Can't believe this hasn't been posted yet (or maybe I just missed it what with all the glad tidings of joy emanating from the Senate chambers).
Scientists have found that the right really is wired differently, the right frontal lobe that is. Apparently, people with damage to this area of the brain are unable to comprehend sarcasm because they can't distinguish the literal words in a joke from their alternate, sarcastic meaning. This apparently also involves them not being able to empathize with certain situations...
Sound familiar?
OK, so this proves as much about the right-wing as
'winners are wrapped in red' does. But still, it's good for a giggle or two, no?
It's a right lobe thing. No, really
Study: Ability to get sarcasm is biological
By Jamie Talan
Tribune Newspapers: Newsday
Published May 25, 2005
Scientists have discovered comedy central in the brain--specific tissue regulating the ability to understand sarcasm.
People with damage to the right frontal lobe, right behind the eyes, are unable to appreciate this kind of humor.
In sarcasm, "the literal meaning is different from the true meaning, and some people just don't understand that difference," said Simone Shamay-Tsoory, a psychologist at the Rambam Medical Center and the University of Haifa in Israel. snip
Shamay-Tsoory thinks that apart from brain injury, perhaps even subtle differences in the "wiring" of this region can leave people unable to empathize with others, and it is this lack of ascertaining another's emotional state that may be responsible for the inability to understand sarcasm.
The network that regulates one's ability to appreciate sarcasm begins with an understanding of the meaning of the sentence, which is carried out by the left frontal lobe. Then, the right frontal lobe helps the person put it into a social context. Finally, the right frontal lobe must be able to tell the difference between the literal meaning and what is really meant.
So, what have we learned? Submit to the poll.