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Comment by cgag | Hacker News Reader

Do people just downvote sarcasm or are people just not recognizing it? Thought this was hilarious.

When first reading, I didn't see it as sarcasm, just as an unsubstantiated claim. Rereading it, I'm still not so sure...

Poe's law. There is no parody so outrageous that someone couldn't make the same argument either sincerely or as a troll.

The corollary of course being that when you're so far gone that you can't even imagine anyone honestly thinking differently than you--that you're unwilling to even consider arguments in favor of other opinions--that you see what you believe as obvious and everyone as insane--then of course you will respond to any honest attempt at discussion the way you just did.

Of course it's possible that the original comment is sincere, but given how objectively nonsensical it is - and the same user's follow-up comment [1] is even more hyperbolic - it is far more likely that the comment is either a) a troll, b) some kind of performance art or c) so hopelessly dogmatic that it might as well be a troll.

And for what it's worth, I consider myself reasonably capable of considering arguments in favour of opinions that differ from my own. On many occasions I have changed my mind about an issue based precisely on arguments that persuasively challenged my assumptions or beliefs. I just have an expectation that those arguments should not be ridiculous.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5674857

He gave a sincere followup. It wasn't sarcasm.

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