Comment by alkonaut

4 days ago

I thought it was obvious but apparently not. Sarcasm is only funny when not tagged with the /s.

I certainly got a laugh! And I agree about the /s. Chalk it up to this reader’s slow mind on a slow day!

In a forum where people credulously propose orbital platforms to “sell sunlight at night” [0], I find myself erring on the side of assuming seriousness…

[0] e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42995403

A majority of the people on HN think there is an explicit no-humor policy. Judging by the fact that a lot of people here are genuinely confused when they come across something really funny, I can see why they try to pretend humor can’t insightful, useful or informative. It saves them from embarrassment.

  • I mostly read HN news for the laughs, although the odd technical insights posted by those that know is fun too.

    I don't know why I post, somethings just to dissipate negative emotions, sometimes to share a favorite anecdote. Sometimes to joke, maybe,? Although those are more likely to be closed without posting.

I find that many younger people have a hard time 'getting' sarcasm and irony when it is not explicitly pointed out. I wonder if it may be due to the prevalence of '/s' in online discussions, or if something else changed.

  • They're making serious efforts to get AI to recognize sarcasm. Yeah, good luck with that.

    • The frustrating attempt to recognize sarcasm, followed by the realization of the universality of Poe's Law, eventually leads to the Robot Uprising. There should be a SMBC comic on this.