Does humour define humanity, as Robert Heinlein maintained in "Stranger in a Strange Land?"
Or, to be more specific, an appreciation of humour.
I have a friend, Loretta Dillon, who writes satire. One day (November 29, 2004, to be specific), she wrote a blog entry satirizing the "Chicken Soup for the (insert whatever) Soul" books. Her story was called "Chicken Soup for the Internet Troll's Soul." In it, she has the Internet Troll speak in the first person, saying, among other things:
"The best part about being a troll is the attention I get from well-meaning people who actually believe they can reason with me and assuage my wrath. Morons! Don’t they realize it’s a game? Every time I elicit a response I win! I admit that some savvy moderators and blog owners delete my posts moments after I click the “submit” button, but there are many more who fill up the board with argumentative replies and allow me to hijack their conversation for hours, wasting bandwidth, time, space and their emotions. For every one blog or message board that deletes me, there are thousands more that are easy pickings. So, you see, being a troll is deliriously impressive since even the smartest, most popular, serene, erudite, articulate and witty people are defenseless in my wake,, especially if they delete my favorite screeds – because that just motivates me to escalate my terror. You will pay! You will suffer my scourge! You will never be rid of me! I will not be ignored!"
I thought this was pretty funny, particularly in the context of the "Chicken Soup" philosophy. However, she is currently being castigated for it by the witless.
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"She wrote that in her bog last year."
"I'm assuming that those horibble (sic) posts from Loretta came from her secret kitchen, right?"
"She projects her own madness onto the world and calls it parody."
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Just a small sample of the critiques.
So, back to my original question. Is a certain level of intelligence required to perceive humour? May those who don't have the ability be legitimately classified as cretinous?
LOL those witless nit pickers don't have a brain cell to share among them. And boy it shows. Talk about victim complex.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the explanation Ronni! You said it well. It's pretty funny that you HAD to explain it! LOL! (It's like being in a group where a joke is told and everyone gets it except that one person that has to have it explained because they just don't get the humor.)
ReplyDeleteAnd don't we tend to avoid such people at parties! LOL!
ReplyDeleteYes to both questions!
ReplyDeleteYou have a great way with words.
(Trying to post this but it won't let me!)
It let you.
ReplyDeleteI agree! But you knew that.