The Danish Cartoon Crisis of 2005 and 2006: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Original Mohammad Controversy With Joel Warner (This post was previously published at Wired.com.).. With thousands taking to the streets in protest after a YouTube video mocked Muhammad, many pundits are comparing the situation to the mother of all Muslim controversies: […]
Month: September 2012
Memorials and Mixed Emotions
A highly personal post. My mom died recently. I have been deeply saddened by the loss. Yet, I have found some good in the experience. Her death was sudden, but not unexpected. She had been in constant physical pain for many years. Hence, her peaceful death brought me relief because it relieved her suffering. Our […]
Flash post: TEDxBoulder 2012
TEDxBoulder is this Saturday (September 22, 2012). Check out the interesting lineup of speakers. Get your tickets HERE. As a dude, I am interested in what Christin Myrick has to tell me. And just for the thrill of it, I am wondering if Erika Napoletano will drop an F-bomb or two. .. By the way, […]
Guest Post by Nick Justicz: Humor and the Pianist
A few months ago, I received an email from Nick Justicz (a comedy aficionado who has worked alongside comedians at The Comedy Store) commenting on my humor research. One part of his email stood out to me: I was watching the great film “The Pianist” the other day with some friends (light movie night I […]
Flash post: Three reasons why I stopped caring about football
It may sound crazy to some of you, but I recently made the choice to stop caring about football. The seeds were planted many years ago when I skipped a Super Bowl (the Packers were playing, I think.) The three reasons why I stopped caring about football: 1) Health: Three-and-half hours sitting on my butt […]
Trying to understand absurdity
Why does absurdity lead to humor? Basically, somethings are so wrong that they spontaneously don’t seem real. BTW, here is the hilarious flowchart: …. Learn more about the benign violation theory. My paper on psychological distance, which features work on hypotheticality: Humor is ubiquitous and often beneficial, but the conditions that elicit it have been […]