It’s time to take a break from our usual lighthearted banter and tackle a serious subject: Ridiculousness.
I am concerned that some of you may think ridiculousness is merely subjective and not objective. This view puts ridiculousness at risk, because if it were merely subjective, we wouldn’t be able to call anything ridiculous. And I tell you, a life without ridiculousness is a life not worth living at all.
Now I understand there may be some disagreement among us about what is and what is not ridiculous. I want to assure you that this disagreement means that one of us is right and the other is wrong. To demonstrate, I’d like to use a figure we can all agree is ridiculous: Kim Jong Un.
You may recall that in 2012 The Onion declared Kim Jong Un the sexiest man alive:
“With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true. . .Kim made this newspaper’s editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle and, of course, that famous smile.”
China’s People’s Daily English language website, desperate to prove that truth is stranger than fiction, missed the element of satire and ran the story along with a 55-photo slideshow to show off Kim’s sexiness. (Don’t ever say Communism is humorless!)
Now: If ridiculousness were merely subjective and not objective, I would have no basis for saying all this is ridiculous; I would not be able to call it ridiculous. How do I know? Thanks to your wise counsel, fellow Religionistas! You taught me this in the context of morality. Here is a recent sampling [I beg forbearance for any typos, misplaced words, or missing context–you go to war with the army you’ve got]:
These arguments tell us that if a property (such as morality or ridiculousness) isn’t objective, then we have no basis for expressing opinions about it, and therefore must shut the hell up about it. I tell you, that is unacceptable when it comes to ridiculousness because I damn well won’t shut up about stuff I think is ridiculous.
Question: If you think this OP is ridiculous, must ridiculousness be objective in order for you to say so?
https://www.npr.org/2012/12/01/166293306/the-onion-so-funny-it-makes-us-cry