Sarcasm Useful For Detecting Dementia 389
An anonymous reader writes "Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but Australian scientists are using it to diagnose dementia, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of New South Wales, found that patients under the age of 65 suffering from frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the second most common form of dementia, cannot detect when someone is being sarcastic."
Does this mean the Internet is a dementia sim? (Score:5, Insightful)
Since sarcasm is notoriously difficult to convey online, does this mean the Internet is a dementia simulator? Actually, that would explain a lot of things...
What do they call it when... (Score:2, Insightful)
I propose... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Humorless bastards (Score:1, Insightful)
People really eat this shit up, don't they? Not a god damned thing was funny about this, but it still got the mandatory +5 Funny like too many other lame unoriginal jokes.
Jesus Christ! Did your dog die or something?
Re:Why so? (Score:1, Insightful)
To me, the reason it is considered the lowest form of wit is because that almost anyone of reasonable intellectual capacity can say something in a sarcastic tone and to try and make someone look inferior. It takes a person who is more educated to actually disprove something someone is saying or to point out there flaws in a more graceful manner.
It's sooo hard to understand, isn't it?
See?
Re:Humorless bastards (Score:3, Insightful)
People really eat this shit up, don't they? Not a god damned thing was funny about this, but it still got the mandatory +5 Funny like too many other lame unoriginal jokes.
Talking about the moderation is sooooo insightful.
If you can read and understand this, you don't need glasses^Wa fix for dementia.
Re:Sarcasm mark (Score:3, Insightful)
to cover up the fact that he's already decided they weren't going to employ me
Whether or not that's true, your comment certainly would have cemented him into that position. Self-fulfilling prophecy indeed.
Re:Lowest Form of Wit (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This will end badly... (Score:1, Insightful)
What happens when all the smart-assed kids grow up always being sarcastic. They may reply back with a smart ass response making it hard to detect that they are suffering from the disease.
What about cultures with different styles of expression. Like someone from say a certain country is unable to detect sarcasm cause their culture is that clueless. Just like some people from certain counties don't laugh at any jokes.
Re:Sarcasm mark (Score:1, Insightful)
genius!
Is This For Real? (Score:3, Insightful)
Or are you just pulling my leg?
Anyway, people with dementia also serve to fill in the missing pieces by making things up ("confabulation" is the unnecessarily obtuse term for it), frequently accusing people of saying or doing things against them when in fact they had no such intention. Thus, people with dementia should also often mistake plain statements for sarcasm.
Humor, now, that one would be hard to mistake. You may not think it's funny, but you get it or you don't. No mistaking it being personally directed. Much better diagnostic IMO.