Irony is wasted on the stupid
By INQUIRER staff: Monday 23 May 2005, 09:09
A REPORT in the Guardian claimed a boffin discovered that sarcasm and irony are human brain functions that require the highest parts of the brain to work together. Believe that, and you'll believe anything.
The G said researcher Dr Shamay-Tsoory at the University of Haifa has come up with the so-called findings.
The parts of the 'brain' that process sarcasm and irony also handle language and recognise emotions, the newspaper would have us believe.
The good Doctor came up with the conclusions after testing a group of mildly brain damaged people and 17 'healthy' volunteers.
People who don't get irony cannot tell if the real meaning of a sentence is the opposite of its literal meaning.
If the brain of a computer had the slightest idea of what sarcasm and irony were, we'd really have cause to worry. �
L'INQ
Grauniad "
Monday, May 23, 2005
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