I know that the youtube comments section is the cesspool of the internet. This weekend I was made aware of the story of "Rush E" and the comments section of somebody who tried to play it. It's a piece of music for piano that's so incredibly complex and intricate that it couldn't be played by a person. Somebody simplified it, re-arranged it, played it and uploaded their effort to youtube. While most people were impressed one troll was rude about it and denigrated the performance. Unlike the vast majority of trolls who criticise other people's efforts, when somebody called him out along the lines of "I'd like to see you do better" he did. A couple of weeks later the troll uploaded a better arrangement that he played absolutely incredibly.
It reminds me of a time I got into an internet argument about how to tie shoelaces. I'm far too interested in shoelace knots, I collect them, and I think that a good proportion of people are tying their shoelaces wrong. I came across someone who claimed to have invented a new and better knot and who tried to name this new knot after himself. He was wrong and I told him so. There's a copy of the Ashley Book of Knots at my parents' house, I said I'd go round there, find out what the knot was called and prove that it was already known in the '40s. When I got round to my parents' house the internet knot wasn't in the book. To my shame I never replied to the messages and just dissolved into silence. He was right (probably) and I was wrong.
Richard "Ghost" B
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