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.

Comments

Asperger's as well?

[Amoeba]

The researchers think lesions in several parts of the brain can contribute to an inability to understand sarcasm. But, they wrote, this particular area is important because it draws on your innate recognition of the emotions of other people -- empathy -- and past experiences to comprehend a speaker's intentions.

Wouldn't this also be applicable to people with Asperger's Syndrome? If this research is correct then sarcasm must be especially difficult for Aspergerians (is that even a word?)

Note to self: When Bram Cohen asks how you are doing, do not reply "I so great you should kill me now so I can die happy."

May resolve questions about Betelgeusian anatomy

[Erbo]

Perhaps this is the reason why they don't have sarcasm on Betelgeuse (according to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy); their brains lack the sensor to detect it. (In Mostly Harmless, Ford has to ask Arthur, "This is that thing you call sarcasm, isn't it?")

What about the double sarcasm sensor?

[Anonymous Coward]

my brother and a buddy used to be so sarcastic, it turned normal for them. Then they started saying things in a non-sarcastic way, and it was really funny to them. They called it double sarcasm.

er, I guess ya had to be there.

non-American Culture

[rtconner]

Well, seriously though.. what of different cultures besides American Culture? When I went to China we were told not to use sarcasm to the people we interacted with. It was not a part of their culture and sense of humor to be sarcastic, and therefore they would not understand our sarcasm at all.

cultural gap

[Kortec]

i wonder how they account for sarcasam missed from cultural differences. a friend of mine did some time in africa with the peace corps, and remembers all of the american humor based on sarcasam just deadpanning; maybe this sector is only developed through cultural trends?

Re:Insightful

[davidfree]

Some of the best sarcasm is that which occurs between advanced practitioners of the art.

They drop the sarcasm into the conversation with just a delicate touch, so smooth that that it may slip past the other who for a split seconds toys in his mind as to whether that is a genuine emotion, then it clicks.

Anyone from the UK, who watches 'Have I Got News For You' will know that show to be a sarcasm frenzy, and Paul Merton is one of the most vicious paranas in the water.

A real genius of the art

Re:Of course

[UWC]

Ignoring your perfect example of text-based sarcasm at work there, the study seemed to go a little beyond phrenological conjecture. The study indicated that those with damage to an area of the brain associated with empathy had trouble distinguising between the intents of identically phrased statements, one of which had a literal implication, the other sarcastic.

A personal query for any neuroscientists reading: The article uses "prefrontal area" and "prefrontal lobe", and a portion of the article paraphrased from a Stanford professor's assertion that the findings are not surprising mention "the brain's cortex". I've personally read bits about the "prefrontal cortex" and its importance in higher level thinking, planning, and so on. As the only thing approaching a brain anatomy class I've had focused only on visual pathways, I wonder if I should assume that these terms are used interchangeably in the article, whether or not it's technically correct to do so. Regardless, the article mentions damage to "the ventromedial area" being the most strongly associated with the lack ot sarcasm detection. Of course, even "ventromedial" is named based on location.

Re:I believe it.

[Scruffeh]

Understanding sarcasm is pretty interesting actually. I know people who have Phds but can not detect sarcasm at all. One of these guys is a lecturer of mine, obviously very bright in an academic way but anything vaguely sarcastic goes straight over his head. Interestingly, he also barely has a sense of humour either. I wonder what if anything makes the sarcasm part of the brain develop more or less. Would be very interesting to find out.

Also, people with asperger's syndrome have a similar problem with taking the literal meaning of things. Human brains are very strange and complicated indeed

failed sarcasm = speaker's fault, not listener

[DunbarTheInept]

I say when sarcasm fails to be detected as such, it's usually the speaker's fault. Why? Becuase the thought process going through the listener's head in an instant is something like this:
1 - Hmmm - that statement seemed like a really dumb thing to say, in direct contradiction of reality.
2 - I wonder why this person would say something so at odds with the truth?
3 - It could be because he literally believes it and is just dumb or delusional, or it could be because he knows better and is trying to make a joke.
4 - If I respect the speaker's intelligence, then I realize it's not serious, and thus a joke.
5 - If I do not respect the speaker's intelligence, then I still think he seriously meant the dumb thing he said.

So the problem is that if I fail to see sarcasm, it's because I don't have reason to respect the speaker's intelligence.

This is why sarcasm doesn't work online, by the way - the speaker is a stranger to you and so you don't know he's smart enough not to believe something dumb, and so step 4 up above doesn't trigger.