March 11th, 2011 / 5:27 am
Random
Reynard Seifert
Random
This video has 303 views: 61 likes & 49 dislikes*
via Ian Matthews, son of zamboni
Tags: （ つ Д ｀）, *at time of posting, japan, man vs. nature, nurture vs. man, this is a post by ryan call
like. (no) dislike. don’t participate at all.
reality can clearly only be quantified in binary terms of preference with literally no alternate means of participation.
i swear, trying to live a dignified human life online is waging a constantly losing battle against living life as a data cattle.
when the bloody fuck is the luddite movement starting back up again?
The problem with the like/dislike feature on youtube is that nobody seems to know what exactly one likes or dislikes by voting. It’s like killing the messenger of bad news just because you want to vent your disapproval of the news itself.
Also, even if it would be clear that you are voting on the video as a medium, not on its content, on what grounds do you make that call? Does it document well what is going on? Are audio and video in synch? After all, it is pretty pointless to even bother with the like button.
I second that it creates this superartificial binary reaction: you must either like or dislike something or your reaction is not quantifiable and therefore invalid. On the Internet, it does not exist.
ZZZZUSYA IT IS POSSIBLE TO LIVE A LIFE OFFLINE ZZZZZIPP HAS DONE IT AND ON THE WHOLE HE FELT MORE LIKE A REAL HUMAN BEING. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO LOOK AT THIS TERRIBLE THING THAT HAS HAPPENED AND TO WATCH THE CARS ROCK AND THINK “IS HUMAN/PHOTONIC EXPERIENCE BEING WASTED EVERY MOMENT LIFE IS DIVERTED ELECTRONICALLY AND WOULD LIFE BE MORE PEACEFUL IF THAT TIME WAS SPENT STARING AT A BIRD OR LAYING IN THE GRASS”
If we have ever written anything with words that technically could have or has happened in real life are we not appropriating reality? Destruction is terrible, and ruining, but divorced, the natural disaster is hypnotic, maybe beautiful. Does saying that mean I can muster no humanitarianism, does it mean that I am some soulless human being totally lacking empathy? No, it means I’m responding to a spectacle presented within a youtube video– this is aestheticized distance.
I should qualify this so I don’t sound like a terrible-fucking-asshole with no soul:
this is my response specifically to the (decontextualized) youtube video, not to the event itself.
whatcha doing up at 5:27 am, reynard?
I think it’s sad that this happened to a bunch of people, but I didn’t know them, and bad things happen to people everyday, and I don’t intend to burden myself with griefs that I can’t/don’t intend to do anything about. Not to mention I have no right to cast any stone in any direction ever. Not to mention video footage of the Hindenburg has been repeatedly parodied in a comedic fashion, including a man’s voice witnessing it and tearing up about it.
I think the video is fascinating because it’s footage of a rare natural occurrence. Watching cars move like that in water and the gentle sounds they make bumping into other objects are oddly soothing and calming. I also can’t help but think that the seagulls in the last shot are all flying around squawking “Whaaat theeee fuuuuuck.”
I think the use of likes and dislikes is funny because it’s so retarded and futile against such a massive event. It’s like if a viral video of the president being assassinated came online, and at the lower right hand corner of the screen it said “Share this on Facebook.”
!
I was gonna like those!
while i think i still agree with what i said, it just seemed kind of shitty to re-purpose the post or whatever
World record time in manufacturing irony out of disaster? Great job, Reynard!
irony (n.) The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect
…huh?
in any case, who says irony can’t be wielded as a force for good?
‘manufacturing irony’ sounds positively orwellian.
re staring i prefer clouds. they stay put as they change.
Manufacturing snarkasm would have been a better. Anyway, you know what I mean. I had just watched the following link after I typed that comment. Watch it, too, if you haven’t. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4w27IczOTk&feature=player_embedded
i should’ve explicitly mentioned, i don’t see how the original post has anything to do with irony. i took it as a comment on how detached any of us reading this actually is from this horrific disaster. i’d seen earlier the footage in your link, and when i saw it, i just thought: wow, that’s horrible. followed by: don’t even want to think about how little time those people had to flee.
that BS ‘godzilla did this’ meme going around <— in my book, that's manufacturing snark.
You’re detached. I lived there. I’ve got friends there. And I just happened to have htmlgiant open on another tab when I got up this morning with my 4-month old on my knee and saw the reports. I reacted, perhaps, a little incoherently. But, goddammit, seriously … I should stop posting now.
fair point. it should go without saying i hope your friends and all are ok. dunno what else i can do: http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html
not that it matters but i think that’s okay m.k., everything is permitted
i agree with this (that everything is permitted), but i’ve been kind of feeling really fucked up lately because of how EVERYTHING IS COMPLETELY TERRIBLE and frankly i’m not in the mental state to like ‘own’ what i said at the moment so i decided to say “fuck it i’ll save that for another day”
well i live in san francisco so actually it was 2:27am for me, the tsunami struck our shores just after 8am, while i dreamt of being a somali pirate
”even if it [were] clear that you are voting on the video as a medium, not on its content”
I’m going to say it is in fact clear. Unless you think the tsunami is tracking your feedback.
To me, that is clear as well, but what I’m saying is that people do not vote that way. Why would you dislike the video in this post? Does it not do its job well?
People who dislike videos in which terrible or offensive things happen seem to do it out of a negative sentiment about the content.
no one has to manufacture irony ever, but especially in this case i simply presented about three things that were true, i feel that whatever you got from them was already there or else you added it yourself or based it on what other people said based on what they thought i might be saying by my juxtoposition, which is understandable but i definitely did not manufacture irony
i’m not sure if you noticed but i tagged this as ‘man vs. nature’ & ‘nurture vs. man’ the reason for this is simple: literature has always been concerned with man’s relationship with nature
of course man’s relationship with nature is different depending on the context; take the japanese for example, who as i’m sure you know have a wonderful relationship with nature as compared to most cultures on the earth, they have a reverence and respect for nature as a harsh past mistress in the ways of destruction; the sirens at the end strike a tone more of acceptance than frustration, i think that is beautiful & sad & kind of wonderful
also the whole question and answer thing? really pretentious, court!
no one has to manufacture irony ever, but especially in this case i simply presented about three things that were true, i feel that whatever you got from them was already there or else you added it yourself or based it on what other people said based on what they thought i might be saying by my juxtoposition, which is understandable but i definitely did not manufacture irony
i’m not sure if you noticed but i tagged this as ‘man vs. nature’ & ‘nurture vs. man’ the reason for this is simple: literature has always been concerned with man’s relationship with nature
of course man’s relationship with nature is different depending on the context; take the japanese for example, who as i’m sure you know have a wonderful relationship with nature as compared to most cultures on the earth, they have a reverence and respect for nature as a harsh past mistress in the ways of destruction; the sirens at the end strike a tone more of acceptance than frustration, i think that is beautiful & sad & kind of wonderful
also the whole question and answer thing? really pretentious, court!