Firstly i'd like to say that it's clear to me you're not interested in discussing this, but rather somehow interested in some sort of conflict. I'm not, and i spent a good while thinking about my post before making it; your suggestion that i didn't read your post is soundly rejected. Possibly you didn't read or acknowledge the content of your own post because you have forced yourself into a position where all i have to do is show one single example of something being funny at the expense of no one or nothing to prove you wrong and now you have to be rude (the first sign you know your position is indefensible) and provide little to no justification of any of your numbered points (because you know they are weak).

I'll be honest, i'm not going to entertain suggestions that a joke can be at the expense of an inanimate object or fictional character. Between that and your distinctly shoddy arguments I think you're trolling.

A joke at the expense of a stick? At the expense of a fictional character? ET is not something or someone. It doesn't exist, it is a construct of our imagination and does not have physical form. It isn't even a "thing" (if i say that unicorns are arrogant bastards, does that make me xenophobic? They don't exist, but if ET can suffer jocular expense, unicorns can suffer expense at my comment also. I hate martians too, they're all short, ugly, grey bastards. Am i a racist now?). The zebra thing isn't actually a riddle - it pretends to be a riddle and ends up being silly; i can't understand your reasoning on this and you didn't explain it (no surprises there, your post is full of holes).

When you tell someone a joke, you are entering into a contract by which both people know that word play or trickery is going to be involved. By taking part in the joke, you are voluntarily allowing yourself to be misled so that a juxtaposition of ideas in your head makes you laugh. You aren't laughing at the expense of yourself. In the same way as reading a book or watching a film - you are not being lied to, you are not being tricked, you are a willing participant. When a magician performs a trick for you, you are suspending your disbelief and participating in a flight of fancy for entertainment purposes. Magic isn't shadenfreude either - no one suffers expense, they both enjoy and know that skilful subterfuge has taken place - though i'm sure you'll argue the contrary before you admit you've over committed to your point.

If a clown puts on an act for you and you laugh when his trousers fall down, you aren't laughing at the expense of the clown because he did it intentionally to make you laugh, he did not suffer expense. You are not laughing at the expense of yourself because you know that what he is doing is an act, you did not suffer expense (except for the ticket price, badum tish - there's another 'joke' at the expense of nothing/no one).

What you've tried to do is supply the definition of "joke" or "humour" such that the definition involves the word "trick" in a negative context and thus lead to shadenfreude. Not everyone thinks the same way as you do, which is what i tried to explain to you earlier; if you want to say "to me, everything is shadenfreude - i laugh only ever at the expense of something/someone" then i say fair enough, but that is not what you initially said.

So if/when you first heard the stick joke, you laughed AT the stick? The ET joke, you laughed AT ET? You laughed AT the mathemetician? I don't believe you, but regardless that isn't the point you made; many if not most other people are not laughing at ET or the stick, they are laughing at the juxtaposition of ideas. And therefore comedy/humour (not your very specific definition of it, which is irrelevant to our debate) is not ALWAYS at the expense of others, even if i accept that something that doesn't exist/is inanimate can suffer an emotional expense.

And finally, i don't understand the metaphorical suggestion that i shunned your need for air, when actually i spent a good 20 minutes providing you with air only to have you turn round and say "that's not air, it's nitrogen and oxygen with trace amounts of other gases!" and pull a trollface before passing out. Don't worry though, i'll drag you back to shore and make sure you're ok (this post).

The influence of religion has peaked hopefully. Along with that, as symptoms of overpopulation become more and more impossible to ignore, there will eventually be a huge negative stigma on anyone who has a large family.

Hell we already live in a world where religious baby-factory families are mocked and ridiculed, at least when we see them on TV, so I suspect the shaming of large families will only become more prevalent as time goes on, so one can hope that we won't need government to tell us to stop breeding so much, but given human arrogance, who knows?

Technology will help, but only so much. If anything, technology is contributing to the factors that say we don't need this many people on this planet as automation and computers reduce the amount of people we need in the workforce.

OH OH, may I chime in??!!

I can't stand the arrogant asshole atheists most of all....Especially the ones who feel every three or four days l compelled to embed some tired spiel about atheism on a video aggregate as a platform for yet another thread on the subject of god/no-god, in order to pontificate and otherwise, show their ASS!

fucking assholes if ya really wanna know what their atheism has done for them....You simply shouldn't give children loaded guns when all they're gonna do is shove 'em up their own asses.

Assholes.
You Know Who You Are, and You Love Yourselves For It.

ooooooo??!
BUURNED!@nock

(WIF is Flappybirds and more importantly, WGAF??!!)

Oh and Payback, remember next time to write it like a 13-yr-old girl would say it:

'ACT-ually.'
(hyphen added, signifying arrogantly-inflected slight pause) delivered as droll and self-satisfied as possible, averting eyes with irritated look

Who said anything about "thought provoking meaningful experience"? =)

You're doing what all classic internet "experts" (ie. arrogant twats who think their opinion is the last word on everything) do, creating a fallacious argument to launch your scathing invective at while missing the point entirely. If you tried to bolt depth on to a title like Wolfenstein, you'd be undermining the core of the game, which is Nazi destroying mayhem. Do you really need a complex story arc giving you motivation to kill a thousand mecha-SS riding T-Rexs? Of course not.

A game does not require depth to be fun. Certainly there are plenty of indie games that also indulge in the "no depth all action" genre (http://www.crimsonland.com/ as a classic example).

I do have to correct one error in my previous post however, it's not a stick up your ass. It's your head... ; )

ah thank you for your kind words my friend.
much appreciated.

many here on this site of late appear to have acquired super powers and have the ability to discern my intentions.
which to my surprise are always egotistical in nature....the mind..it baffles.

the belittling,trolling and smug arrogance grates on my nerves and is so un-necessary.
all multiple forms of bullying i detest.

little kings..
in their little fiefdoms..
demanding respect while giving none.

i would chuckle if it were not so heart breaking.

but i am duty bound to stand up and point to the rot and the decay.
few ears listen and even rarer for a heart to be touched.

and even when i do that my words are ridiculed and dismissed.
corruption seeks to blind the seeker and deafen one who would listen.whispering always to the most intimate and despicable of our natures.
selfishness knows no bounds...it just wants more.

i am losing this battle.
my integrity..questioned.
my motivations...projected by those with lesser constitutions.
sacrifices ..all in vain,for naught but a harsh word and a suspicious glare.

as if i were the enemy.

where is the love?
the joy of creation and just being?
of connecting with another and rejoicing in that small moment of realization?

ah my friend,i struggle with those who choose pettiness over substance and to the absolute deafening roar of silence.the pervasive shadow of fear has infected and conquered more territory over the past year,seeping like a stain.

and the oblivious rejoice in their own ignorance.
thinking themselves clever.
doom has never before held such a beautiful and entrancing countenance.
we revel in our own stink and call it lovely.
dancing like macabre ghosts on a sterile landscape...
love and joy left long ago...
and we clap like monkeys and gleefully chatter as the noose is drawn tighter.
and the smell of death and fear grow stronger,but the allure of violence distracts us from our own emptiness.

what is it worth if there is no love?

ah..but this is why yours was/is so precious.
thank you my friend.

there is love,
and with that...
there is hope.

because i love you.

@VoodooV
as i suspected.
you interject your own subjective and limited understandings into my words.
thats pretty weak-minded.

but an even BIGGER offense is that somehow my plea can be translated into validating anothers argument.
i never validated any one of either chings nor bobs arguments.
i was defending their right to be here.
thats all.

and then to top off even that major breach of basic dichotomy,you put words in my mouth.

you are a hypocrite.
the sad thing is you are totally unaware of that fact.
blinded by your own smug arrogance.

and who is this "we"?
do you speak for others?
who are these other people that share your supposed understandings of my intentions?

fake and transparent?
seriously?
are you so caught up in your own little ego-driven world as to be so arrogant to KNOW my intentions?

fuck you buddy.you dont know me.
you dont like me?
i dont care.

feel free to have the last word.

The thing I don't get is why free market supporters hold it up as an end unto itself.

I don't care about free markets, and I don't care about regulated markets, I care about the outcome. As a society/species our goals should be about things like justice, freedom and quality of life. If a free market leads to that, then great... bring on the free market. But a free market is not the end, merely the means.

The thing to realise as well, is that no matter how wealthy you are, it's not all down to you.

I earn a decent wage, roughly double the average household income. I'm not ashamed of that; I worked hard to get here, and I continue to work hard.

But neither am I so arrogant as to think that I got here on my own. I'm lucky. I was born into a first world country with parents who supported my education. I've always been fascinated by technology, and I find logical problem solving comes easy to me. It turns out that right now those are valuable skills. 50 years in either direction, maybe not so much. So once again, I'm lucky.

Anyone who is extremely wealthy and thinks they are anything other exceptionally fortunate is deluding themselves.

In other words, show a little humility. You might deserve to be rich through hard work and innovation, but no one person should be worth more than 41 million people. If you genuinely believe that, you're delusional.

@chingalera
/chuckles
oh i know man.

my comment was with tongue firmly planted in cheek but my basic point remains the same.

some people have to make concessions in order to survive in this fucked up system.
maybe they have children.
maybe they are married with an asston of debt hanging over their heads.

i am an anarchist.
so i have arranged my life in a way where my participation in this zombie system is shaved to a bare minimum but i also have to recognize that some people do not have that luxury.since i am not living their lives i refuse to judge them.

just look at the comments here.
your assertion of an imagined polemic plays out in this thread,quite conveniently making your point.

we have @bobknight33 posting the heritage foundations position almost verbatim (thanks for responding bob,i like when you participate.sincerely),in regards to capitalism.

then we have @Sagemind posting a more "left" leaning comment.

and then we have the always ironic @lantern53 bemoaning the ills of government.yet his salary is provided by taxpayers,and hence the very government he is deriding.he is such a closet socialist.(loooove you lantern../hugs).

yet all these positions have validity.

the governments role should be criticized and examined.
corporations should be exposed for their undue influence.

this is not a simple issue and it is where i think you and i totally agree.
i too get frustrated when people talk about this subject in a binary way.
it is NOT just a black/white,good/evil,right/left matter.

and when people engage in this form of perception they also tend to demonize the "other" side.
so if someone posits an opinion that happens to be contrarian to ones views,they are automatically dismissed as "wrong" and anything they have to say is discarded as being stupid,ill-thought or just plain downright wrong.

this is the fundamental flaw in this binary thinking.
and it is not by accident but rather by design.

divide and conquer.

in the developed western world we have 30 choices for toilet paper but when it comes to things that TRULY matter?
we get two.

so the true elite and powerful of this country pick their prized horse and offer up to us,the american public,a choice of TWO rich fuckers.
would you like democrat?
or republican?

doesnt really matter who you choose because either one is going to serve their masters.
who of course are wall street and corporate america.
not you or i.

we are fed a constant stream of populist bullshit that gives the appearance of solidarity and nationalism but in reality serves only the corporate masters in fleecing the american people of more and more of their own hard earned:money,rights,liberties and ultimately our independence.

the problems with un-fettered capitalism are well known and well understood.
just as the problems with socialism are well known.

it is the SYSTEM that needs to be challenged and questioned,examined and ultimately discarded if we find it lacking.

and i find it lacking.
morally,socially and financially.

it is time we kill the beast.
because it is feeding on itself and putting us ALL at risk.

bah..you fucker.got me ranting.

let me conclude with this:
i find all structures of power and authority to be illegitimate until proven otherwise.
i find the system of plutocracy currently in place to be illegitimate.
it serves only the upper eschelon and commodifies the poor.
the poor have become fodder for the military industrial complex as well as the private prison system.
the working poor have become cogs in a machine that is slowly crushing them under the weight of the hubris of those who feel entitled to their fortunes and that somehow they are more deserving then their fellow man.

the beast is sick with its own arrogance and needs to be put down.
the only recourse us normal folk have is to stop feeding the beast.

if only 5% stopped going to work and took to the streets you will see a very frightened beast begging us all to the negotiating table.

thats my 2 cents anyways.

What annoys me is that this ad is absolutely a blame game.

The guy who pulls out is implicitly portrayed as the victim. He's dressed in "normal" clothes, has his kid with him, and the first words out of his mouth are "mate, I'm sorry". Everything about this ad is designed to illicit sympathy for him.

Look at this guy. Hard working kiwi bloke, cares about his kid (who's even in the right booster seat).

and he's murdered by an arrogant business man who's portrayed as unwilling to prevent the accident.

Finally what's the message of the ad? Not "be careful when pulling out onto a main road", but "slow down".

btw, you can edit your posts if you make a mistake.

I would simply love, if everyone who finds it necessary to type, say, or think the word "clearly," while expressing their views would stop it. Pretentious, smug, arrogant and fucking irritating.

Agreed. True depression is if anything a state of anti-hope.

No platitudes or well meaning sentiments really help or even seem to matter. They are just more inconsequential background details in an endless and meaningless black abyss

The only, ONLY thing that truly keeps one going in the darkest of ones furthest reaches is the knowledge that it will eventually end (though this does little to lessen the pain at the time).
That's why the first real episode of depression one suffers is usually the most dangerous (and why suicide rates are disproportionately biased towards young people). You don't yet have the experience of coming out the other side so it seems like it's going to last forever.

I completely understand why people choose to take the easy way out, I've seriously considered it myself in the past though I'm supremely glad I never actually gave in. Suicide can be the only meaningful act in a world devoid of meaning. Without meaning life is only pain.

"I think about life and I think about death and neither one particularly appeals" -Morrisey

But, life itself is two sided. The universe is equal parts darkness and light and we are no different. While depression may seem like the most awful affliction at the time those of us that emerge from the darkness intact are rewarded with a strength and deeper perspective on life & reality most people couldn't hope to bear.

This may seem a little arrogant but if you've never felt true depression or faced a moment of certain death then you have probably never felt the true joy of being alive.

I think it is arrogant and selfish for us to commonly refer to these examples as "human behavior". Twice on the same stretch of country road I stumbled upon a most unlikely group that consisted of a sparrow, a rabbit and a squirrel standing together in a triangle. One can only assume that they were conversing or relating to each other in some way.

Basically : "Everything in the bible is true. No questions asked. Heres my humble, non-arrogant, thoughtful and logical interpretation of the conclusions we can draw from that arrogant, pompous, ignorant and completely unlikely to be true-assumption."

@bcglorf
how come it always take you 4-5 posts to get an idea across that i can relate to?
its frustrating.

dont know how you got i feel america is some kind of 'special" place.
again i seem to have failed in conveying how wretched i think my government has been for the past few decades.

irregardless...
not american eh?
interesting.....
so you think america should play the global police?
and what exactly gives us that right?
because we have the bigger guns? bigger military?

since it cant be on moral grounds it HAS to be military might.

and america only likes to play with those countries it wants/covets/desires in order to perpetuate this global hegemony thing is has going on.

god you are confusing.
on the one hand you wish to see injustice brought to its knees and are willing to make a deal with the devil to do it.

yet on the other hand you reference history as if you have a semblance of understanding and if THAT is the case then you KNOW nothing is a delineated black vs white dynamic.
nothing is ever as simple or easy as it appears.

so you choose to use american military might to crush the religious zealots and in doing so create more...
but your argument appears to be:if we use drones LESS jihadists will be created and this is a good thing.

no.
it..is ..not.

you cant have it both ways.
you cant have your justice with zero (or less) consequences.
there will ALWAYS be consequences.

do you allow a country to work their problems out (as horrific as it can become).
OR do you go in and possibly extend the suffering of normal folk?

how long?
how long do you think it morally right to intrude on another country and most likely extend conflict,while feeding the rage and resentment creating even more fanatics and zealots who only desire is to bring the suffering to your your door?

and here is what really blows me away.
you are utterly oblivious to just how arrogant your statements are.
yes they are coming from a moral outrage.
yes they are coming from a reaction to horror.
but it is still arrogant all the same.

who are you?
who are you to dictate to anyone how or what they should do?

are there homeless in your country?
are there people starving?
is there injustice?
horrors?

or is it only the countries populated by brown people where the injustices warrant violence?
should america come to your country and clean house there as well?

hell,you wanted us in syria and now pakistan.
any other country you want us to drone?
specific people?

or is it a specific religion?
you seem awfully unsure of those muslim folk.
isreal has been doing all kinds of nasty things to the palestinians for the past 80 yrs.
how come no mention of america droning them?

are you starting to see why your argument makes no sense to me?
it is illogical.

because at the end of the day the poor and less fortunate will always pay the price.
how high a price are you willing to pay for seeing a wrong righted?
does it matter that those people you wept for and were outraged for paid an even higher price?

violence begets violence.
if history taught you anything it had to be that equation.

and a drone strike is violence.
it is intimidation.
it is assasination.
and it is wrong.
without a declaration of war passed by congress and no accountability it is wrong.

i will not make a deal with the devil to get justice today.
because when payment comes due the injustices wrought will tower over everything.
i know you disagree with me.
know that i am ok with that.