Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Uncyclopedia; You have two cows

Check out the Uncyclopedia, a parody of Wikipedia.

It looks like Wikipedia, and is an actual Wiki. If I were feeling funny, I would add an entry or two. Or maybe expand the entry on India:

India is a software giant based in Toronto. The company achieved overnight success in 1986 when founder Al Gore invented the internet. Today, India is one of the largest companies in the world, with 1 billion employees and yearly profits of over $10.

Or I might add to the lucid comparisons of various political ideologies and world religions, under "You have two cows".

Interestingly, Wikipedia has an insightful entry on "You have two cows jokes" here. The highlight is this brilliant paragraph:

Because of their freedom and universality of topics, "two cows" jokes are sometimes considered a good example of "cross-cultural humor." They can be concise examples (not necessarily scientific) of how different cultures can express different visions of the same political concept, by paradox, hyperbole, or sarcasm. In practice, most such jokes reflect the views of outsiders to the systems being satirised. In the spirit of finding international common ground, some also see them as humorous manifestations of an underlying general scheme of political science that would compare legal or political concepts, such as the rights of ownership, across cultures around the world.

Has anyone published a paper on "You have two cows"? It seems like whoever authored this Wikipedia entry is itching to do so...

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