That headline sounds like the plot of some Roger Corman-style B-movie.
Why were they trapped in the first place? And is it a good idea to let them out?
Why were they trapped in the first place? And is it a good idea to let them out?
> There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a crystal or jewel erected to contain an ancient being. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the danger this being poses; let us release it." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don’t see the danger, I certainly won’t let you release it. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the danger, I may allow you to release it."
My working hypothesis, though, is that this is mostly funny because of the conjuction between the familiar and the unfamiliar. There is then a second layer of funniness to do with absurdity.
So, Chesterton's Fence is a bit of a meme (in the original sense) on HN now. I've seen it come up a few times, as something people consider obscure, but are eager to share, because it's interesting. I assumed that people would recognise it. The re-formulation as a piece of Kryptonian philosophy (Zal-Tar is the scientist guy from the 1984 Supergirl film) about something fantastical and over-the-top like an ancient evil trapped in a crystal, on the other hand, is unfamiliar. There's something about the superposition of the two that is funny.
However, that feeds immediately into absurdity, because my re-formulation is rubbish; it's entirely unconvincing, and fails to disguise the origin of the quote. But that makes it more funny, because now you think i'm an idiot. Except you know i'm not really an idiot (well, something like that), you recognise that i'm playing at being an idiot. That isn't a universal element of all comedy, but it's something i personally lean on a lot - if you can make a really obviously silly statement the right way, either deadpan or hyperbolic, it can be funny.
I'm reminded of "You've not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.":
I don't know, this seems pretty obvious to me.
I'd imagine they were engulfed by the growing crystals.
> And is it a good idea to let them out?
Extremophiles don't tend to do all that well outside of their extreme conditions. We're extremophiles to them.