Hard-Wired
Mithras asks the perennial question” “Where are all the funny conservative bloggers?” It is one that has plagued philosophers and sit-com writers alike since the dawn of blogging (lo those many years ago.)
I am afraid that the answer is one that people may not want to hear or even think about. You see, it’s not a matter of choice. From the time they were small children they knew that they weren’t funny — and more importantly, they knew that they didn’t even know what funny was. These people were born that way. No matter how hard they try they are unable to be what society deems “normal.”
And science has backed up this finding, which should lay to rest once and for all the canard that being entirely without a sense of humor beyond the most puerile schoolyard taunting is a matter of “preference.” It’s the way they are hard-wired.
An investigation by Simone Shamay-Tsoory and colleagues shows that the ability to understand sarcasm depends on a carefully orchestrated sequence of complex cognitive skills in specific parts of the brain.
Dr Shamay-Tsoory, a psychologist at the Rambam Medical Centre in Haifa and the University of Haifa, said: “Sarcasm is related to our ability to understand other people’s mental state. It’s not just a linguistic form, it’s also related to social cognition.”
The research revealed that areas of the brain that decipher sarcasm and irony also process language, recognise emotions and help us understand social cues.
“Understanding other people’s state of mind and emotions is related to our ability to understand sarcasm,” she said.
[…]
The study showed that people with damage in the prefrontal lobe struggled to pick out sarcasm. The others, including people with similar damage to other parts of the brain, were able to correctly place the sharp-tongued words into context.
The prefrontal lobe is known to be involved in pragmatic language processes and complex social cognition. The ventromedial section is linked to personality and social behaviour.
Dr Shamay-Tsoory said the loss of the volunteers’ ability to understand irony was a subtle consequence of their brain damage, which produced behaviour similar to that seen in people with autism
“They are still able to hold and understand a conversation. Their problem is to understand when people talk in indirect speech and use irony, idioms and metaphors because they take each sentence literally. They just understand the sentence as it is and can’t see if your true meaning is the opposite of your literal meaning.”
As an example, consider this famous satirical mifire by Dinesh D’Souza:
… the Democrats could become the party of moral degeneracy. In recent years the Democrats have not embraced moral degeneracy outright. They have contented themselves with hiding behind the slogan of “liberty.” If accused of encouraging pornography, the Democrats have said, “No, we are for liberty of expression.” Charged with supporting abortion-on-demand, the Democrats insist, “No, we are the party that gives women freedom over their own bodies.” Caught distributing sex kits and homosexual instruction manuals to young people, the Democrats protest, “We are merely attempting to give people autonomy and freedom of choice.”
But what is the need for this coyness? The Democrats should stop hiding behind “freedom of choice” and become blatant advocates for divorce, illegitimacy, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, and pornography. Indeed the Democrats could become the Party of the Seven Deadly Sins. The political advantage of this approach is that the Seven Deadly Sins are immensely popular. Imagine the political opportunities if all vices were associated with the Democratic party!
Yes, right now President Bush and the Republicans are riding high. But just wait until 2004, when the party of fighting terrorism, promoting economic growth, and fostering traditional moral values, meets its match in a party that stands for anti-Americanism, economic plunder, and moral degeneracy.
More to be pitied than censured, I’d say. It is insensitive to mock people for their inability to understand or be able to define irony, whether in the form of satire or sarcasm. It’s simply a matter of higher brain function. They can’t help it.
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