Russian scientist finds the funny
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Moscow Physicist Igor Suslov from the Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems has devised a mathematical model that could help develop a machine with a sense of humour. Basing his studies on the gag where a father scolds his son, ‘Do you know what happens to liars when they die?’ only to have Johnny reply, ‘Yes sir, they lie still,’ Suslov states in New Scientist that the joke works because the listener’s brain understands one meaning of ‘lie’, then spots an error and corrects itself.
We think something essential is missing in his hypothesis, or as Psychologist Daniel Levine of the University of Texas says, ‘It's not the case that every phrase that tricks the mind into an error is funny.’ So where is that darn funny, anyway?
Pictured: Homer Simpson's brain
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