I'm not being sarcastic, I'm enhancing your ability for creative problem solving

[kestrell]

Kes: See? That's me: always with the shiny lining.
The Science of Sarcasm
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Science-of-Sarcasm-Yeah-Right.html

Comments

[capri0mni]

to reveal the sort of people who really are people I want to hang out with, namely, those who get the power of uber-sarcasm

I almost came back last night to edit my reply to add something just to that effect: That if you're angry enough to (going back to the Greek root) "turn pitbull and tear someone a new one" over an issue, then there's a good chance a fight is brewing. And if a fight is brewing, then it's a survival tactic to know who in the crowd is going to be your allies, and who, exactly, you are going to be fighting.

Since laughter and smirks are automatic reflexes, you'll get a more honest answer by telling a joke than asking people to raise their hands.

Also, a well crafted, and elaborate, verbal joke is a kind of bonus reward for your allies for sticking it out with you. There's a community on LJ called dot_gimp_snark, which has this line in its user profile: Cattiness is extremely important - if you just want to bitch without style, there are other places to do it. Whining is not snarking. Because sarcasm is style, and fun. Listening to someone whine without art gets boring.

Also, I want to agree with the hypothesis that the reason you see more sarcasm online than in real life is because you have time to think about and compose a good comeback in writing than you do in conversation. The experience of "Oh! Man! That's what I should have said" half-an-hour after an encounter is pretty much universal. But on the Internet, the blog post or video will still be there in the morning. The idiot in line at the grocery store won't be.

[kestrell]

Thank you for the link to the GimpSnark LJ, these are so my people! I have definitley grown weary of what many people call "snark" and which to me seems nothing more than petulant and humorless whining, so it's nice to see some people trying to revive the art.

Oddly, I don't see all sarcasm as a manifestation of anger; as a matter of fact, I think sarcasm/irony can often help turn something that makes you angry into something you can laugh at. Most of the people who make me really angry are both incredibly clueless and incredibly complacent in their belief that what they are doing is not prejudice. Many fo them will explain how they are trying to help me, and my attitude is what is the problem. When I mention that it's a cute little attitude and I've named it Fluffy, I can feel the blankness of their expression. Granted, I don't always know when I'm going to get infernally pissed off and when I am going to be able to laugh it off, but sometimes I start feeling angry and then I just click into "this is so ridiculous" mode and then I can laugh it off.

I guess what I am trying to explore is how sarcasm is often the final outcome of this incredibly complex series of emotional and intellectual reactions and, to me, it is neither entirely an expression of anger nor entirely an expression of humor, but instead something like blues music, which is what you create when you are kind of beyond just being uselessly angry and you need to make some kind of art out an experience just to feel as if there is a point to it.

[capri0mni]

but instead something like blues music, which is what you create when you are kind of beyond just being uselessly angry and you need to make some kind of art out an experience just to feel as if there is a point to it.

This. So much this. Because, even if you can't go back an tell that willful ignoramus where he/she/ou can put it, then at least you can create something that helps you look back on the memory and laugh instead of swearing to make a sailor blush.

Oh, and after my last post, I realized that "idiot" was once a medical term for a specific sort of mental disability. So I've decided to use "Willful Ignoramus," instead, from now on-- because it's the willful ignorance that makes people obnoxious, not a lack of intellectual gymnastics.