4 ms·

To a certain degree I emphasise - in spoken contexts I often fail to pick up sarcasm. But I have far less problems in navigating through subtle shifts in tone

To a certain degree I emphasise - in spoken contexts I often fail to pick up sarcasm. But I have far less problems in navigating through subtle shifts in tone in a piece of text. While you seem to see it as a wolf in sheep's clothing and are terrified that the sheep are about to be devoured, I'm seeing the wolf, dressed in sheep's clothing, comically delivering a lecture to said sheep about avoiding wolves - and actually dispensing some pretty good advice. Surely you can see the wonderfully playful irony here. What's more, the sheep are sitting around (i.e. hacker news readers) having a good ol laugh at the wolf. And you're amongst them shouting loudly - WATCH OUT THE WOLF WILL DEVOUR YOU! And when they look at you strangely your response to this is to conclude that you're just in the wrong crowd. Just a shame is all - you're obviously quite a smart chap. It's like meeting Beethoven and finding out that really he hates listening to Mozart. It would boggle the mind!

sgentle 15y ago
Ha. Well, I don't know if I'd describe myself as terrified or shouting, but I take your point gladly. I wasn't being facetious when I said I hope it's a parody that's gone over my head. For the record, though, the "wrong crowd" was referring to your suggestion that I should step back from the discussion (presumably because you found my comment too forceful or emotional), which I took as your main point. I meant that if your sentiment is shared by others, it could be that that form of argument isn't appreciated on HN. I'm not quite condescending enough to suggest it's the community's fault if I don't get the joke. ;)
stcredzero 15y ago
It's like meeting Beethoven and finding out that really he hates listening to Mozart. Apparently, Ludwig was rather taken with Wolfgang's music: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_and_Beethoven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_and_Beethoven
- grovulent 15y ago
  Indeed - so that's why it would be quite boggling to learn otherwise! ;)

sgentle 15y ago

Ha. Well, I don't know if I'd describe myself as terrified or shouting, but I take your point gladly. I wasn't being facetious when I said I hope it's a parody that's gone over my head. For the record, though, the "wrong crowd" was referring to your suggestion that I should step back from the discussion (presumably because you found my comment too forceful or emotional), which I took as your main point. I meant that if your sentiment is shared by others, it could be that that form of argument isn't appreciated on HN. I'm not quite condescending enough to suggest it's the community's fault if I don't get the joke. ;)

stcredzero 15y ago

It's like meeting Beethoven and finding out that really he hates listening to Mozart. Apparently, Ludwig was rather taken with Wolfgang's music: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_and_Beethoven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_and_Beethoven

grovulent 15y ago
Indeed - so that's why it would be quite boggling to learn otherwise! ;)