Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Is it a parody?

Sometimes a good question to ask oneself, when one sees something so over-the-top in advocacy of a viewpoint, whether it is real or a parody. Epistemological sanity demands it. It also brings a light of humor to the situation: what if it is a parody and we're being had? The phenomenon of "internet trolling" depends in great part on the very practice of parody: someone says seemingly sincere but over-the-top things to incite responses. Those who "get it" will partake in the enjoyment and recognize trolling as a kind of art. When you start asking yourself whether it's a parody, you are also asking whether or in what way it should be taken seriously by reasonable people.

With that in mind, I see this kind of video (2 min.) and ask: Is it a parody?

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