Monday, June 1, 2015

The numbers game

I must be humorous. Really! At least, officially! This blog of mine has been listed as one of the "Top 13 Humor blogs in India". Well, last year Blogadda had listed it in the top five humor blogs (That badge by the side? THIS is what that is all about), and therefore to say that I must STILL be officially humorous is more to the point.

So what if I can count the LOLs and ROFLs in my blog on the fingers of one hand, with fingers to spare (and I have ONLY five, not even six)? THAT's only because my readers are laughing so hard that they have no energy to even type in the LOLs and ROFLs. Lately, I must have got a lot more humorous - my readers are so exhausted with laughing that they are unable to even type in their comments, leave alone the LOLs. But they know that I know they are coming around, and reading, and ROFLing. (I don't, really, but that is a general problem with the human race, innit? What you think I know and what I actually know very seldom coincide)

That, though, is not the purpose of this piece. ('Ah! Your pieces HAVE a purpose? News to me', you say? I am immune to all this. Been there, heard that, too often). This whole episode set me wondering about this numbers game thing.

Ever heard what the guy says who is ranked the first in anything? Does he say, "I am in the top five"? Nah, nothing of that sort. He says, "I came first". Precision, that is what he is all about. The guy who came in second? Also a votary of precision, unless of course the race was run only between the two of them.

What of the guy who came in third? (Well - actually my blog was listed in third place in this list but I did not read all that much into it. 'Got that in? Good') Does he believe in such precision? Maybe, but, if he is like me, he is more likely to say, "I am in the top three", coyly, and keep his fingers crossed that the audience would believe that he came in first and is too modest to say so. (Not likely with me, you say? I will have you know that I have a reputation for humility and modesty, carefully built up over the years on account of the fact that I have much to be humble and modest about).

Then you run into the next peculiarity. The man, who comes in fourth, acquires a lot more modesty than he otherwise displays. He may be the guy who jumps in the air and beats his chest, like the first cousin of our eons-old ancestors, when he comes in first. When he comes in fourth, though, it is very seldom you hear from him that he was in the top four (Unless, of course, there were only four in the list.) Overcome by an unnatural modesty, he says, "I was in the top five".

Now that strikes me as strange. We may not all be mathematical geniuses but we, at least, know all the numbers from one to ten and in the right order. Yet, somehow, when it comes to this 'top this-or-that', we skip from three to five and five to ten ("I was in the top seven"? Does that seem like something you heard recently, unless it was a list of seven) and so on, forgetting all intervening numbers and, even though saying so may lead your listener to believe that you were less than you really were. (Horror of horrors! They may think you came in fifth instead of fourth and it still does not put you off). Human beings are a very peculiar race indeed!

There is yet another problem with this numbers game. 'Top 13.....' of what total? I find that I do not know almost all of the others and I am sure that most of them are equally as astonished to hear that I, too, pollute the atmosphere they live in. How, then, am I sure that the judges knew ALL possible humor blogs? AND the people who adjudged the blogs had fine enough discernment to precisely measure the worth of them all? Were there blogs that did not feature merely because they went unread and were there blogs equally as good, if not better, which lost out only because they were not to the taste of the judges? Unlike Athletics (even there, it is the ranking among the participants only. If you came in first in Tamil Nadu, it did not make you faster than Bolt), most other things in life do not seem to admit of a clear identification of merit.

So, of course, when it comes to listings that do NOT count my blog in the top few, it is because the judges did not cover ALL the blogs OR their judgment is flawed OR both. But this one? Of course, it was manned by meticulous judges who went through ALL those millions of blogs with a fine discernment of quality - else how would they have found the incomparable merits of my blog?

Nothing gives you a better appreciation of the ability and stature of the judges than for them to find merit in your performance. It has always surprised me that people think that finding fault with other people's performances will gain them the reputation of being discerning in the eyes of the very people they find fault with. (If I were to say Peter was great and Paul was average, which of the two thinks I am the wisest person since Solomon and which thinks that it is a pity that God gave the gift of speech to people whose IQ was in the single digits? Of course, if I were also to say WHAT exactly was great about Peter, it helps cement my reputation, but it is not necessary with most people. On the other hand, if I say WHAT exactly is wrong with Paul, it would, at best, ensure that he thought of double digits - LOW double digits, of course - when he thought of my IQ.)

Meanwhile...

A well settled, finely divided and categorized blog in the humor field of content. A blog containing humor in its humor category as well as in its serious ones. I felt really lighthearted while going through this blog. The blogger is a well versed content writer and has a very attractive way of writing. Sarcasm imprinted without an offense is found in the articles. A must go through and a follow for this blog if you want to feel good after a busy day.

So, there! You better feel lighthearted after reading my blog!

28 comments:

  1. Congrats, Suresh. I say, just bask in the glory. Who cares what were the criteria and who was judged? Seeing your name in the Top anything is a good feeling. Enjoy. :)

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    1. Of course! After all they must be the most discerning judges to have selected my blog :)

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  2. that is what came to mind first when I got the mail about my blog being in the top 15.. so I asked them as much and here's what they said... 'Regarding the methodology, we use five parameters to determine the rankings (in alphabatical order) -

    1. Domain Authority
    2. Facebook Fan Following
    3. Frequency of writing
    4. Quality of writing
    5. Twitter Followers'

    and while I still scratched my head if all blogs in a particular category had been read...hubby dearest said... tum aam khao na...gutli kyun ginn na hai?!

    so here's to your award-congrats and cheers! enjoy the aam!

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  3. first of all i know you have a very high number of visitors, because the number of people who visited my blog from yours is more than what i get from indiblogger these days. as far as commenting is concerned, even i haven't commented on all your posts even though i read all of them (and i always enjoy reading your posts). i am going to leave my blog link on all your post from now on considering the referral traffic your blog sends.

    no, they haven't gone through all the blogs. i read quite a few 'not so popular' humor blogs and i find them exceptional (just my opinion). i read them surreptitiously and avoid commenting because they probably wouldn't feature in top 13 courteous individuals in blogworld when it comes to interaction.

    but these people have gone through some of the blogs and they took the time and read quite a few posts, and it's evident from the article. i found it quite sweet especially because they have mentioned my blog even though i don't have any other option to say i am in the top 13 :)

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    1. Debs! I am surprised - I do not have so many visitors unless blogger refuses to add all of them to the stats :) If anything, you probably are more popular, going by the number of comments you get at least :) If I actually have sent some traffic your way, it makes me happy.

      I know that it is impossible that anyone could have gone through ALL possible humor blogs. This was just my way of acknowledging that fact AND also poking a bit of fun at human nature :)

      I also realized that baggout had actually read a few posts - otherwise it is unlikely that they would have found that even the posts that are not listed in my humor page are leavened with humor.

      Hahaha! True - but, in all probability, that position is courtesy the fact that you went into hibernation recently. It is a tribute to you that you still figured in the list despite the beating your stats would have taken because of that. Had this come out in your active days, you would have ranked in the top.

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  4. So, it all depends on the 'aamsutra' !!

    Jokes apart, your blog is a place where I find my piece of humour... ( I've said it earlier also) Congrats again.. :-)

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    1. Hahaha! Thanks Maniparna - great to hear that (again :) )

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  5. Congratulations. You deserved being part of the list. Some people deserve, some certainly don't. And why think so deep into it.

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    1. Why not? :) When you are suddenly dry of ideas to write about :) Thanks

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  6. Now somebody is showing airs.No,no,not you,but my own blog ID or whatever.My comment got lost.
    To say it again,I love your posts and Congrats.

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    1. Thanks Indu! Yes - Blogspot seems to get hungry sometimes :)

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  7. Forget the numbers, you are good. That's it.
    Moreover your humor is not the LOL kind, it's more intellectual humor.
    Not many can write it.

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    1. Great to hear that Alka! Thanks! Though, yes, I would love to cause the LOLs every now and then :)

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  8. Forget the numbers, no one can beat you when it comes to intellectual humor.
    You are way above the LOL types.

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  9. Congrats again Suresh!
    What competition? Who decides? What yardstick?
    I don't believe in all this nor do I care...
    You have an inimitable style and a unique one at that!!
    Cheers:)

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    1. If it WAS any sort of competition I was not even aware of it, Amit, leave alone entering it :) The first thing I knew was when I started receiving traffic from a URL claiming to be 'Top 13 humor blogs' and, when I checked on it, I found mine listed.

      Thanks for that wonderful compliment.

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  10. Congratulations Suresh for a well-deserved honour! Like I said earlier, your blog fits in more with the substantive humor category, and frankly that's what keeps me hooked :) See, you have added so much substance to this post announcing your award, (and none of it is the LOL variety - and that's perhaps the first and the last time I am typing this monstrosity of an acronym), you help us reflect on how to be modest and humble when accepting awards!

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    1. Thanks Beloo! I tried to put in some reflections about this sort of thing - good that it came across you.

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  11. Congratulations!! I would say bask in the glory :P That's what I did even though the comment section hardly crosses single digit :) The number games are beyond me. And you are way above LOLs and ROFLs :)

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    1. Thanks Rajlakshmi! I will...bask I mean :)

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  12. Hey congrats Suresh !! You are officially and unofficially humorous..Number of LOLs and ROFLs not withstanding !

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