3 ms·

I think you mistake my point, or I missed you when I aimed it. My question is not whether the essay should make a factual statement about the existence of a web

I think you mistake my point, or I missed you when I aimed it. My question is not whether the essay should make a factual statement about the existence of a web page that purports to be an essay submitted as coursework and more than it is about a fictitious accusation of murder. My essay is about what we do when we encounter the accusation. I am not all that concerned about someone shouting “Jim Henson murdered Frank Oz.” I am concerned with whether people hearing this cry repeat it and turn it into folklore (“Everybody knows Jim murdered Frank”) that becomes the basis for punishment in practice (“Hire Jim? No way, I heard he’s a killer”).

jerrya 15y ago
I think your metaphor is slightly off. You're not just complaining about "trolling the internet", but more about trolling homo sapiens via its vulnerability to the two minute hate virus. This exploit, most famously described by Orwell, is constantly used by folks of all persuasion to sway, motivate, manipulate, accumulate public opinion and to distract through the use of a two minute flash hate. Sometimes best described by this image: http://songwroter.com/igod/ThisIsAnOutrage2.jpg http://songwroter.com/igod/ThisIsAnOutrage2.jpg It is indeed a shame that on the cusp of 2012, this exploit has still not been closed.
spacemanaki 15y ago
I think I missed the point too, because this comment, your comments on the College Misery HN thread, and your other posts about Internet mobs (I'm having deja vu, I think you must have commented about this in the past) just come off as more clear headed and make much more sense than this blog post. I can only speak for myself, but I think it's partly that you have some thinly veiled support for people gaming the credentialism system and because I have a knee jerk reaction to plagiarism that's probably partly indoctrination and partly some moral sense of fairness. Personally, I am really interested in hearing more of your thoughts about the credentialism issue (I apologize if you've blogged about it before and I've missed it). But I think that the issue of Internet lynch mobs is a different topic and getting these two topics with potentials for emotional reactions mixed up is what's confusing me.
Semiapies 15y ago
If we're to continue this metaphor, you're essentially complaining that someone pointed out, "Hey, Jim Henson posted a video on YouTube of himself murdering Frank Oz and disposing of the body!" and then you encountered people expressing disapproval of said murder.

jerrya 15y ago

I think your metaphor is slightly off. You're not just complaining about "trolling the internet", but more about trolling homo sapiens via its vulnerability to the two minute hate virus. This exploit, most famously described by Orwell, is constantly used by folks of all persuasion to sway, motivate, manipulate, accumulate public opinion and to distract through the use of a two minute flash hate. Sometimes best described by this image: http://songwroter.com/igod/ThisIsAnOutrage2.jpg http://songwroter.com/igod/ThisIsAnOutrage2.jpg It is indeed a shame that on the cusp of 2012, this exploit has still not been closed.

spacemanaki 15y ago

I think I missed the point too, because this comment, your comments on the College Misery HN thread, and your other posts about Internet mobs (I'm having deja vu, I think you must have commented about this in the past) just come off as more clear headed and make much more sense than this blog post. I can only speak for myself, but I think it's partly that you have some thinly veiled support for people gaming the credentialism system and because I have a knee jerk reaction to plagiarism that's probably partly indoctrination and partly some moral sense of fairness. Personally, I am really interested in hearing more of your thoughts about the credentialism issue (I apologize if you've blogged about it before and I've missed it). But I think that the issue of Internet lynch mobs is a different topic and getting these two topics with potentials for emotional reactions mixed up is what's confusing me.

Semiapies 15y ago

If we're to continue this metaphor, you're essentially complaining that someone pointed out, "Hey, Jim Henson posted a video on YouTube of himself murdering Frank Oz and disposing of the body!" and then you encountered people expressing disapproval of said murder.