Anatomy of Humor
Seinfeld. I know it's funny, but I don't know why. Or, as Spock would say it:
The antics of Cosmo Kramer light up my left inferior frontal and posterior temporal cortices but I do not experience spikes in activity in the emotional areas deeper inside--specifically, in the bilateral regions of my insular cortex and amygdala."
Turns out (according to this Scientific American article) that the AH! and the HAHA! of humor happen in two different parts of the brain.
And maybe undeveloped brainspace accounts for those folks we all meet who "get it" but don't laugh; or the ones that laugh but can't tell you why it was funny. I think every one of my grammar school teachers had been required by Alabama law to have both these humor zones surgically removed. Old sourpusses.
Comments
You said: "Turns out (according to this Scientific American article) that the AH! and the HAHA! of humor happen in two different parts of the brain."
I say: "Except perhaps in poets. My AH! leads to AH HA! which leads to laughter from deep in the belly.
Or perhaps I'm all wet. My "binder" function doesn't function. The binder function of the brain helps us see the shape of the ball, the color of the ball, and the ball's motion, all at once; it seems that recognition of shape, of color, and of motion occur in separate parts of the brain. I, however, am able to say "That looks like Arlene's car" and my wife will respond "That's not the color of her car" and I will have to say "I said it looked like her car, I didn't say it was that color...."
Perhaps what I *do* bind is AH! and laughter, is that it?
Posted by: Tom Montag | June 24, 2004 7:04 AM