hacker humour definition
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)
Nearby terms:
hacked up « hacker « hacker ethic « hacker humour » hacking run » Hacking X for Y » Hackintosh
|
