanks. I had a vision in my mind of David Rappaport saying “What’s a ftmsh?” but that only made me think of Time Bandits. I was right about Rappaport then (he played the demon in “Young Ones”.)

    Nice obscure quote from Christopher! That really got me thinking.

  196. Dan says

    What…. why I come to this little part of the infinite web to keep sane. Good Job PZ….

  199. Mathi Lusch says

    Looking for a Paul McGann “What are you doing here” and found it in audio, along with thwarting the great Dalek Masterplan.

  200. Mathi Lusch says

    Looking for a Paul McGann “What are you doing here” and found it in audio, along with thwarting the great Dalek Masterplan.

  202. eric says

    What am I doing here?

    The same thing most of us are doing here.

    I’m trying either to answer the question, “What am I doing here?” or to figure out if it’s a meaningful question in the first place.

  205. Sondra says

    Waiting for the new season of Dr. Who with David Tennant; he rocks.
    Friday on SciFi ch. and Saturday on BBC; various times – check your local listings.