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The key here is that that "woosh" sound you hear is not a bird or a plane or even Superman, it's the joke flying right over your head, my friend ;-) But, in al

The key here is that that "woosh" sound you hear is not a bird or a plane or even Superman, it's the joke flying right over your head, my friend ;-) But, in all seriousness, thanks for that Chesterton quote. I really, really like it. If you like contemplating our moral nature as human beings (and it looks like you do, thank God), you've come to the right place, my dear, dear friend (not at all joking about that). Here's a conversation I had the other day here about that very subject and how we Sufis understand our human place in the universe vis a vis morality: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42317164 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42317164 We love you! I am at your service. Compassion is a choice we can all make, and should all make, to help make this world a better place for one and all.

brabel 2y ago
What has HN come to... teenager jokes (woosh?) about a serious topic. It's not at all clear you were joking, please remember people cannot hear your tone of voice, or see your body language, all they can see is what you wrote which looks very serious to me and by the responses here, to most others.
- MrMcCall 2y ago
  I tried with the wink emoji ;-) And if you think you're speaking for "most" people here, what can I say?
- flanked-evergl 2y ago
  In the wise words of Chesterton, "Mr. McCabe thinks that I am not serious but only funny, because Mr. McCabe thinks that funny is the opposite of serious. Funny is the opposite of not funny, and of nothing else. The question of whether a man expresses himself in a grotesque or laughable phraseology, or in a stately and restrained phraseology, is not a question of motive or of moral state, it is a question of instinctive language and self-expression. Whether a man chooses to tell the truth in long sentences or short jokes is a problem analogous to whether he chooses to tell the truth in French or German. Whether a man preaches his gospel grotesquely or gravely is merely like the question of whether he preaches it in prose or verse."

brabel 2y ago

What has HN come to... teenager jokes (woosh?) about a serious topic. It's not at all clear you were joking, please remember people cannot hear your tone of voice, or see your body language, all they can see is what you wrote which looks very serious to me and by the responses here, to most others.

MrMcCall 2y ago
I tried with the wink emoji ;-) And if you think you're speaking for "most" people here, what can I say?
flanked-evergl 2y ago
In the wise words of Chesterton, "Mr. McCabe thinks that I am not serious but only funny, because Mr. McCabe thinks that funny is the opposite of serious. Funny is the opposite of not funny, and of nothing else. The question of whether a man expresses himself in a grotesque or laughable phraseology, or in a stately and restrained phraseology, is not a question of motive or of moral state, it is a question of instinctive language and self-expression. Whether a man chooses to tell the truth in long sentences or short jokes is a problem analogous to whether he chooses to tell the truth in French or German. Whether a man preaches his gospel grotesquely or gravely is merely like the question of whether he preaches it in prose or verse."