'Is it worth anything?' 'I dunno, is the answer to that question worth another $5?'
Better method:
Walk up to geologist, hand them a rock
"Look at this cool agate I found!"
Where "agate" is substituted for any obviously incorrect identification.
Here in Kentucky, it's likely either agate or coal. There isn't much else.
this is why kentuckees have such great teeth, lots of coalgate
: Makes angry eye contact and points to door:
You have some ancient opal but very few people find it
I usually go with meteoric iron, that's specific enough that they want to take a closer look
This approach does save $5.
I usually just say something like "look over there!" and sneakily replace the rock they were tasting to the one I want identified
...tasting? 🤔
h-hey you're a geologist right? can you uh, identify this c- i mean.. rock? for me?
Believe it or not, this is a legit thing. I haven't done anything much with rocks*, but here's a good example for soil. If it's fine grained (smaller than sand) and you can't see the particles by eye, you can rub some on your teeth:
Buttery texture --> clay Gritty on the teeth --> silt
Not approved for use on contaminated ground!
I bet you warn about Land Wars in Asia, don't you?
Scientists are people, too. Give them the McDonald’s money and they’ll do all sorts of cool things for you.
Slips a biologist $50 hey could you, like, get ahold of some multi drug resistant m. tuberculosis samples for me? thanks
Small price to pay for being like Arthur Morgan
They did not lick it. I don't trust that expertise
I wish I had some geologist friends.
Can confirm that the method on the right yeilds better results for anyone who asks me.
This can work. But: "Look at this hand sample I found at a prospective mineral mining source. What sort of resources might we find here? I have included a hefty research grant."
Jesus Christ, Marie. It's a mineral!
Yo let me get a dime bag of that geology.
I worked in the mining industry for awhile, and we'd just ask the geo to lick the rock to identify it.
The book “Assembling California” by McPhee gives a lot of excellent description about context when it comes to geology. Gets a bit academic at times, but interesting background on California’s crazy geology.
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