[Foundation-l] Liu Xiaobo

[Phil Nash]

Fred Bauder wrote:
>> You understood, I'm sure, that he was making an exaggerated
>> comparison between the Chinese government's approach to public
>> debate and Wikipedia's governance? He clearly believes that Liu
>> Xiaobo has been mistreated (which he has been), and also that he and
>> others have been mistreated by Wikipedia in a conceptually similar
>> fashion. If you think he actually believes Liu Xiaobo is a criminal
>> deviant, I think you missed the point.
>>
>> Nathan
>>
>
> Well, do we actually prevent some viewpoint from being expressed
> adequately?
>
> How about a list?
>
> Fred Bauder

We shouldn't, but a plausible argument, however extreme, if not intended to 
be so, should not be assumed to be taken seriously without <satire></satire> 
tags. Humour and point can be so subtle as to be invisible, and it behoves 
those making the point to either (a) make it so grossly obvious as to be 
beyond discussion or (b) flag it. That avoids misunderstanding, and 
particularly from cheap journalists who will leap upon any apparent 
infelicity of language to hang an article therefrom. If Damian wanted to 
make a point, there was no need to couch it in such oblique language; 
Wittgenstein he is not.