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>there is a little man inside your pc... and his thing is bigger than yours. Your wife knows this. I'm supposed to believe this technology is dangerous. But th

>there is a little man inside your pc... and his thing is bigger than yours. Your wife knows this. I'm supposed to believe this technology is dangerous. But the advocates are children.

kbenson 11y ago
I think you're supposed to be able to distinguish the message from the medium. Certain styles can definitely make that harder, but ultimately if you can't examine an issue by the facts presented, the failure falls on you, as do the consequences. To be clear, I also think the referenced bit is childish and detracts from the message. I just don't think that should affect your belief in whether it's important.
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  If a piece is written with a confusingly inappropriate tone for the subject matter, you can't solely blame the reader for being confused since it was the expressed intent of the author to instill that state.
  - kbenson 11y ago
    Well, it's a wiki, so "author" is very loose (and when I checked at the time of my original comment, the change to add some of that verbiage was the most recent change, if still quite old). Ultimately, much of the information on the internet is presented without reference, so tone is the least of our problems. We need to be able to read what is being presented, and decide whether it's important enough to use that we should verify it. In this case, the tone shifts, but the message is along the same lines (the ME is your adversary), if very crudely done. I do think you have a point though. It's not entirely up to the reader, there is a minimum threshold of clearly communicating facts that needs to be met by the author. But I don't think it's safe to say something that's unclear in tone means it was the expressed intent of the author to cause confusion. Humor can add quite a bit to an argument if done right, as humor often has the ability to cut through some of our preconceptions. Humor done wrong might be confusing, but that could very well be unintentional.
jjbiotech 11y ago
Yeah, screw the author for making a joke on the internet!

>there is a little man inside your pc... and his thing is bigger than yours. Your wife knows this. I'm supposed to believe this technology is dangerous. But the advocates are children.

kbenson 11y ago

I think you're supposed to be able to distinguish the message from the medium. Certain styles can definitely make that harder, but ultimately if you can't examine an issue by the facts presented, the failure falls on you, as do the consequences. To be clear, I also think the referenced bit is childish and detracts from the message. I just don't think that should affect your belief in whether it's important.

oldmanjay 11y ago
If a piece is written with a confusingly inappropriate tone for the subject matter, you can't solely blame the reader for being confused since it was the expressed intent of the author to instill that state.
- kbenson 11y ago
  Well, it's a wiki, so "author" is very loose (and when I checked at the time of my original comment, the change to add some of that verbiage was the most recent change, if still quite old). Ultimately, much of the information on the internet is presented without reference, so tone is the least of our problems. We need to be able to read what is being presented, and decide whether it's important enough to use that we should verify it. In this case, the tone shifts, but the message is along the same lines (the ME is your adversary), if very crudely done. I do think you have a point though. It's not entirely up to the reader, there is a minimum threshold of clearly communicating facts that needs to be met by the author. But I don't think it's safe to say something that's unclear in tone means it was the expressed intent of the author to cause confusion. Humor can add quite a bit to an argument if done right, as humor often has the ability to cut through some of our preconceptions. Humor done wrong might be confusing, but that could very well be unintentional.

jjbiotech 11y ago

Yeah, screw the author for making a joke on the internet!