Posted by Elizabeth on April 19, 2002, at 0:15:43
In reply to Re: irony and blocking, posted by Dr. Bob on April 11, 2002, at 23:44:19
> > When you're being sarcastic, there's a good chance you might be hurting somebody's feelings. Irony isn't necessarily sarcasm, though.
>
> But is it supportive?Irony isn't necessarily *un*supportive (and I can think of some situations where it could be actively supportive). I certainly don't see it as something that should be banned. (I have no idea what particular remark or post brought up this topic, BTW, so I can only speak in general terms.)
"Support" is a transitive verb. You don't just support; you support *someone* or *something*. Who or what are we supposed to be supporting? Everyone? Just the person we're addressing at a given time? The opinions expressed by others on the board? The opinions of the American Psychiatric Association? :-)
Seriously: are we expected to support everything that anyone says here? I definitely would fail on that criterion. But as to how other people *feel*, I don't think it's fair or reasonable to expect us to be able to predict that. And if we really can't say anything that might offend anyone...well, it seems obvious to me that this is far too sweeping and would rule out just about anything that anyone wanted to say. I think that very broad censorship is potentially unrealistic in two senses: the expectation is unrealistic, and it results in unrealistic dialogue where people don't feel like they're allowed to say anything of substance.
(BTW: "but is it supportive?" doesn't provide any information.)
-e
poster:Elizabeth
thread:3959
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020308/msgs/4207.html