Bill's Notebook

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on neuroscience.  Turns out understanding sarcasm requires both sides of your brain:

“Reality, in other words, is so richly complex that the brain has to process it in two different ways at the same time. We need to see the trees, but we also have to remember the forest. . . Sarcasm, of course, is a perfect example of speech that requires a contextual understanding. The only way to know if someone is being sarcastic is to look around. The incongruity isn’t in the words – it’s in the world.”