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<title><![CDATA[Comments for entry "Rule of Twelve" at Dilbert.com Blog]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/241]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Regular thoughts and updates from Dilbert.com]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from another]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/24427]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[&quot;If someone is explaining a subject to you by listing lots of facts and examples, without explaining any of the twelve concepts, you probably aren't learning anything useful.&quot;

And when you point out to them that they aren't being helpful, they will be confused and/or angry.  If they are confused, congratulations, you've opened their mind.  Now ask again.]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from dsg]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23531]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[[We're shooting for 200 points. -- Scott]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like NAHB home building standards that should achieve a Bronze rating. Very good. Certification, from which ever rating system isn't the easist thing to do.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[MonAMPDTE_Rrdrd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from stevemajor]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23482]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[My cousin has a company that specializes in environmentally responsible home design. Check it out: http://www.stackwood.net/]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[SunPMPDTE_Rndnd]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from resplence]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23350]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[@Brant: Put it like that, it looks like an applied version of the Pareto Principle: 80% of the knowledge you need you understand a subject comes from 20% of the information related to it. O something like that.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[SatAMPDTE_Rstst]]></pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="false"><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23350]]></guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Johno_the_teacher]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23349]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[This concept explains why certain people appear to become experts on subjects quickly.  They are often derided as &quot;Instant experts&quot;, because many folks can't cope with the fact that yesterday they knew nothing and now they know everything!

It's actually nothing so ridiculous.

These people just have the ability (most likely subconscious) to screen out from speaking with a genuine expert or two the twelve (or so) significant facts about the subject.  In some cases, it may just mean that they are able to rapidly sound like an expert rather than really becoming one; it's a matter of whether or not they understand the concepts or can simply parrot them. But this is largely internal, so you can't tell from speaking to the person whether they are a pseudo expert or a real one!

]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from AM04]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23334]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Hi Scott,

I totally agree with your &quot;Rule of Tells&quot;.
I know these days its a become a cliche to attach a link and ask someone to have alook at it,

Still have a look at the wbsite dedicated to famous anglo-indian Architect &quot;Lauri Baker&quot;

Who is famous for building really &quot;Cool&quot; (Literally!!) house in India using innovations like &quot;Rat Trap bond&quot; in walls etc 

The Link  

http://lauriebaker.net/

I am sure you wont be dissapointed!!(Another Cliche!!!)

Cheers,

Alok!!!]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Brant]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23315]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Brant's Law: The significance of information obeys a power law, with the few most significant facts adding much more information and understanding than the many less significant facts. Learn the few significant ideas and the trivia can safely be ignored except where extreme precision and completeness is required.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Brant]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23314]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[11. and 12. aren't necessary if you choose your materials in 10.; to be fireproof and non-toxic: ceramic, wood, glass and stone. Anybody think of a new 11 and 12?]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Brant]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23313]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Improved my list:  1. Heat your house. 2. Cool your house. 3. Humidify your house. 4. Dehumidify your house. 5. Light your house. 6. Shade your house. 7. Heat your water. 8. Cool your water.  9. Build your house in such a way as to do 1-8 passively. 10. Build your house of durable, local green materials. 11. Fireproof your house. 12. Make sure your house is not toxic.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Brant]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23312]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[1. Heat your house. 2. Cool your house. 3. Humidify your house. 4. Dehumidify your house. 5. Light your house. 6. Shade your house. 7. Build your house in such a way as to do 1-6 passively. 8. Build your house of durable, local green materials. 9. Fireproof your house. 10. Make sure your house is not toxic. 11. Heat your water. 12. Cool your water.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Warren L]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23308]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[
Interesting comments by everyone. I agree 100% with Scott's punchline - that numbers are usually used as a screen for ignorance, and that the givers of numbers are usually not aware of their own ignorance. True experts in a field never flood you with numbers - they explain their subject in terms of human nature that are so basic they can be applied to almost anything. But everything seems easy and simple when you spend your whole life doing it.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from opustheblue]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23298]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Yes, but everything high level  like preservation of warmth and coolestness in the building breaks down into many smaller problems to create your final solution.  The real issue is how detailed to you want to go.

I get when looking at windows you can find someone who knows more about glass for your windows that would be helpful.  IE, I read somewhere about being close to transparent aerogel.  I also read something about the type of spacers between glass sheets in  windows.  That aluminum and other metals conduct to much heat and newer polymers or ceramics are the way to go.  Or you can go to a manufacturor's website to learn about how the efficiency ratings work and shop for windows, trusting good decisions were made.  Or you could dig enough to find out the manufacturing plant's smoke  stacks release mercury and 900 Scarlet Tanager's die by crashing into the smoke stacks, because they're shiney?

It's all a matter of degree.   When I built 3 years ago I watched two thermal mass guys have a heated argument about the best stone for direct sunlight heating.  It got personal.  I think the winner liked some sort of soapstone.  (All I did was ask a question.)]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from dsg]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23297]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[I know this isn't really the topic of your post, but you still have not answered a key question about your new house, which you claimed was the greenest of its size in your area. Is your house LEED certified?

Instead of doing all this research yourself, why didn't you contact a LEED certified architect, or did you? A long time ago I mentioned contacting AIA as a resource. Any respectable design firm will have LEED certified engineers and so on and will tell you exactly how to produce a green, environmentally friendly, sustainable house in your neighborhood. San Fran is a hub of green design.

Knowing a fair amount about this field, I need to hear how many LEED credits you have before I believe you have a truly efficient house.

[We're shooting for 200 points. -- Scott]]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriPMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Aardwizz]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23295]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[Like most other commenters, I agree that what you have &quot;discovered&quot; isn't a &quot;Rule of Twelve&quot; so much as a Tipping Point at which you can make an informed decision.

I suspect that the number of facts for the Tipping Point may vary by field.  I wonder what the Tipping Point is for topics such as Global Warming, The Nature of God, Evolution, Voting, and other topics blogged about here.  More than 12?  If not, just what ARE the 12 &quot;facts&quot; that one needs.

For your green house, the facts that you presented can be reduced to a few fairly common-sensical rules:

#1)  A hole will leak more than a wall..  Therefore Insulating the hole in the walls (doors, windows, etc) is more important than insulating the walls.

#2)  Heat Rises.  Therefore, if your house will spend more time below the ourside temperature (like in the Bay Area, and Maine), then the roof is more inportant to insulate than the walls.  If the outside air temperature is usually greater than the inside temperature (like in the desert), then the walls are more important.

#3) Matter conducts heat.  Also, gases move; solids don't.  Therefore, air (having less matter than steel) insulates better.  But becasue it move, it will take its heat with it.  Trapping the air in a matrix (fiberglass, foam, etc.) prevents it from moving the heat around.  Exactly which material has a better matrix is a triva question (or a cost/benif one, as &quot;more is better&quot; reaches a point of diminishing returns.).

Are there 9 more &quot;facts&quot;?  If so, I'd like to hear them.
]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from suewho]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23291]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[This is a simple case of not asking the right question.  Instead of asking what wall insulation you should use, you should have asking what should you do to better insulate your home.  This is basic to problem solving.  You need to define the problem first before you try to come up with an answer.  Try thinking like a engineer.

[If you ask that question you will get a laundry list with no real sense of what is important. -- Scott]]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from noldrin]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23290]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[That is why our schools do so poor.  That and the crap for food we serve the students, and the lack of gym.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from resplence]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23286]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[I second the motion for naming it &quot;Rule of Significant Knowledge&quot;, or something even more &quot;catchy&quot; and clear on the whole concept, like &quot;Dodecahedron of Significant Knowledge&quot;, or maybe &quot;The Ten Commandments of Everything&quot;. I don't know, but I see potential in this concept, and finding a proper name to it.

And I think all those people talking about insulation and whatever are missing the point (however intentionally).]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from Will Von Wizzlepig]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23285]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[So, since you now have the twelve things of building a green house in the area you live in, why not list them here for the world to see?

Also, two hints about the login page for this blog:

1. The cursor should always place itself in the username box for you
2. the 'remember me' checkbox does not appear to work in firefox 3, which is saaad.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from rjmunro]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23283]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[@D. A house should should last for 50-100 years. The saving to the environment of using recycled materials is not going to be significant compared to the cost of the temprature regulation of the house.]]></description>
<pubDate><![CDATA[FriAMPDTE_Rthth]]></pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Comment  from juliangall]]></title>
<link><![CDATA[http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/23282]]></link>
<description><![CDATA[The main concept about insulation is &quot;it's air&quot;. Everything else is just the means to hold a specified thickness air in place and stop it moving around.]]></description>
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