Editing 1576: I Could Care Less
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
In this comic, Megan feels alone because there is unavoidable difference between her understanding of her own words and the listener's interpretation, so while she sees discussion of semantics as being of potentially high social and emotional value, she doesn't think it has objective value. However, ironically, at the end of the comic, the meaning of "I could care less" with regards to Ponytail's behavior is ambiguous: either Megan is brushing off Ponytail's pedantry because she doesn't care about it (she couldn't care less) or she is hurt by Ponytail's focus on the details of her words rather than the emotional cues she should have learned over the course of their relationship (she actually could care less). | In this comic, Megan feels alone because there is unavoidable difference between her understanding of her own words and the listener's interpretation, so while she sees discussion of semantics as being of potentially high social and emotional value, she doesn't think it has objective value. However, ironically, at the end of the comic, the meaning of "I could care less" with regards to Ponytail's behavior is ambiguous: either Megan is brushing off Ponytail's pedantry because she doesn't care about it (she couldn't care less) or she is hurt by Ponytail's focus on the details of her words rather than the emotional cues she should have learned over the course of their relationship (she actually could care less). | ||
− | The title text refers to another word often used in ways some consider incorrect: "literally" (see [[725: Literally]]). The sentence is also ambiguous, as it may mean that 'literally' or 'figuratively,' the speaker could or couldn't care less. Further, it implies that | + | The title text refers to another word often used in ways some consider incorrect: "literally" (see [[725: Literally]]). The sentence is also ambiguous, as it may mean that 'literally' or 'figuratively,' the speaker could or couldn't care less. Further, it implies that Munroe considers the argument over whether literally may be properly used to mean 'figuratively' is petty in the same way. |
Alternatively, it could mean that Megan cares too much about Ponytail's correction, considering her response to it. | Alternatively, it could mean that Megan cares too much about Ponytail's correction, considering her response to it. | ||
− | In a further alternative, the title text could amount to a self-ironical evaluation on | + | In a further alternative, the title text could amount to a self-ironical evaluation on Munroe’s part to the effect that he himself might be devoting too much of his time and energy to the meaning of the phrase in question, as evidenced by the comic itself. |
The inverse image of Megan floating through space in the fourth panel, as well as her long introspection, is a reference to the five-part "Choices" series, starting at [[264: Choices: Part 1]]. | The inverse image of Megan floating through space in the fourth panel, as well as her long introspection, is a reference to the five-part "Choices" series, starting at [[264: Choices: Part 1]]. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Megan and Ponytail are walking together.] |
− | |||
:Megan: ...Anyway, I could care less. | :Megan: ...Anyway, I could care less. | ||
− | + | :Ponytail: I think you mean you couldn't care less. Saying you could care less implies you care at least some amount. | |
− | :Ponytail: I think you mean you | ||
− | |||
:Megan: I dunno. | :Megan: I dunno. | ||
− | |||
:Megan: We're these unbelievably complicated brains drifting through a void, trying in vain to connect with one another by blindly flinging words out into the darkness. | :Megan: We're these unbelievably complicated brains drifting through a void, trying in vain to connect with one another by blindly flinging words out into the darkness. | ||
− | + | :Megan: Every choice of phrasing and spelling and tone and timing carries countless signals and contexts and subtexts and more, and every listener interprets those signals in their own way. Language isn't a formal system. Language is glorious chaos. | |
− | :Megan: Every choice of phrasing and spelling and tone and timing carries countless signals and contexts and subtexts and more, | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | :Megan: You can never know for sure what any words will mean to anyone. All you can do is try to get better at guessing how your words affect people, so you can have a chance of finding the ones that will make them feel something like what you want them to feel. Everything else is pointless. | |
− | :Megan: You can never know for sure what any words will mean to anyone. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | :Megan: I assume you're giving me tips on how you interpret words because you want me to feel less alone. If so, then thank you. That means a lot. | |
− | :Megan: I assume you're giving me tips on how you interpret words because you want me to feel less alone. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | :Megan: But if you're just running my sentences past some mental checklist so you can show off how well you know it, then I could care less. | |
− | :Megan: But if you're just running my sentences past some mental checklist so you can show off how well you know it, | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
− | + | [[Category:Language]] | |
− | [[Category: | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]] |
[[Category:Logic]] | [[Category:Logic]] | ||
− |