Title: The Science of Sarcasm? Yeah, Right  | Science   | Smithsonian Magazine
Headings: The Science of Sarcasm? Yeah, Right
The Science of Sarcasm? Yeah, Right
How do humans separate sarcasm from sincerity? Research on the subject is leading to insights about how the mind works. Really
By Richard Chin
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Content: a sarcasm detector. ( ©2003 THE SIMPSONS and TTCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FOX)
By Richard Chin
smithsonianmag.com
November 14, 2011
In an episode of “The Simpsons,” mad scientist Professor Frink demonstrates his latest creation: a sarcasm detector. “Sarcasm detector? That’s a really useful invention,” says another character, the Comic Book Guy, causing the machine to explode. Actually, scientists are finding that the ability to detect sarcasm really is useful. For the past 20 years, researchers from linguists to psychologists to neurologists have been studying our ability to perceive snarky remarks and gaining new insights into how the mind works. Studies have shown that exposure to sarcasm enhances creative problem solving, for instance. Children understand and use sarcasm by the time they get to kindergarten. An inability to understand sarcasm may be an early warning sign of brain disease.