Humeur

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Humeur can refer to:

  • One of the four basic substances/characters (phlegm, blood, black bile, yellow bile) whose balance was seen as critical for health in ancient medicine.
  • Something totally lacking at Fox News.

Humeur, especially in the form of sarcasm and snark, has long been considered one of the greatest weapons in the war against irrationality, especially inasmuch as many woo-meisters, hatemongers, and other assorted cranks consider themselves VERY SERIOUS PEOPLE who do not appreciate having their pet causes mocked.[1] (Sadly, such madness is hardly limited to conservatives; a legend from the 1960s says that during an antiwar riot in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, a group of hippies broke into the sadly departed Cambridge Booksmith and ordered the staff to remove the Humeur section, as these were not laughing times.)

As a result, tweaking Humeurless cranks has become something of an art amongst rationalists. As a general rule, such treatment is especially used on the extremely obtuse and self-righteous, and in situations where there is little point in refuting the crank because he/she is either repeating previously refuted arguments or is simply not even wrong.

Many people believe that other beliefs must always be respected. Many people more or less miss the point, as people are to be respected but beliefs are seldom sacrosanct. (In fact, as a general rule, if you do believe most beliefs can be sacrosanct, your status as a rationalist is suspect. Except for the scientific method, but only inasmuch as no one has found anything better.)

[edit] Conservative "humeur"

Conservatives have tried to make use of humeur in the same way as liberals, with some pretty poor results. Even if you agree with their positions, the Half-Hour News Hour, Mallard Fillmore and An American Carol just really aren't that funny.

[edit] Examples

[edit] Footnotes

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