Self-reference

You may be looking for Self-reference and not even know it!

“You are reading this quote”

~ This Article on Self-Reference

“The easiest way to be self referential is to talk about talking about being self referential”

~ Oscar Wilde on Self-reference

This Uncyclopedia article is not about self-reference, in spite of the fact that the title of this Uncyclopedia article is "Self-reference". The subject matter of this Uncyclopedia article (mistitled that it is) is, in fact, nihilism this Uncyclopedia article; you know the one about self-reference.

Please note, This included statement: "This included statement 'This included statement (This included statement {This included statement [ This included statement is not about this article either. ] is not about this article either.} is not about this article either.) is not about this article either.' is not about this article either." is not about this article either. For that, see Recursion.

Outline of This Uncyclopedia Article

• Introduction (mistitled)
• Table of Contents
• 1 Outline of This Uncyclopedia Article
• 2 Purposes of This Uncyclopedia Article
• 3 This statement is false
  
• 4 Other Things Wrong with This Uncyclopedia Article
• 5 Self-Referential
  • 5.1 Self-Referentialism for Humourous Purposes
  • 5.2 Third-Person Self-Referentialism
  • 5.3 Inter-Paragraphical Self-Referentialism
  • 5.4 Hypothetical Self-Referentialism
  • 5.5 Self-Referentialism and Logic
  • 5.6 The Self-Referentialism Game
• 6 Links that May or May Not be even remotely Relevant to This Uncyclopedia Article
• 7 Since you're here . . .
• 8 Further Reading
• 9 References
• 10 This Uncyclopedia Article Formally Requests Its Own Deletion, Solely for the Ironic Effect

This Uncyclopedia article, viewed from somewhat further away.

Purposes of This Uncyclopedia Article

The primary purpose of this Uncyclopedia article is to demonstrate the inherent dangers of unrestrained self-introspection when applied excessively to this Uncyclopedia article .

The secondary purpose of this Uncyclopedia article is to annoy you. Is it working?

This statement is false

This Uncyclopedia article is, without a doubt, a pile of festering tripe. The only thing going for this Uncyclopedia article is the fact that this Uncyclopedia article is,

for the most part, 

[[Proper Wiki Formatting|properly formatted}, which, by default, makes this Uncyclopedia article a hell of a lot better that most of the other carp that is submitted to Uncyclopedia on a daily basis. From this singular fact, it can be derived without much difficulty that this Uncyclopedia article has successfully proved its major thesis.;or perpetuation of a falsehood to avoid any focus in attempting a delineation of said accounting.

Other Things Wrong with This Uncyclopedia Article

• Gratuitous usage of bullets
• Gratuitous usage of bullets

• • Gratuitous usage of bullets

• • • Gratuitous usage of bullets
  • Gratuitous usage of bullets

• Gratuitous usage of bullets

• • • • • Gratuitous usage of bullets
  • Erratic indentation

• Gratuitous usage of bullets

• • Excessive Repetition and Redundancy, not forgetting to mention tautology and pleonastic terminological lexical vocabulary sets

• • Excessive self-reference to bullet points such as this one
    • Infinitely recursive meta self-reference complaining about too much infinitely recursive meta self-reference
• Bullets that reference other bullets.
  • Sub-recursive bullets that reference bullets that referenced it.

• • • • • Gratuitous usage of bullets referencing erratic indentation.

• • Erratic definitions of self-referencing

Self-Referential

Self-referentialism is the condition of referring to a particular clump of language within the text of that clump of language. For example, this article is self-referential, as it refers to itself. Since it has just referred to its own self-referentialism, that makes it doubly self-referential. It then proceeds to make itself triply self-referential by referring to its reference to its own self-referentialism, and so on into an infinite stack of self-referentialism. It then proceeds to refer to that infinite stack, at which point any reader with half a brain goes away and reads something less confusing, like A Brief History Of Time.

Self-Referentialism for Humorous Purposes

Self-referentialism is often used by incredibly witty and intelligent people in order to make their articles more witty and intelligent, if not actually funny. The most commonly used form of this is to write an article in the style of whatever that article is about. There is, believe it or not (though you'd be stupid not to believe it, as it's obviously true), an entire category devoted to these articles. These are only funny if you know much about the subject of the article, and it's not about some stupidly obscure Russian guy who maybe three people in the entire world have heard of. A quintessential example of articles written in the style of their subject is the excellent article on Self-referential, which uses as its main joke repeated references to itself. It then proceeds to refer to its own main joke, thus completely blowing the minds of its few remaining readers.

This Uncyclopedia article, viewed from much further away.

Third-Person Self-Referentialism

Third person self-referentialism is when an Uncyclopedia article, for example, refers to itself in the third person as if it was a completely different article. The statement in the second paragraph article on Self-referentialism where that article refers to itself in the first person is an example of that, as is this very sentence that you're reading right now and will finish as soon as you have read this word.

Inter-Paragraphical Self-Referentialism

Inter-paragraphial self-referentialism is where an one paragraph in an article such as this one refers to a different paragraph. The previous paragraph is an example. As of that sentence, so is this one.

Hypothetical Self-Referentialism

If an Uncyclopedia article was to refer to itself as if it was a hypothetical situation, that would be considered hypothetical self-referentialism. If it was to contain a paragraph about hypothetical self-referentialism, and that paragraph was phrased as a hypothetical situation, and the hypothetical situation was actually quite clearly about the paragraph itself, then that would be weird.

Self-Referentialism and Logic

Self-referentialism has been the bane of logicians since its invention. One leading logician describes it as "really fucking confusing", while others merely decline to comment. To see why these admittedly nerdy people hate it so much, consider this sentence.

"This paragraph on self-referentialism is self-referential."

This Uncyclopedia article, viewed from much much further away. Is this annoying, or what?

This paragraph would not actually have been self-referential were it not for the random placing of this sentence inside it. Once the sentence appears, however, it generally causes another reference to the paragraph itself, such as "This paragraph would not actually have been self-referential were it not for the random placing of this sentence inside it.". If this second refers to the self-referentialism of the article itself, the third reference is all too likely to be a reference to the self-referentialism of the second reference, such as 'Once the sentence appears, however, it generally causes another reference to the paragraph itself, such as "This paragraph would not actually have been self-referential were it not for the random placing of this sentence inside it.".' If this endless cycle of self-referentialism is allowed to proceed indefinitely, it will eventually become an Infinite Self-Referentialism Loop. At this point, if a reference to the Infinite Self-Referentialism Loop is made, the shockwave produced will snap all necks within a mile radius. Incidentally, this paragraph is an excellent example of Hypothetical Self-Referentialism. It is now also an example of Inter-Paragraphial Self-Referentialism. Sadly, the paragraph on Self-Referentialism and Logic is not Third-Person Self-Referential... except that now it is! Hooray!

The Self-Referentialism Game

Go through this article and count how many times it is self-referential. Don't forget that one just then, or that one, or that one, or that one...

Links that May or May Not be even remotely Relevant to This Uncyclopedia Article

• Content-free
• Redundancy
• Link
• Self-reference

Since you're here . . .

We might as well tell you what self-reference is. Here is another example of our Gratuitous usage of bullets in a way that will, albeit badly, teach you about self-referencing, seeing as you're here at this Uncyclopedia article.

• Bullet number 1: See bullet number II
• This is bullet number II. For all you normal people out there, that's two. This idiotic bulleted list in this Uncyclopedia article made me with Roman Numerals. See bullet number 3 (see, he gets a real number! I will now check out the page on nihilism. It will teach me to become one.)
• This is bullet number 3. I, unlike the loser bullet above me, have real numerals. To understand what I mean, see bullet number II.
• If you've got this far, congratulations, you're not an idiot. If you believe this bulleted list has a purpose, however, maybe you are. See bullet number 1 to understand why.

See HowTo:Keep an idiot busy for more fun and help on understanding this list.

Further Reading

• Self-referential, Uncyclopedia (2006)
• This Is the Title of This Story, Which Is Also Found Several Times in the Story Itself, David Moser
• A reference to Adolf Hitler

References

^{1. ↑Self-reference[1]}

This Uncyclopedia Article Formally Requests Its Own Deletion, Solely for the Ironic Effect

This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Uncyclopedia's deletion policy. This page may not fit in Uncyclopedia, or may not be funny with little chance for redemption. Please share your thoughts on the matter at this article's entry on the Votes for deletion page.