ideablog

Sunday, October 07, 2007

truth and satire

Truth and satire are two sides of the same coin.

Comments on user-moderated sites (like Reddit) illustrate the value that users put on certain ideas. Content is rated based on relevance, insight, or humour. The "good" content is that which is truthful, informative, or funny. Noticing this value which readers put on this content makes apparent that humour and truth are closely related. This is why they say that brilliant satire is indistiguishable from propaganda.

This observation is clearly visible on the web, where lunatic ravings and their satirical counterparts are ubiquitous. Sarcasm is abundant, as is others' failure to sense it. One might instruct new web users, looking to score points and gather readers, to either write the truth, or write the exact opposite of the truth, with a wink.

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