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Sarcasm Useful For Detecting Dementia

An anonymous reader writes "Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but Australian scientists are using it to diagnose dementia, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of New South Wales, found that patients under the age of 65 suffering from frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the second most common form of dementia, cannot detect when someone is being sarcastic."

37 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. This will end badly... by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Studies also found that old people who do not have dementia are likely to whack you with their canes for sassing them.

    Doctor: "Oh, yeaaaa, you're normal"
    Patient: "Why you little whippernapper! *WHACK* *WHACK*"
    Doctor: "No! Ow! No! It was a medical test!
    Patient: "I lived through 15 wars and 5 depressions, and I'm not going to let some damn young quack backtalk me in the name of science!" *WHACK* *WHACK*

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    1. Re:This will end badly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      And I thought I was just an ass, turns out I'm a dementia detecting savant.

  2. Obligatory by PinkyDead · · Score: 3, Funny

    <sarcasm>Really?</sarcasm>

    --
    Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
    1. Re:Obligatory by Aphoxema · · Score: 4, Funny

      I wonder if whoever called sarcasm the lowest form of wit was demented.

      --
      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
  3. This just in... by Daravon · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...90% of the internet is demented.

    --
    I traded all my mod points for these magic beans.
    1. Re:This just in... by onion2k · · Score: 2, Funny

      Fortunately Slashdot is in the other badger.

  4. Ooo.. nice. by onion2k · · Score: 4, Funny

    What a great idea.

    If you're wondering if you've got dementia, and you thought this comment was sarcastic, then you have because it wasn't.

    If you're not wondering if you've got dementia, then you have too because it totally was sarcastic.

    Or maybe it's me who has dementia. I don't know if I'm being sarcastic. Oh dear.

  5. Re:Sarcasm mark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ~yeah, ~as ~if ~that ~would ~work().

  6. House by Andr+T. · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe sarcasm is good to identify other diseases as well. That's why House is so good!

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

  7. Alternate title by elashish14 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Doctors Recommend Reading Slashdot to Diagnose Dementia.

    --
    I have left slashdot and am now on Soylent News. FUCK YOU DICE.
  8. Re:Sarcasm mark by BigJClark · · Score: 5, Funny


    Sarcasm has no place on the internet. period.

    --

    Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?
  9. Humorless bastards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Studies also found that old people who do not have dementia are likely to whack you with their canes for sassing them.

    Doctor: "Oh, yeaaaa, you're normal" Patient: "Why you little whippernapper! *WHACK* *WHACK*" Doctor: "No! Ow! No! It was a medical test! Patient: "I lived through 15 wars and 5 depressions, and I'm not going to let some damn young quack backtalk me in the name of science!" *WHACK* *WHACK*

    People really eat this shit up, don't they? Not a god damned thing was funny about this, but it still got the mandatory +5 Funny like too many other lame unoriginal jokes.

    1. Re:Humorless bastards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You're grammar is awesome.

    2. Re:Humorless bastards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      My puppy was stillborn, you insensitive clod!

  10. Re:Sarcasm is a Scourge by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am tired of people trying to appear insightful by stating an obvious irony in a sneering and sometimes exaggerated way

    I bet you're fun at parties.

    --
    Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  11. Re:Sarcasm mark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your smiley has a goatee.

  12. In related news... by yorgo · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...parody is being used to detect Alzheimer's disease, and satire to detect lupus.

    1. Re:In related news... by geminidomino · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's not lupus.

  13. Re:Sarcasm mark by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 5, Funny

    As an octogenarian who has seen the negative effects of censorship across various media over many decades, I find your desire to absolutely deny peoples' right to express themselves in a particular way to be not only naive, but also -- oooh, look at the bird feeder, that hummingbird is back!!

    --
    Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  14. Comic Book Guy would approve... by daskrabs · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Oooh, a sarcasm detector. That's a really useful invention."

  15. Re:Sarcasm mark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have a friend who said once that you can give sexual meaning to any statement as long as you end it with "if you know what I mean".

    Ironically, the same results can be achieved by ending statements with 'would you have sex with me.'

  16. Re:Speak as a Masshole by sunking2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's a wicked good observation.

  17. Re:Sarcasm mark by drspliff · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unfortunately it can also be a problem in real-life, generally when I'm being sarcastic I sound and act exactly as if I wasn't, combine this with my quirky personalty and it gets interesting.

    (while in a job interview)
    Interviewer: so what kind of hobbies do you have, apart from coding?
    Me: Well, rock climbing, some music production, necrophelia and subtle dark humor.

    I wanted to convey that he's just trying to make small-talk to cover up the fact that he's already decided they weren't going to employ me, instead his face twitched for a second and his mouth opened and you could see his brain clicking away trying to digest what I'd just said.

    Um yah, getting back ontopic you can be sarcastic on the internet if people know you well, we all understand subtle humour & emotions while reading what other people write, but for complete strangers that's pretty much impossible.

  18. Re:Sarcasm is a Scourge by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 4, Funny

    I bet you're fun at parties.

    Ha! Dementia detected.

  19. Re:Sarcasm mark by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everybody knows that sarcasm contains no iron.

  20. Re:Sarcasm mark by SydShamino · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or drool...

    --
    It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  21. goodluckwiththat by volpe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thanks!

  22. Re:Sarcasm mark by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Everybody knows that sarcasm contains no iron.

    It does if it's ferocious enough.

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  23. Re:Sarcasm mark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    [rimshot]
    [shot to the head]

  24. Re:Sarcasm mark by gregbot9000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Actually i think this is better: EO3

  25. Re:They recognize it by diskofish · · Score: 5, Funny

    Irony. The opposite of wrinkly.

  26. Re:A good idea for early detection of mental illne by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia since the age of 15. I'm 33 now, and I can say from my own personal experience that this is very true.

    One of the many reasons I have trouble 'fitting in', especially at social gatherings, is my inability to detect sarcasm. It can be terrifying when someone says something that could be interpreted 'literally' as demeaning or cruel but is only 'joking around' etc.

    I think your friends are being passive agressive and there's nothing wrong with you. KILL THEM ALL.

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  27. Re:Sarcasm mark by ezzzD55J · · Score: 2, Funny

    "that's what she said?"

    Hmm I guess I'm starting to get it.. ;)

  28. Re:Sarcasm mark by Mazzie · · Score: 2, Funny

    I hope you weren't interviewing for a position as the webmaster of a funeral home's website.

    --
    Having a bookmark to Google does not make you an expert on everything.
  29. Re:They recognize it by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2, Funny

    Irony. It's like goldy or bronzy, only it's made of iron.

  30. 20/20..... by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Researchers at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, found that patients under the age of 65 suffering from frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the second most common form of dementia, cannot detect when someone is being sarcastic."

    -I guess this means that most cops are suffering from dementia.

    This handy dandy little piece of information would have been helpful to know a while ago, especially before I told that Highway Patrolwomen she could put me in handcuffs anytime she wanted to.

    --
    Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
  31. No drawl needed... by A+New+Normalcy · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...just add fixin' to your lexicon. Wait, isn't lexicon in Massachusetts?

    --
    ...Lorenzo / I'm into kinky crustaceans. I just discovered internet praWn.