# What is the lowest form of human discourse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771 "2015-10-26T04:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/21 "2015-10-26T14:31:16Z")
I’d have thought a howl of rage and a punch in the guts is pretty low. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/22 "2015-10-26T14:33:24Z")
Nuh-uhhh. Uh-huhhhh. Nuh-uhhhh. Uh-huhhhh. Is not. Is too. Is not. Is too. Poopy head. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/23 "2015-10-26T14:41:22Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > The Facebook “like”. > > It says “I want to communicate with you, but not enough to actually communicate”. The way I figure, “likes” on Facebook are a way of communicating to the robots who run Facebook that “I want to see more of this type of thing”. Whereas something like a “poke” or an OK Cupid “wink” are more in line with your “communicate without communicating” interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/24 "2015-10-26T14:43:12Z")
Global Thermonuclear War. The only way to win is not to play. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/25 "2015-10-26T14:44:10Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Chain letters, which fortunately seem to be going out of style. Are you kidding? They’ve morphed into the majority of online communication! We tend to call them “memes” now though. (Share if you agree. Keep scrolling if you love Satan.) ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/26 "2015-10-26T14:45:01Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > The Facebook “like”. > > It says “I want to communicate with you, but not enough to actually communicate”. To a certain extent I agree, but it strikes me more as a “+1” type of thing. That is, if I want to communicate I agree or sympathize with something, but don’t have anything more to add to it than that, it doesn’t make much sense to comment just to say that, especially if there’s already a thread of comments discussing the topic. It’s certainly low, but I wouldn’t call it the lowest. > [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > Yahoo! Answers Stuff like this, youtube comments, and twitter seem to often get the lowest form. That is, anything that allows people to comment on something anonymously. Sometimes it allows people to be honest in a way they couldn’t otherwise be, but more often it just let’s people get away with things that they couldn’t otherwise due to social stigma. That is, sure, you might see some racist or sexist type of comment on facebook, but it’s seldom at the level of some of the youtube and twitter crap I’ve seen. Seriously, I go to look up a song on youtube, and somehow the comments end up bashing on a similar artist, and it doesn’t take long for homophobic or misogynistic or racial slurs to get thrown around. And God help you if you read the comments on anything relating to politics or religion. And I don’t even use twitter, but I’ve definitely seen plenty of examples of people relentlessly harassing classmates or coworkers or celebrities. Sure, people always said mean things about people, but it was usually somewhat isolated. Now it’s like gossip on crack, where people all over the world can join in the “fun” of bashing on people they don’t even know. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/27 "2015-10-26T14:46:16Z")
Spitwad battle. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/28 "2015-10-26T14:55:27Z")
Pauly Shore 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/29 "2015-10-26T15:13:00Z")
You say something. I beat your ass for it. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/30 "2015-10-26T15:56:37Z")
Hashtag anything, but especially when it’s used as dialog. For example, my niece posts a selfie of her sleepy face and says "#bedhead,#idontwannagetup, #hatingmondays, #whosmakingmebreakfast? ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/31 "2015-10-26T16:05:18Z")
I thought of another one I heard a few weeks ago. Project Runway had ended and the Rachel Zoe show started before I could switch it off. I heard her say “totes norms”. ??? I looked it up and it turns out it is slang for “totally normal” and it’s been in use for awhile. It made me want to run screaming into a wall. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/32 "2015-10-26T16:16:14Z")
Emoticons and their ilk. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/33 "2015-10-26T16:19:07Z")
misspelled tattoos ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/34 "2015-10-27T13:01:42Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > …Photoshopping pictures of Barack Obama, with Nazi regalia, or with a noose around his neck. Back in the chain letter days, there was no Photoshop. What you had to do was to find out when the President’s train was passing through your town for a “whistlestop”. So you’d dress up like an old black nanny and hold a baby up to him. Then, when he leaned forward to kiss it, you quick threw a nazi uniform on him, slipped a rope around his neck and snapped a daguerreotype before he knew what was happening. If you were quick enough, like gramps was with William Howard Taft, he was still smiling and puckered up. _(Historical note: the ensuing chain letter campaign using that photo blanketed the east coast and resulted in Taft being shunned by Congress for the remainder of his term, and he never had the nerve to propose his planned Sale Of Much Of Delaware And Certain Diverse Counties of New Jersey.)_ ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/35 "2015-10-27T13:07:18Z")
Facebook. “Like=10 prayers. Share=100 prayers”. You want to say “That’s not how it works. That’s not now any of this works”. Facebook. “97% are afraid to post this. I had the guts to do it” Yeah, right buddy. It takes a lot of guts to hit that share button. Too bad the basic facts are wrong. Facebook. “Like and enter 3 in comments to see what happens next”. As Rocket J. Squirrel says, that trick never works. Facebook, Facebook, Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/36 "2015-10-28T04:04:45Z")
Yahoo comments. Internet memes. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/37 "2015-10-28T05:01:58Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Farting contests. Those can actually be kind of fun, especially if everybody’s really drunk. (“Uh-oh! Jack got a surprise!”) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/38 "2015-10-28T13:22:16Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Are you kidding? They’ve morphed into the majority of online communication! We tend to call them “memes” now though. (Share if you agree. Keep scrolling if you love Satan.) Those things aren’t even particularly close to what chain letters were. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/39 "2015-10-28T13:33:40Z")
Gross “Comedy” radio. Not funny, just stupid. If you were in the control room, you’d look around at the “Mike-Monkeys” and you’d agree: “just stupid”. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771/40 "2015-10-29T03:10:09Z")
Adam Sandler films. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-lowest-form-of-human-discourse/735771.md?page=1)