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I rode a unicycle to class in college for several years, and in my experience, it was generally done in a mild but jeering tone. "Hey buddy, lost your wheel! h

I rode a unicycle to class in college for several years, and in my experience, it was generally done in a mild but jeering tone. "Hey buddy, lost your wheel! hahaha" -- while it may occasionally have been delivered in a sympathetic tone, it usually felt analogous to when people would yell at passing joggers "run Forrest, run!"

Boogie_Man 3y ago
It seems like this is an either-or. Either sympathetic or jerring. I think that cracking jokes can be neutral.
- HanClinto 3y ago
  Yeah, that's a tough one. If I make a joke about your behavior or appearance, even if it feels neutral or innocuous to me, you might not see it that way. And if you push back, then I defend myself by saying: "Whaaat? It was a jooooke!" Especially when it's done frequently / regularly, the line between "consistent neutral-ish jokes" and "mild harassment" can become a bit blurred. Not saying that such things should be outlawed or policed or whatever -- I just shrugged it off and didn't let it bug me. But if I'm trying to quantify it as positive or negative, it usually felt like a joking comment made at my expense.
  - Boogie_Man 3y ago
    I hear what you're saying and you're right in that there is nuance. I normally will give a light glib comment about something and then wait to see if I get any back. If I do it's good fun and I'll do more but if I never do I know the person isn't ready or willing to engage on that level. I find that people usually use the "It's just a joke" line after saying straight up rude things rather than light remarks. Additionally: what motivations does one have to ride a unicycle instead of a bicycle? I can only think of reduced storage space being a practical benefit.
    - kmoser 3y ago
      > what motivations does one have to ride a unicycle instead of a bicycle? I can only think of reduced storage space being a practical benefit. You're assuming a practical benefit but maybe people do it for fun, the challenge, or simply because of the novelty.
    - HanClinto 3y ago
      Good thoughts -- yeah, this is a tough one to parse, and I don't have all the answers. > Additionally: what motivations does one have to ride a unicycle instead of a bicycle? I can only think of reduced storage space being a practical benefit. For me, it was more fun than walking, and was good balance practice. It was faster than walking, and unicycles are smaller than bikes. Additionally, I juggle, so this was a nice thing to practice to put into my act.
    - 082349872349872 3y ago
      > what motivations does one have ... We are on a site named Hacker News, after all. > Because it's there. — George Mallory
      - Boogie_Man 3y ago
        I don't personally feel that the "hacker ethic" is just doing whatever odd thing to do it. I think it's more of a desire to see how and why things are they way they are, and to tweak it so it is better. Riding a unicycle for attention vs creating a self leveling unicycle. But I'm not really qualified to say, and I defer to those who are.
        082349872349872 3y ago
        The progression is natural (it also leads to "code golf", lambda calculus/SKI, etc.): almost everyone learns to ride vehicles with three wheels, most people learn to ride vehicles with two, so why not continue the minimisation to one? (zero wheels would normally be considered too degenerate to be practical, but maybe some hacker may eventually come up with the pedal-powered hovercraft? How about fractional wheels [or is this just a penny farthing]? imaginary wheels?)
d0mine 3y ago
Jokes/jabs is how men make friends.
- zero-sharp 3y ago
  Nope
  - ImprovedSilence 3y ago
    uh... it is 100% is how men make friends...
    - zero-sharp 3y ago
      Men make friends in different ways? Just like, you know, almost all human things vary.
      - recursive 3y ago
        Sounds like a great counter argument to "nope". To put it perhaps more clearly, there are some of us men for which it definitely is true. Source: self.
        zero-sharp 3y ago
        My favorite way of responding to obvious oversimplification is quick dismissal. Shows exactly as much effort and thought.
        recursive 3y ago
        Then I will put some more effort into it. For many men, this type of comment is frequently made without any malice. (The original archetype several levels up was "Run Forrest, run!") This seems like it fits into the general tone of a large fraction of interactions I've had with other men. Either I missed a lot of intended aggression, or this large volume of interactions wasn't actually intended to be aggressive. Of course, it's possible for a short verbal communication to be understood differently than it was intended. But in this post, we are getting the recipient's interpretation of the intent. It appears to me, (also a biased source) that this recipient is very sensitive to perceived aggression and insults. There's some analysis and speculation based on their perceptions, that seems to take it as given that intents were correctly understood. From my reading, this is very much in question. I didn't have the benefit of hearing tone of voice and understanding full context. But in their written form most of the lines categorized here as aggressive would have been categorized differently by some other unicycle rider. Specifically, I'm thinking of me. Full disclosure, I don't know how to unicycle.

Boogie_Man 3y ago

It seems like this is an either-or. Either sympathetic or jerring. I think that cracking jokes can be neutral.

HanClinto 3y ago
Yeah, that's a tough one. If I make a joke about your behavior or appearance, even if it feels neutral or innocuous to me, you might not see it that way. And if you push back, then I defend myself by saying: "Whaaat? It was a jooooke!" Especially when it's done frequently / regularly, the line between "consistent neutral-ish jokes" and "mild harassment" can become a bit blurred. Not saying that such things should be outlawed or policed or whatever -- I just shrugged it off and didn't let it bug me. But if I'm trying to quantify it as positive or negative, it usually felt like a joking comment made at my expense.
- Boogie_Man 3y ago
  I hear what you're saying and you're right in that there is nuance. I normally will give a light glib comment about something and then wait to see if I get any back. If I do it's good fun and I'll do more but if I never do I know the person isn't ready or willing to engage on that level. I find that people usually use the "It's just a joke" line after saying straight up rude things rather than light remarks. Additionally: what motivations does one have to ride a unicycle instead of a bicycle? I can only think of reduced storage space being a practical benefit.
  - kmoser 3y ago
    > what motivations does one have to ride a unicycle instead of a bicycle? I can only think of reduced storage space being a practical benefit. You're assuming a practical benefit but maybe people do it for fun, the challenge, or simply because of the novelty.
  - HanClinto 3y ago
    Good thoughts -- yeah, this is a tough one to parse, and I don't have all the answers. > Additionally: what motivations does one have to ride a unicycle instead of a bicycle? I can only think of reduced storage space being a practical benefit. For me, it was more fun than walking, and was good balance practice. It was faster than walking, and unicycles are smaller than bikes. Additionally, I juggle, so this was a nice thing to practice to put into my act.
  - 082349872349872 3y ago
    > what motivations does one have ... We are on a site named Hacker News, after all. > Because it's there. — George Mallory
    - Boogie_Man 3y ago
      I don't personally feel that the "hacker ethic" is just doing whatever odd thing to do it. I think it's more of a desire to see how and why things are they way they are, and to tweak it so it is better. Riding a unicycle for attention vs creating a self leveling unicycle. But I'm not really qualified to say, and I defer to those who are.
      - 082349872349872 3y ago
        The progression is natural (it also leads to "code golf", lambda calculus/SKI, etc.): almost everyone learns to ride vehicles with three wheels, most people learn to ride vehicles with two, so why not continue the minimisation to one? (zero wheels would normally be considered too degenerate to be practical, but maybe some hacker may eventually come up with the pedal-powered hovercraft? How about fractional wheels [or is this just a penny farthing]? imaginary wheels?)

d0mine 3y ago

Jokes/jabs is how men make friends.

zero-sharp 3y ago
Nope
- ImprovedSilence 3y ago
  uh... it is 100% is how men make friends...
  - zero-sharp 3y ago
    Men make friends in different ways? Just like, you know, almost all human things vary.
    - recursive 3y ago
      Sounds like a great counter argument to "nope". To put it perhaps more clearly, there are some of us men for which it definitely is true. Source: self.
      - zero-sharp 3y ago
        My favorite way of responding to obvious oversimplification is quick dismissal. Shows exactly as much effort and thought.
        recursive 3y ago
        Then I will put some more effort into it. For many men, this type of comment is frequently made without any malice. (The original archetype several levels up was "Run Forrest, run!") This seems like it fits into the general tone of a large fraction of interactions I've had with other men. Either I missed a lot of intended aggression, or this large volume of interactions wasn't actually intended to be aggressive. Of course, it's possible for a short verbal communication to be understood differently than it was intended. But in this post, we are getting the recipient's interpretation of the intent. It appears to me, (also a biased source) that this recipient is very sensitive to perceived aggression and insults. There's some analysis and speculation based on their perceptions, that seems to take it as given that intents were correctly understood. From my reading, this is very much in question. I didn't have the benefit of hearing tone of voice and understanding full context. But in their written form most of the lines categorized here as aggressive would have been categorized differently by some other unicycle rider. Specifically, I'm thinking of me. Full disclosure, I don't know how to unicycle.