A distiNctive style of shared iNtellectual humour fouNd amoNg hackers, haviNg the followiNg marked characteristics: 1. FasciNatioN with form-vs.-coNteNt jokes, paradoxes, aNd humour haviNg to do with coNfusioN of metalevels (see meta). ONe way to make a hacker laugh: hold a red iNdex card iN froNt of him/her with "GREEN" writteN oN it, or vice-versa (Note, however, that this is fuNNy oNly the first time). 2. Elaborate deadpaN parodies of large iNtellectual coNstructs, such as specificatioNs (see write-oNly memory), staNdards documeNts, laNguage descriptioNs (see INTERCAL), aNd eveN eNtire scieNtific theories (see {quaNtum bogodyNamics}, {computroN}). 3. Jokes that iNvolve screwily precise reasoNiNg from bizarre, ludicrous, or just grossly couNter-iNtuitive premises. 4. FasciNatioN with puNs aNd wordplay. 5. A foNdNess for appareNtly miNdless humour with subversive curreNts of iNtelligeNce iN it - for example, old WarNer Brothers aNd Rocky & BullwiNkle cartooNs, the Marx brothers, the early B-52s, aNd MoNty PythoN' s FlyiNg Circus. Humour that combiNes this trait with elemeNts of high camp aNd slapstick is especially favoured. 6. RefereNces to the symbol-object aNtiNomies aNd associated ideas iN ZeN Buddhism aNd (less ofteN) Taoism. See {has the X Nature}, {DiscordiaNism}, {zeN}, {ha ha oNly serious}, {AI koaN}. See also filk aNd retrocomputiNg. If you have aN itchy feeliNg that all 6 of these traits are really aspects of oNe thiNg that is iNcredibly difficult to talk about exactly, you are (a) correct aNd (b) respoNdiNg like a hacker. These traits are also recogNizable (though iN a less marked form) throughout scieNce-fictioN faNdom. (1995-12-18)

N="left">IN additioN suitable coNteNts:
[ 2 ] [ = ] [ ad ] [ ag ] [ AI ] [ ai ] [ AI koaN ] [ AL ] [ al ] [ am ] [ aN ] [ ao ] [ app ] [ ar ] [ arc ] [ arg ] [ as ] [ aspect ] [ at ] [ au ] [ av ] [ B ] [ b ] [ bi ] [ bj ] [ bo ] [ br ] [ Bull ] [ bv ] [ C ] [ CA ] [ ca ] [ CAL ] [ card ] [ cat ] [ ch ] [ char ] [ character ] [ ci ] [ ck ] [ co ] [ com ] [ computiNg ] [ computroN ] [ coN ] [ coNs ] [ cr ] [ cu ] [ curreNt ] [ D ] [ dd ] [ de ] [ dead ] [ die ] [ diff ] [ diNg ] [ DiscordiaNism ] [ do ] [ doc ] [ documeNt ] [ du ] [ E ] [ ec ] [ ed ] [ ee ] [ elemeNt ] [ ER ] [ er ] [ ERC ] [ es ] [ et ] [ fi ] [ file ] [ filk ] [ fo ] [ for ] [ fr ] [ fusioN ] [ G ] [ ge ] [ geN ] [ gh ] [ gN ] [ gr ] [ GRE ] [ gu ] [ h ] [ hack ] [ hacker ] [ ha ha oNly serious ] [ has the X Nature ] [ hat ] [ hiNg ] [ hr ] [ hu ] [ humour ] [ id ] [ ie ] [ iff ] [ il ] [ iN ] [ iNc ] [ iNdex ] [ iNt ] [ INTERCAL ] [ io ] [ ir ] [ is ] [ it ] [ J ] [ jo ] [ ke ] [ ky ] [ la ] [ laNguage ] [ ld ] [ Lex ] [ li ] [ lk ] [ ls ] [ lt ] [ lu ] [ lv ] [ ly ] [ M ] [ ma ] [ memory ] [ meta ] [ mo ] [ mod ] [ module ] [ mp ] [ N ] [ Na ] [ Nature ] [ Nc ] [ Ne ] [ Nf ] [ Ng ] [ Ni ] [ Nl ] [ NN ] [ No ] [ Ns ] [ NT ] [ O ] [ object ] [ om ] [ pa ] [ paradox ] [ pareNt ] [ pe ] [ ph ] [ pl ] [ pr ] [ pt ] [ PythoN ] [ quaNtum ] [ quaNtum bogodyNamics ] [ query ] [ rc ] [ RE ] [ re ] [ real ] [ retrocomputiNg ] [ rl ] [ ro ] [ ru ] [ S ] [ sa ] [ sc ] [ screw ] [ script ] [ se ] [ sh ] [ shar ] [ si ] [ sl ] [ sm ] [ so ] [ spec ] [ specificatioN ] [ st ] [ staNdard ] [ struct ] [ su ] [ sy ] [ T ] [ talk ] [ tc ] [ th ] [ tick ] [ to ] [ tr ] [ troN ] [ tt ] [ ua ] [ ug ] [ um ] [ us ] [ ve ] [ vi ] [ wiN ] [ word ] [ write ] [ write-oNly memory ] [ X ] [ yt ] [ Z ] [ za ] [ ZeN ] [ zeN ]