The Importance of Context in Comedy

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The study is a metaphor for what it's like to try to transmit information to someone else's mind. They have none of the context. I find this often so I do comedy in my other life. A lot of times people will try to tell me about stand up bits that they've heard. What I really get is a description of a joke, which is not a joke. It may be interesting, but it's not going to make me laugh.

Psychologist and writer Adam Mastroianni says our minds are like the keep of a castle protecting our deepest held values and beliefs from even the most skilled attacks. The only problem with this design for self-preservation is that it also can keep out wisdom that might be both useful and true. Mastroianni's summary of the problem is "you can't reach the brain through the ears." Listen as Mastroianni talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the implication of this view of mind for teaching, learning, and our daily interactions with the people around us.