!!Important poll!!

April 10, 2012 • 6:18 pm

You know I wouldn’t ask you to crash a poll unless something truly important was at stake. There are enough readers here, I think, to influence this poll at Pajiba, which was clearly created by a wrong-thinking person:

 Why are some people dog people, and some people cat people, and why are those two constituencies so hostile toward baby people?

I don’t understand these phenomena, myself. Personally, I am anti-cute puppy and adorable kitten, and I believe that devoting even a fraction of our unlimited Internet space to these two subjects is antithetical to good taste. I think it’s dopey. I currently write for a site that I love despite the fact that Corgi Fridays is a popular weekly feature, and where a post comparing dogs to “Mad Men” characters was one of the most popular of last week. I respect it, but I don’t get it. But show me an adorable baby, and I will awww with the best of them.

  • Adorable Pictures of Babies?
     5%
  • Adorable Pictures of Puppies?
     34%
  • Adorable Pictures of Kittens?
     27%
  • All of the Above
     21%
  • None of the Above
     10%

You know what to do. Vote here.  If cats win by noon tomorrow, I’ll give away an autographed copy of WEIT to any  an autographed copy of WEIT to one randomly-selected reader who says he/she has voted for kittehs in the comments below.  Be honest!  Just give your handle and say that you voted for teh kittehs.

Thank God Ceiling Cat they didn’t include squids. . . .

_____________

UPDATE: Oh dear, I meant ONE autographed copy to a randomly selected reader among those who votes for cats. I have only a dozen paperbacks left!  Apologies for the misunderstanding.

472 thoughts on “!!Important poll!!”

  4. I voted for teh kittehs. I’ll happily take a pdf copy of the book in lieu of hard copy.

  7. How easily all of you are bought! At least Templeton prize recipients hold out for a cool million.

  10. I voted once for all of the above, then I read the comments, then I thought of the minions of Anthony Watts (climate denier whackos) voting for “WattsUpWithThat” as the “best science blog” for several years running. Then I voted for the puppies on my phone and for the puppies again on my iPad. Kittehs are OK, but I’m a dog guy. Oh… and I already paid for WEIT and it was worth every penny. (Someday, maybe I’ll get an autograph. Of course, I’ll probably neglect to mention this whole poll thing.)

  18. voted for kitties and passed the site along to six others! Don’t understand that weird Corgis/babies thing… we have a Corgi (along with our 4 cats) and she’s great (oops, that doesn’t disqualify me, does it??)

  19. I voted for the kittens (even though I also own a couple of Corgis — they’ll understand)

  22. Since I already have an autographed copy (neener neener), I was able to make my decision without the influence of this corrupt Chicago-style bribery.

    My vote went to kittehs anyhow.

  28. I voted for teh kittehs (I lied) and it instantly changed to a majority for teh kittehs, so my vote must have broken teh camel’s back.

    (In NZ Maori, te – pronounced teh – is the singular definite article, so “teh kittehs” just looks wrong to me; I want to say “ngah kittehs”.

    “Squids” looks wrong too. Shouldn’t it be “squidi” or “squiden” or “squidim” or something?)

  29. Couldn’t resist when Pharyngulating a poll came with chance of winning such a good prize. Tis done! Voted for teh Kittehs! I can haz WEIT?

  32. I voted for kittehs. However, I confess I actually prefer cute puppies but could not give up the opportunity to be in the running for a signed copy of WEIT. This put me in a moral dilemma I know, but given my lack of true free will I was compelled to act as I did. I am a bad, immoral, unethical person. I am sure Ceiling Cat will not hold it against me though when I meet him/her at the pearly catscratching post.

  37. Yes, I voted kitties and it now looks like the poll has been properly Coyangulated. PZ will be sooooo jealous!

  40. Well, since adorable reptiles aren’t an option I voted for kittehs, even though mine is in the doghouse (so to speak).

    While making coffee this morning, I spotted a good size rat on my deck. “Goner” I thought to myself, since the minute I turn on the kitchen faucet, my cat appears on the deck to be fed and let in for his day-long nap. Faucet on…no cat. Faucet on several times and no cat. The rat in the meantime has made several forays across the deck. Finally, the dog crawls out and want to go out and she chases the rat into the bushes. How embarrassing for catkind. The dog also takes care of a deer that is beheading my tulips. Dog 2, Cat 0.

    Sometime around 6 PM, the cat shows up, covered with dirt and in a surly mood. Who knows what he was up to for the past 24 hours, but he eats and leaves…haven’t seen him since. I think he flipped me the middle claw as he sauntered off.

    1. [Update] 5 AM, cat wants in early because it’s raining out (hanging from window screen, sort of like knocking). I open the door to towel him off and I notice what appears to be rat guts and a familiar looking rat head.

      Cat is now curled up on top of spousal unit in bed. All is forgiven and life goes back to normal.

  44. Interesting excercise on how polls influence voting! That plus the autographed book…….Hope Romney doesn´t get the idea: give away a little present and show how bad (or well) he is supposedly doing. Cats will win. But puppies will prevail!

  45. Interesting exercise on how polls influence voting! That, plus the autographed book…….Hope Romney doesn´t get the idea: give away a little present and show how bad (or well) he is supposedly doing. Cats will win. But puppies will prevail!

  48. I voted even though I’m sick enough that I can barely get out of bed. After all, this is an emergency!

  53. Professor Coyne, are you sure this was a good idea? This is potentially a lot of signed copies of your book to hand out!

  55. It’s been a bad day for the Internets if no kitties have made their way past me. So of course I voted for the kitties! One day they will rule the Internet, and what a wonderful day that will be!

  57. I voted. Evidently Jerry has enough groupies to sway the result. Kitties now enjoy a commanding lead of 42% to 28% for puppies. Thanks ceiling cat.

  60. Of course I just voted for kittens, too! Would have done so without your incentive, I mean, really, trust your fans! Don’t think that baby-squid-daddy could have mustered that much. The photos on that website weren’t exactly nice – its owner clearly has a lot to learn from Jerry!

  62. Voted for the Kittehs – icanhazcheezburger is in my favourite – brilliant site for the kittehs

  63. I just had to vote “None Of the Above” aaaaand…I did. Sorry. I just couldn’t bring my self to vote for anything else.

  65. Voted for kittens! Duh..
    I allready have a copy of WEIT, and I live in Europe, so don’t bother sending me a signed copy.
    (postcard would be nice..)
    (..of a kitteh!)

  66. Give me birds, skinks, little wild field mice and chameleons over “kittehs” any day. Those awful, pampered, hybridised, artificially sustained, mini predator extensions of their overpopulated human hosts are enemies of environmental equilibrium. Dogs too – the last time I saw oyster catchers and sandpipers nesting on my favourite beach was the year before people started walking their dogs there. I don’t even see the Egyptian gees any more and I wonder about the sea otters and about the rooikat I once encountered.

    Admittedly, there is nothing happier than a dog on the beach and it is a great sight to see but the first thing any dog does is chase off the birds – not a problem in itself, but by the sheer numbers it has become serious. I think the Western world needs to ask itself some sincere questions about how it’s own numbers, multiplied by the numbers of it’s domestic animals, impacts on the environment.

    1. I’m with you, but I don’t think you’ll find this a popular view here.

      I like (most)cats and dogs, but domestic cats in particular are devastating predators with an artificially maintained predator-prey ratio.

      Give me frogs, toads, newts, shrews, birds anyday.

      2. Here in Cape Town, after they banned dogs from being walked in the upper reaches of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, there was a dramatic increase in the number of wildlife sightings.

        I had a neighbour who owned numerous cats and after she moved, there was a noticeable drop in the number of those shiny shit flies together with an increase in the bird life – even a pair of kiewiets. I hadn’t heard kiewiets in the area before. They have such a lovely call.

        1. People are rarely rational about their pets. I do understand their attachment, but people should also be realistic about the effect their pets have. I want my small urban garden to be a haven for wildlife – not a hunting ground for my neighbours cat. I live in the UK and we have only a few native reptiles and amphibians. I know where my allegiance lies!

  67. Voted for the kitties. The kitties lead the poll now by quite a big margin.

    Adorable Pictures of Babies?
    4%
    Adorable Pictures of Puppies?
    27%
    Adorable Pictures of Kittens?
    43%
    All of the Above
    16%
    None of the Above
    7%

  73. I voted for the kitties.

    Incidentally, this morning my cat, Kira, caught a mouse we’ve been seeing traces of around the house. I managed to rescue the mouse from her and release it into a hedgerow a suitable distance away.

  77. (Lying mode on) I voted kittens, I would never dream of voting for those cute, adorable puppies, ever.(lying mode off)

    Can I have my book now?

  81. Of course I voted for the kittens. I think you can actually find more cats than porn on the internet these days, and who am I to try to stop them from taking over?

  86. Kittens of course, just look at those pictures they presented as evidence and it is clear why.

  87. I voted for kittens, of course. (Though let’s not forget the charm of the older cat.)

    I’ve already got a copy of the book – but, ok, the autograph would be nice. Should I win, though, I’d like one of your remaining copies to be left in the drawer of a desk in an arbitrary hotel room of your choice. I know that I’d find it much more interesting reading than the Gideon bible!

  93. Kittens running away with it. (I hope they leave it where I can find it this time.)

    2. You have my vote against “random selection of a winner”. Given that Evo is anything but random, I would encourage Jerry to non-randomly award the prize to you!

  100. I voted for kittens. My two cats were looking over my shoulder, so I HAD to do it. 🙂

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