4 ms·
This paper always makes me sad because there are real things to be said about the structure of repetition in music, but Knuth treats it as a joke.
by enf 8y ago
This paper always makes me sad because there are real things to be said about the structure of repetition in music, but Knuth treats it as a joke.
- svat 8y agoDoes making a joke about something imply that there aren't “real” things to be said about it? To put it differently: here, Knuth heard a popular song that seems to be just “That's the way uh huh uh huh I like it uh huh uh huh” repeated endlessly, found it funny, and wrote an elaborate joke culminating in that observation, hewing to the style of CS publications. Why does that make you sad? It's not as if someone's bit of humour has prevented others from saying “real things”.
- enf 8y agoIt's not even a good joke. The song has two verses as well as the repetitive chorus, and he ignores them for the sake of the joke.
- svat 8y agoI find the whole paper very funny (see my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18048229 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18048229) but of course tastes can differ. Not sure though why you'd find it sad if someone made a joke you don't find very funny.