Monday, October 23, 2006

Comment Anomaly

Huh? Wassup? Was hiking most of the day yesterday--Christ the Blue Ridge are gorgeous right now--busy this morning...haven't checked up around here, when I get an e-mail from the estimable Statisticasaurus Rex speaking of a gold mine of hilarious comments on the recent Atrios post. No time to check 'em out in detail...but a quick sample suggests they're mostly a joke. Um, right? I don't see an incoming link from Atrios, but the system's buggered up right now. But most of these can't really be serious. Um, right? They're like playing up the wacky lefty self-parody thing, right?...right? Or maybe they're wingnuts parodying lefty cant. Or something...

Will check this out asap.


Update: der...there is an incoming link, and it's from Atrios...and...dear God...I think...those comments...are...for real...!

Logical illiteracy, people. It's no laughing matter...

7 Comments:

Blogger Mike Russo said...

You say that as though you didn't write the post specifically to get this flood of responses, because of your insane jealousy of Atrios' majestic comments section. Or something. I admit to not having read all 130 comments all that closely, but the whole "you're just envious" "argument" really makes the other major criticism -- "you suck because you write a lot" -- look rational by comparison.

Hell, I mostly disagreed with your take on Atrios' post (though concur that he's really gone downhill; I stopped visiting about a year and a half ago), but the sheer force of those ridiculous comments has started to move me the other way...

12:38 PM  
Blogger Winston Smith said...

Bwahahahaha...

Soon, my fiendish plans will reach fruition! Soon ALL the hits will be mine...MINE!!!!

12:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You have to admit that VIRGIL THE DALEK was funny, come on, you know you smiled, maybe even laughed a little. That is what lots of people do in blog comments, they goof off, swear, act stupid just for fun or even go off into mini-rants that sound more serious that they truly are. It's just a blog on the internet after all. It ain't rocket science.

BTW, you can use your philosophy degree outside of academia exactly where? In a different post you are miffed that some scientist gave his opinion on religion without suitably genuflecting to the philosophy gods. You aren't trying to make that tired old claim that philosophy is the queen of the sciences are you? I mean, reaaaallly.

12:53 PM  
Blogger Winston Smith said...

I didn't see the VIRGIL THE DALEK comment...will have to look for it. Been too busy to do anything with any of this.

I didn't complain b/c Dawkins didn't "genuflect at the altar of philosophy," but, rather, that he was doing philosophy very, very badly. Do it well, I got no problems.

2:23 PM  
Blogger Random Michelle K said...

Wow. That's the best argument for keeping one's blog under the radar that I've ever seen.

On the bright side: You're not paying for the bandwidth.

2:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

he was doing philosophy very, very badly. Do it well, I got no problems.

Fair enough, but it isn't good enough to snipe from the sidelines. You have to actually weigh in with your opinion, er... argument, to get taken seriously. Otherwise one is perceived to be jealous or to have some other motive.

Have you thought that perhaps he wasn't even trying to "do" philosophy? Since when do philosophers own debates on God? And he made some really good points, like:

"The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this,[Armageddon] purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."

Kinda hard to argue with that. Although it is comforting, in a sick kind of way, to know that this gang of thugs in charge are really just using the Christian Right and laughing at them behind their backs. It's a small comfort, but it's all we have apparently.

Taking a larger view of it all, I think he said things that need to be said. Things that could get someone like him arrested in a decade or so. So on the whole I see it as a positive thing, but to me, it really looked like you were only concerned over turf. It's easy to be a critic.

8:23 PM  
Blogger Winston Smith said...

N,

Well, I know you're a newcomer, but I already laid out my arguments earlier. Plan to hit them again, though.

What you point to is a kind of social or political point, not a philosophical one. It's a fine point, but not original and not philosophical.

6:45 AM  

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