this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2024
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While I definitely get that it's becoming harder to distinguish sarcasm from the truly insane, I think he sufficiently crossed the chasm of doubt by implying Ghana should continue to be the dumping ground for the West and again when he equated the value of a Ghanaian child's life to a phone.
People who actually believe that stuff try to hide it a little better. For now.
But the point of sarcasm is to be an undertone, using /s makes it a strong overtone to the point you may as well just say "I'm being sarcastic" after you finish.
It's about as bad as explaining a joke, which is not a good thing.
I've met people who say things that should have a sarcastic inflection - without the inflection.
Yes, it's very hard to understand if they're joking and yes, we sometimes have to ask them if they're kidding, but not all the time. Some things are so absurd, so outlandish, phrased in such a way that explicitly explaining it was a joke can ruin the joke. Yes, clear communication in some instances should take priority over the joke in cases where being misunderstood as serious would have consequences, social or otherwise.
But I really don't think anyone here reasonably believed OP valued a phone with a ten year lifespan over the life of a child, nor that we should be using a foreign country as a waste dump until they're 'at capacity'. I think at some point you have to make the determination that something is so absurd that even if you can't tell it's sarcasm, you should be able to tell they're not serious.
Then according to you, satire is dead. Time to hold a vigil.
A large majority of the internet is dumb and unnecessary.
Jokes often rely on you being able to figure them out without explicit explanation, giving room for misinterpretation.
Removing the potential for misinterpretation is not always a good thing.
Would sarcasm without inflection be the same as deadpan? So maybe without the /s it's deadpan and with the /s it's sarcasm? :P
This has been a fun conversation to read. Such nuance.