Is this self-referential story as funny as it claims?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a self-referential story by David Moser, with participants sharing their interpretations, humor, and critiques of the text. The focus includes the structure of the story, its comedic elements, and the reactions it elicits from readers.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants highlight the humor in the self-referential nature of the story, noting how it evolves as it progresses.
  • One participant comments on a specific sentence that claims to be the last sentence but is placed earlier, suggesting a twist in the narrative structure.
  • Another participant introduces a philosophical angle by questioning the meaning of "is" in the context of the story.
  • One participant expresses a preference for a particular part of the story, mentioning a reference to the Declaration of Independence, albeit in a fragmented manner.
  • Several participants express mixed feelings about the story, with some stating they do not find it amusing, while others indicate their authors enjoyed it.
  • A participant critiques another's spelling, suggesting that it detracts from their argument, while also making a humorous comparison to British culture.
  • Some posts are noted as not contributing significantly to the discussion, with attempts at wit that are perceived as unsuccessful.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express differing opinions on the humor and effectiveness of the story, with no clear consensus on its value or comedic success.

Contextual Notes

Some posts reference specific sentences and their implications, but the discussion does not resolve the interpretations or the humor's effectiveness, leaving various viewpoints unaddressed.

Math Jeans
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This is a link to a passage by David Moser, in which all of the sentences refer to themselves.

It gets funnier as it goes along.

http://consc.net/misc/moser.html"
 
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This is my comment on this story:
When you first see "This is actually the last sentence of the story but has been placed here by mistake" as the first sentence in the forth paragraph of the story, you will really later discover that the last sentence of the story is simply "This is."
 
physics girl phd said:
This is my comment on this story:
When you first see "This is actually the last sentence of the story but has been placed here by mistake" as the first sentence in the forth paragraph of the story, you will really later discover that the last sentence of the story is simply "This is."

It depends on what the meaning of "is" is.
 
physics girl phd said:
This is my comment on this story:
When you first see "This is actually the last sentence of the story but has been placed here by mistake" as the first sentence in the forth paragraph of the story, you will really later discover that the last sentence of the story is simply "This is."

There it is.

My favorite part is probably the sentence stating that the passage is actually the Declaration of independence, but that the writer failed to include anything about the declaration of independence except for the small sentence fragment "When in the course of human events", which is placed in quotation marks near the end of a sentence.
 
I don't think much of the story, but my author liked it.
 
jimmysnyder said:
I don't think much of the story, but my author liked it.
:biggrin:
 
physics girl phd said:
This is my comment on this story:
When you first see "This is actually the last sentence of the story but has been placed here by mistake" as the first sentence in the forth paragraph of the story, you will really later discover that the last sentence of the story is simply "This is."

This sentence maliciously inflicts humiliation on the respondee by pointing out that "forth" is missing something very meaningful; namely "u".

You reaully should put moure of urself intou your pousts - kiund of liuke the Briuts dou.
 
This post doesn't really add anything to the previous posts.
 
daniel_i_l said:
This post doesn't really add anything to the previous posts.

This post attempts to make a witty retort to the previous post that is inside of a quote box.
 
  • #10
Math Jeans said:
This post attempts to make a witty retort to the previous post that is inside of a quote box.

The above post (located inside the quote box) wasn't very successful in its attempt.
 
  • #11
This post, like a bored old Sith, opts to be repeatedly, unnecessarily, and repeatedly self-referential, and irritatingly anthropomorphic, (not to mention gimmicky,) but does not stop its H-bomb-like destruction for a second to notice the utter disarray of letters and nonsensical ideas it spews out and will continue to, as a sweet spot hits his T-pots, even though nothing ever tops s#!t.
 

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