Researchers Pinpoint Brain's Sarcasm Sensor

LibertarianWackJob writes "Researchers have found the section of the human brain that is responsible for understanding sarcasm. " I'm sure the comments on this story will be incredibly insightful.

Problems

I'm sure the comments on this story will be incredibly insightful.

Not really, this one will be modded as funny. Oh wait.. you were being sarcastic.

Re:Problems

"Here comes that cannonball guy. He's cool."
"Are you being sarcastic, dude?"
"I don't even know anymore."

Wow

What a really useful discovery.

American researchers

Report being unable to confirm the discovery of the region in American subjects.

Man, I'm on *fire* today!

Re:American researchers

Clearly not, careful observers would note that both our elections and our candidates for elections are clearly the product of great sarcasm.

"Yes, put JUNIOR up there, he'd be a GREAT president!"

"Hey, what the country will vote for is a Massachusetts democrat, Dukakis did great after all!".

The problem is that such comments are taken literally by the bodies responsible for choosing candidates. I think perhaps our political parties are brain damaged, but then I'm being redundant.

Re:American researchers

"Man, I'm on *fire* today!"

...and that would be tragic, now wouldn't it.

Re:non-American Culture

I went to China and they caught sarcasm just fine.

Probably just told you that just so you didn't commit a cultural faux-pas.

Oh, hmm, this topic is on sarcasm, so anything I write will automatically be interpreted backwards But wait, that means that your post meant that actually the Chinese got sarcasm just fine, which means I don't need to post this....

Oh hell, I'm submitting it anyway.

Yeah right..

I'm sure the comments on this story will be incredibly insightful.

He cannot be serious.

Of course

Of course a study with around 25 brain damaged people watching movies is a perfect reason to make phrenological claims.

obg Simpsons quote

"ooohh, a sarcasm detector. That's REALLY useful" - Comic Book Guy

obligatory Kids in the Hall sketch

[the character of SARCASTIC GUY is read in a voice that it just absolutely dripping with sarcasm in everything he says]

DEREK: Great party, huh? I actually don't know anyone at the party, actually, I'm kinda new to the neighborhood, actually, but my friend Chris said "come to the party, I'll introduce you around, you'll know everybody by the time you leave the party." Chris knows everybody, and soon I'll know everybody! 'Course, Chris didn't show up. So I guess I gotta mingle. So here I am mingling! 'Course, mingling really isn't my game, I'm not really a mingler, per se, I was actually in the corner alone mingling - that means I'm not talking to anyone, actually. I saw you over here, I said "there's a guy by himself, why not go over here, I'll mingle with this guy, this guy looks like a mingler," so hi, I'm Derek, pleased to meet you.

SARCASTIC GUY: Well it certainly is a pleasure to meet YOU, Derek.

DEREK: ...I'm sorry if I bothered you.

SARCASTIC GUY: Oh no, you're not bothering me, Derek, far from it. There's nothing I would rather do than just stand here and chat with you! Y'know - really get to know you?

DEREK: Look, I don't think there's any need to be sarcastic.

SARCASTIC GUY: Oh, I'm not being sarcastic! NOOOO! This is just a little speech impediment. I can't help it!

DEREK: Okay, I've obviously said or done something wrong to upset you, I'm just gonna apologize and be on my way.

SARCASTIC GUY: No, no, no, please stay. It's true. I've talked this way all my life. It's made things very difficult for me.

DEREK: Yeah! Right!

SARCASTIC GUY: Hey! Where ya goin'? Come back! I really wanna be your friend. I'm so lonely.

Finally!

Now everyone else in my life can get a sarcasm transplant so they will quit looking at me funny all the time.

In fact, once all the sarcastically deficient have been identified, we will need to lobby to get the sarcastic brain chunk added to the list of donor organs so that everyone can have the opportunity to lead a normal sarcastic life. Be an organ donor, only you can give the gift of sarcasm.

Sarchasm

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

This goes hand-in-hand with...

Scientists also located the area of the brain responsibile for gullibility, and they now have a procedure to remove that section of your brain.

Obligatory

CBG: Oh yeah, everyone's real happy then.
Lyndsey Nagle: Do I detect a note of sarcasm?
Frink: (With sarcasm detector) Are you kidding? This baby is off
the charts mm-hai.
CBG: A sarcasm detector, that's a real useful invention.
(Sarcasm detector explodes)

Not yet, I guess...

"I'm sure the comments on this story will be incredibly insightful."

Am I the only one who finds it amusing that so far, not a single comment has been moderated "Insightful"?

Re:Not yet, I guess...

Score: 5, Insightful

Oh, THAT'S a good moderation.

What to Name It?

The brain area in question should be called the medulla obnoxiosa. In honor of me.

but seriously folks...

Far be it from me to not take a cheap shot at this story...

But this research does serve a useful purpose in Autism/asperger syndrome.

Folks with asperger syndrome commonly have an inability to detect sarcasm and read facial, social cues.

>>By definition, those with AS have a normal IQ and many individuals (although not all), exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific area. Because of their high degree of functionality and their naiveté, those with AS are often viewed as eccentric or odd and can easily become victims of teasing and bullying. While language development seems, on the surface, normal, individuals with AS often have deficits in pragmatics and prosody. Vocabularies may be extraordinarily rich and some children sound like "little professors." However, persons with AS can be extremely literal and have difficulty using language in a social context. Read full definition here [udel.edu]

Re:I believe it.

But some brain-damaged people can't comprehend sarcasm...

I keep telling the people who don't get my sarcasm that they're obviously brain damaged, but they don't get that, either.

Which, perhaps, explains all those posts that get modded "Off topic".

Re:I believe it.

But some brain-damaged people can't comprehend sarcasm...

We call them mods

Re:I believe it.

You can trust mainstream media such as Forbes (and Slashduh) to be brain-damaged as well.

"But some brain-damaged people can't comprehend sarcasm, and Israeli researchers think it's because a specific brain region has gone dark. [...]
"People with prefrontal brain damage suffer from difficulties in understanding other people's mental states, and they lack empathy," said study co-author Simone Shamay-Tsoory, a researcher at the University of Haifa. "

DUH!

We've known this at least since Phineas Gage [deakin.edu.au]'s unfortunate accident with a tamping iron in 1848.

Given that we're talking about work by Shamay-Tsoory, a quick PubMed search says that the identified area is probably somewhere in the right ventromedial prefrontal lobe. That it can be identified by testing e.g. comprehension of sarcasm naturally gets twisted by Forbes/Slashduh, so now it looks like we've got a special Sarcasm Organ.

"Breaking news: Them science guys find out that our breathing is handled by large saccular organs in the thoracic cavity. They're calling 'em "lungs" in medical mumbo-jumbo."

Hyuk hyuk.

My brain is obviously not equipped to handle this story.

You brain is obviously not equipped to be funny. You should take this stuff to the ametuer stand-up circuit; you'll have less time to post on Slashdot.

Wow. I feel like I just exercised my brain! Who knew being so vicious was so healthy? I'm not being a jerk; I'm exercising! Thanks, researchers!

Re:Hyuk hyuk.

In addition to humor, grammar and spelling are obviously your forte.

Re:Asperger's as well?

A family member has been diagnosed with mild autism (Asperger's is a specific diagnosis within the broad spectrum of autism) and I can say that this member of my family completely misses any sarcastic comment that hasn't been specifically pointed out as being non-literal in an earlier conversation.

So yes, I'd say the research might very well apply to Asperger's in some way or another.