[extropy-chat] Hell

[BillK]

According to Snopes this piece of humor first appeared on the Internet
around 1997 and many variations have spread around since then.
But it has a much older history.

<http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/hell.asp>

---------
Origins:   The piece quoted above likely began as a humor post to the
newsgroup rec.humor in 1997. Its roots, however, are far older: an
unattributed parody of a scientific proof concluding Heaven was hotter
than Hell appeared in a 1972 edition of Applied Optics, a story found in
a 1962 book (reprinted from a 1960 magazine) is a mathematical "proof"
that heaven is hotter than hell, and article published in a 1979 edition
of the Journal of Irreproducible Results written by Dr. Tim Healey
(written as a response to the Applied Optics piece) carried the joke one
step farther by arguing that Hell was hotter still. Though these older
pieces don't directly correlate with what has now become a standardized
bit of Internet lore, the themes are similar enough for us to postulate
that the older versions sparked the newer ones.
---------

Applied Optics article 1972 and
Journal of Irreproducible Results written by Dr. Tim Healey 1979

<http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/hell.htm>


Also See: Amusing things I've Found on the Net

<http://www.mit.edu/people/ngrier/humor.html>

which contains some nice bumper stickers, such as:
Jesus is coming, everyone look busy.

and

Great Rules for writing from William Safire in the New York Times.
(which Damien will undoubtedly find very useful)  ;)

e.g. It is incumbent on one to avoid archaisms.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
The verb, overlooked on many occasions have to agree with the subject.
Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of
10 or more words, to their antecedents.


BillK