Well sure I was mistaken! It's surprisingly easy to do.
Speaking of being mistaken, how is it that you read my post #119, yet you overlooked my post #120? I made a polite and complete retraction of all my mistakes in this thread. Stihl-o-matic brought that to my attention, and I have already done my best to take care of the problem.
With respect to other threads, I think it is best to keep them contained within the thread they started in. I am still contemplating whether or not to answer the question.
Arguing or debating about such factual topics as the mechanical advantage from pulleys would be pointless. They are too well understood to allow for opinions; consequently you end up arguing about logical or trivial points rather than anything of substance. That or educating someone who lacks proper understanding.
When I was a young man, I was very quick to leap into an argument with people over any topic for which I had a differing thought. Since I zealously desired to always be right, I honed my skills at arguing [debate?], but I also went to extra effort to keep well informed and always be right. Later in life,I have learned that I am liked much better for one mistake freely admitted than 1000 occasions of never being wrong.
Also, people trust me much more for my honesty when wrong than they ever have for being right. It seems to me that most folks have a quick understanding of who is being honest, and who is just covering their ass to avoid the embarassment of being mistaken. Quite frankly, I have such a big healthy ego that I can easily afford to acknowledge a few mistakes in exchange for never sacrificing my integrity.
