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Draft: Mirror
Neuron Humor
Copyright 2014 by
September 24, 2015
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(Click on the number in front of the joke, to read a comment.)
Two mirror neurons get on an elevator. One says to the other, "Good morning. You're fine; how am I?"
Mirror neuron #1: "What did one mirror neuron say to the other mirror neuron?"
A mirror neuron is out for a walk, and along comes another mirror neuron, with a third mirror neuron on its shoulder.
Mirror Neurons Anonymous
A priest, a nun, and a mirror neuron walk into a restaurant, and sit down at a table.
Q: How do you get a one-armed mirror neuron out of a tree?
Q: How many mirror neurons does it take to change a light bulb?
Q: How do you get a mirror neuron out of the bathtub?
Q: What do you call a mirror neuron without an axon?
Q: Why did the mirror neuron stare at a can of frozen orange juice for two hours?
Mirror neuron #1: "What's the sound of one mirror neuron mimicking itself?"
Q: If a mirror neuron mimics alone in the woods, does it make appreciation?
Q: Why does the mirror neuron criticize the joke it just told?
Alice: Whats the difference between a dead snake and a dead mirror neuron on the road?
Spiritual advice: If you meet a mirror neuron on the road, ask it to kill you.
Rear bumper sticker on mirror neuron's car: "If you know what I'm feeling, I was here first!"
Q: How can you tell if a mirror neuron is lying?
Q: What's the difference between God and a mirror neuron?
Q: What do you get when you cross a mirror neuron with another mirror neuron?
Two mirror neurons are sitting back to back, in a bathtub.
Two mirror neurons are on a train which is going past a farm. The field is full of sheep.
A farmer hears a noise in the hen house. He gets his shotgun and walks over quietly. He calls out, "All right, what's going
on in there?"
Q: If 6-1/2 mirror neurons
can mimic 6-1/2 mirror neurons in 6-1/2 minutes, how many mirror neurons does it take to mimic 10 mirror neurons in 20
minutes?
Mirror neuron #1: "Why did the mirror neuron cross the Möbius strip?"
A: Knock knock.
Click here for Contents.
Click here for Wikipedia article on jokes. A. Portrayal of mirror neurons
A. Whatever impression you have of mirror neurons as a result of these attempts at humor, it's not my intention to educate; only to evoke curiosity (I mean, aside from wanting to write jokes). In fact, it wasn't clear to me just what I was doing. I just wrote one after the other. I was on a roll. Then I got curious, and read some articles in the scholarly and popular press, and compiled some lists. I can't even remember what got me started. I think it was an article in Science. So, if you want balanced information on mirror neurons, refer to other material here. This wab page is an exercise in rambling. At this point it's mainly a place where I can quickly find things I want to show my friends. (And people who need to be enlightened. (j/k) ("j/k" = "just kidding."))
B. The jokes are not all original. Some are based on canonical humor. In some cases, I think my version works better
with "mirror neuron" than the original; #1, for example, which is based on a psychiatrist joke, or #2, which is based on a moron joke. "Moron" is politically incorrect,
and obsolete as a psychological term. I want �mirror
neuron� to be a meme. (Note: "Meme" is not a
meme. But it's getting there; I see that word more and more nowadays.) Why do I want "mirror neuron" to be a meme? Because I
believe that understanding mirror neurons can be a giant step toward world peace. But don�t bother thinking about that while
you're reading the jokes. Memes work
better (IMO) when they're spontaneous. (�IMO < is a meme, IMO.)
Part Three: Comments on the jokes
(These comments need some editing. )-:
Click here for Contents.
Comments on the jokes. But first, two more jokes, by my cousin, John:
Two mirror
neurons walk into a bar and go over to the bartender. Pointing at each other,
they both say, "I'll have what it's having."
27
Did you hear
the one about the two mirror neurons that were having a heated argument, then agreed to disagree?
#27 is really subtle. For ordinary humans, the phrase works. �Let�s agree to disagree� was a favorite saying of John�s. He used it whenever we had a disagreement and he was wrong. (j/k) ("j/k" = "just kidding.")
Many of 1-25
are based on other (�canonical�) jokes, whose authors are unknown to me. The
Copyright office says there�s a database but you have to provide title and date
to find author, and I don�t know those either. I looked for a web page with
canonical mirror neuron jokes, and didn�t find one. I guess I could start one
at ground4ideas.com. Anyway, in my copyright application I noted exceptions, where I modified existing jokes. NOTE: Someone said some of these are not jokes; they're too long. That's OK with me. The title is "mirror neuron humor." So they're humors. Whatever.
1.
��.get on an elevator� Based on �Two psychiatrists get on an elevator��
2.
�What did one ___ say to the other� Based on old riddle, �What did one moron say��. At one point I
thought I might use �mirron� instead of �mirror neuron,� but that might suggest
�moron,� which is disrespectful. In the ending, the obnoxiously mimicking
mirror neuron attempts to use a childish retort (often heard on Paul
Reubens� television show, Pee Wee�s Playhouse), �I know you are, but what am
I?� but ends up dissing itself anyway, as intended by the first mirror neuron.
3. Based on (dissed stereotype) encountering
another one, with a pig on his shoulder. The pig answers the question, �Where�d
you get that?� Mirror neurons replace dissed stereotypes in several of these
jokes; as objects of humor, it�s the idea of their extreme or unexpected
(although characteristic) behavior more than their ethnicity or gender, that�s
focused upon. I�m just making this observation. It wasn�t my intention to provide
�cleaned up� versions of dissed-stereotype jokes (although I have done that... There was this New Year's Eve party about 30 years ago....[1])
4.
Front of joke (the MNA scene): I got �Hi
Ho� from someone else, around 1980. So far as I know, it�s never actually been used�. The ending
refers to another joke, where someone puts a sign up, �Fresh fish for sale here
today,� and another person progressively criticizes and edits the sign down to
less and less words until there are none left.
5.
Based on joke about a teacher-nun, accompanying her student to a restaurant
with the student�s parents, pretending she�s unfamiliar with drink names.
Punchline to that one is, �Is that crazy nun in here again?� If that's
offensive to any nuns, or people of any religious persuasion, I apologize. Dave
Tiffany told me the nun joke in 1962, during supper at Maynard�s Greek
Restaurant in Carlisle, PA. We were eating fried oysters. (I know that because we always had them for supper. They were a
terrific bargain, at a dollar a dozen.)
6.
Original joke was about a one-armed, dissed, dim-wit-stereotyped person. A
mirror neuron could be expected to act this way (automatically waving back at
someone), as part of its mimicking nature (speaking metaphorically and
anthropomorphically, of course.)
7.
�How many� light bulb joke genre.
8.
Variation on generic �throw in a bar of soap� joke, how to get a (maligned
stereotyped person) out of a bathtub.
9.
Based on �What�s the difference between (a particular grocery item and a
non-grocery item)?� (Listener doesn�t know.) �I�ll never send you out to get
groceries.� Start of joke uses the idea that without an axon, the �output� part
of a neuron, it wouldn�t be able to �do� anything (like shop for groceries),
except listen.
10.
Based on dissed stereotype joke about a dim-witted, compulsive person. Mirror
neurons aren�t dim-witted or compulsive; it�s in their nature to focus on
(whatever); but this could be overdone. (I admit I�m stretching things, with
�it�s in their nature�� As I said, I�m anthropomorphizing them.)
11. Based on Zen koan, about the sound of one hand clapping, plus a popular joke about what used to be called �self-abuse� (another derivative of which was in the movie, Avatar, where Sigourney Weaver�s character admonishes a newly produced avatar, not to get carried away stroking his tail, or he�ll go blind. (His tail can be used as a communication link with all life on the planet.) Although this bordered on a fourth wall problem, I loved the gag, and was disappointed that the avatar didn't reply that he would stop when he needed glasses. I'm sure the script writer thought it would be going too far[3] into a fourth wall violation, to make the movie a vehicle for a joke at that point.))
12. Another Zen koan about a tree falling in a forest, then a reference to a popular rhetorical question about a bear in the woods. I have to mention Stephan Pastis' Pearls Before Swine strip ((C) Stephan Pastis, 2014) for May 20, 2014. Pastis, Anthropomorphizer Extraordinaire, and Master of Fourth Wall Humor, has Goat asking Rat, "Do you think comic strip censorship is more strict than the censorship you see in other forms of mass entertainment?" Rat replies, "Does a bear sit in the woods?" Upon which two comic strip censors, attired in bow ties and top hats, intervene: "Curse you, tricky rat," and "No more talk about bears in the woods." Rat runs afoul of a censor, in a superhero costume, in another recent strip (May 9, 2014), where he's writing advertisements, and with Pig March 28, 2014, making Greek yogurt. Pastis himself is confronted by a censor, March 18, 2014, for making an off-color pun. More fourth wall humor, Pastis about to be chastised, for a more elaborate pun, April 6, 2014. BTW Here's Rat's take on empathy, April 28, 2014. Rat apparently has a mirror neuron deficiency.
13.
Based on dissed stereotype joke about questionable parentage. The original joke
is so offensive to me that I almost didn�t keep this variation, but it doesn�t
need a reference to another joke, to be funny. I�m just giving credit. Actually,
after mulling over how these came about, and realizing that they more or less just
emerged from me without thinking, I realized that in the case of #13, the
joke�s on me.
14.
Based on genre joke about �dead (dissed stereotype)� in the road, and ending
with reference to the joke where a pet shop owner gives advice on how to
distinguish male from female finches- They prefer male and female worms. The
customer asks how to tell male from female worms. �I�m a bird expert, not a
worm expert.� (Actually, earthworms are hermaphrodites.)
15.
Based on the saying, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him,� meaning the Buddha is not outside, but inside one. Truth comes from inside, not outside. Something like that. This derivation (Joke #15) is so convoluted I don�t want to attempt an explanation. It just sounds right to me.
16.
Based on a generic bumper sticker joke.
17.
Based on the joke about how to tell if a (dissed person) is lying- Read their
lips: if they�re moving, the person is lying. In this case, �think about it�
suggests that the questioner is being mimicked, and therefore might be the one
who is lying. So the answer to �how do you tell� is, �what are *you* doing?�
Another possibility: A m.n. only mimics; it doesn�t
have originality. So no matter what it�s doing, it is not lying. This however
suggests that the person it is mimicking is not lying, either, which is
unrealistic. So the issue is, do mirror neurons mimic
meaning or just motions? Where is the empathy? Are we getting into the issue of the so-called hard problem of consciousness? ENOUGH.
18.
Another �what�s the difference joke�, of the type that
reverses the expectation at the end. The listener, hearing that A is X, and B
is Y, realizes they would have expected to hear that A is Y and B is X. In this
case, I�m suggesting that mirror neuron activity produced the characterization
of God in Romans 9:14-23, and that the
potter is God (to which He�s
compared, in Romans 9:14-23.) (Note: That passage refers to God manipulating
the Pharaoh in Exodus 4:21, 7:3, 7:13, 9:12, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4,
14:8, and 14:17, so it�s not as hypothetical or obscure as it appears. (Further note: The
context of this part of Paul has to do with who is welcome in the new way (later called Christianity) of practicing Judaism; some
gentiles are, and some Jews aren�t. It�s up to God. But the passage directly
addresses the issue of what right someone has to force someone to do something, and then blame them for doing it. The joke (if there�s anything left of
it at this point) focuses on that aspect of this passage. Is getting someone to
mimic, a type of manipulation? Can people be manipulated into being empathetic? Further, if God makes someone do something bad and a question is raised as to their culpability, then on the other hand, if he makes someone glorify him, of what value is the glory? I'm not sure if this is a parallel question or not. Is it? But it emerges. If I feel someone isn't being compassionate enough with me, do I have a right to exercise, in some covert way, their mirror neurons?
We do something like this with children. "Johnny, how would you feel if Betty broke your toy?" What if Johnny then were racked with guilt, on the spot or 50 years later? With that risk in mind, are we obligated to gauge the impact or force of our inducements to be compassionate? Or is compassion self-limiting? Could we educate someone to make it self-limiting? Is this like asking, could we educate someone to be insightful? At what age would that be a good idea to do? Can one be too insightful?
Some further questions to mull over. OK, now say, �Ha ha.�
19.
This joke is dedicated to Bill H. The genre is �what happens when you cross A with B,� and the ending is �a crazy mixed up ____ (rhymes with 'kid')". In this case there�s a spiritual
dimension (I believe that mirror neurons play a role in spirituality (see
#18)) so I picked a spiritual entity that rhymes with �kid�. OK, it�s a
stretch.
(What's the connection with Bill H.? He leads a book discussion group on spirituality, and frequently admonishes us to be respectful and careful in our critical remarks, by saying, "You never know, there might be someone in here that's a Druid.")
20.
Based on an old (at least 55 years (Footnote 8)) "prank joke,� actually a fake
joke, with a non sequitur punch line, �No soap radio.� The idea is that someone
laughs because they don�t want to be thought clueless. Then a confederate, who
is in on the trick, pretends to be puzzled, and puts the person on the spot by
asking what is funny. 21.
Based on the �counted their legs and divided by four� joke.
22.
Based on the �nobody in here but us chickens, boss� joke. About the part where
Alice is googling �chickens mirror neurons�-- Actually, since posting this, I found that when I google "chickens mirror neurons" I DO get this joke!
�Chickens can�t talk�� it would have been more appropriate to have Alice say,
�Neurons can�t talk,� but �chicken� is funnier than �neuron.� (Footnote 9)Ending-- �� a chicken screams.� I don�t think chickens can scream any
more than they can talk. I could have said �squawks� but �screams� is more
sinister.
�Fourth
wall:� see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall .
Quotation from that:
�The fourth wall is the
imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional
three-walled box set in a proscenium
theatre,
through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play.[1][2] The
idea of the fourth wall was made explicit by philosopher and critic Denis Diderot
and spread in 19th-century theatre with the advent of
theatrical realism,[3]
which extended the idea to the imaginary boundary between any fictional work
and its audience.�
Fourth
wall sometimes refers to a stylistic flaw which spoils the experience of a
production. Imagine a character in a play suddenly addressing the audience: �I
hope y�all are enjoying this play!� ACK.
(I imagine this is one of the reasons it's difficult to discuss one's relationship with another person. It would be a fourth wall violation.)
(Possibly also one of the reasons why it's hard to discuss one's relationship to God. Or to accept when God forces that on us, as in Job, Revelation, Romans 9, or instances of prophecy and sermonizing. Perhaps one of the reasons why Pharaoh had a hard time talking with Moses' discussions of letting his people leave Egypt. I mean, aside from the sudden loss of all those slaves. Another reason it was hard was that God had hardened his heart (according to plan; not a translation issue (See Romans 9:14-23).)
You see the comparison there, with a character in a play suddenly addressing the audience: �I hope y�all are enjoying this play!�?
You don't? Well.... OK.
What does this all have to do with mirror neurons?
[Insert or make a footnote, this comment about Romans 9:19- "What about this, you, the reader, may ask?" (paraphrased) This, portraying the reader's possible perception of the discussion, jumps out at us (me)(the reader). I thought perhaps it was inserted as an afterthought, but not entirely; the writer (the writer of Romans 9, presumably Paul) goes on to patch this back into the discussion, of who gets in and who doesn't. So I'm counting this as a 4th wall example. . . . It could have been worded more like, "One might ask, how can God punish someone He forces to do wrong," in which case it wouldn't have seemed (IMO) so 4th wall-ish. The stylistic switching of gears intrigues me. Did Paul (or the writer of Romans 9) (or the person who patched in 14-23) anticipate this objection from readers, and, even though it's a side-track, decided to deal with it? It really could have been left out, and the discussion would have kept on track better (IMO).
Mark 6:11: ".... Truly I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city." (KJV; not in modern Bibles. When and why was that edited out of the KJV? I dunno.)
Luke 10:11: "Even the very dust of your city, which sticks on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come near to you." 12 "But I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city." 13 "Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes." 14 "But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you." 15 "And you, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell."
Those pronouncements are in the context of a campaign to spread a message of peace and love! But wait -- Matthew 10:34 "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." But on the other hand, Matthew 26:52 "Then said Jesus unto him.... all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." OK; I know; context....
I said "not just prophecies", about Jesus' telling the disciples that those who reject them are in deep trouble, because apparently the predictions are not warnings addressed to those cities; although of course the disciples probably had leeway to make comments, to the rejecting city dwellers, about the consequences of not taking them seriously, in which case we would have a prophecy -- something that could be reversed, by the city dwellers thus admonished, who could then repent, as happened with Jonah.) That is my understanding of "prophecy" -- It might not happen. It's a warning. (I've read many contrary views, on the Web. Click here, for example. Even stronger is this, which says, "Prophets had to be right every time, on pain of death (Deut. 18:20) Predictions don�t always come true." I'll google one more-- Aha! This one agrees with me, so it must be right (j/k):
". . . one crucial point about the nature of biblical "prophecy," namely, that even when prophets speak about the future, they are not predicting an inevitable, unalterable future! Rather, they are warning people about a possible future that might come upon them if they continue in their evil ways and do not turn back to God. But if the people do listen to the prophet's message and react appropriately, with prayer, repentance, and faithfulness to God, then the future will look very different than what the prophet had foretold!"
"Of course, not all biblical texts make the conditional nature of the future so explicit; the two alternatives ("If you don't repent, here's what will happen; but if you do repent, then God will be merciful to you.") are not always clearly stated, but might remain implicit. Some texts may even presuppose that people will not repent, and thus will be punished for their wickedness; but if they do, even contrary to all expectations, then the disasters foretold by the prophets will not come about after all!"
Phew.
Let's see, where was I? Oh yes; compassion. I'm going to stop here (to be edited later.... Add- Eric Erikson, and ideas about God's many roles as a father. Possibly expand on my conjecture that Job is a satirical tirade against theodicy as such.)
I get put off by some 4th wall situations. For example, in
the British Doctor Who series, the actor, and his costume, change from time to time
(in the story, the Doctor is getting rejuvenated into a new body.) The idea of the �doctor� is
that Doctor Who is a Time Lord who gads about the universe in a time/space
machine. To blend in with the societies he visits, when someone asks about his
presence, he says, �I�m the doctor.� People presumably don�t question the
presence of a doctor in almost any situation. But someone might ask, �Doctor
who?� Actually, after watching dozens of episodes, I never saw that happen. But
the title is whimsical. Anyway, for some time in the series, his costume included lapels with a question mark on them.
In Salvador Dali�s paintings, he used what he
called the �paranoic-critical method� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoiac-critical_method).
One explanation of this (which is not in the Wikipedia article) is that Dali
wished the viewer to experience, not only the art object, but also his or her (the viewer�s) own frame of mind, and experiences, in relation to the art object. This is a fourth wall situation, with a positive aim. Now, some comments about Natalie Dessay, which started as part of the fourth wall issue, and morphed into something else.... [Sorry; I don't have this linked here. Use CTRL+F with "Natalie Dessay."
Part Sixteen: NATALIE DESSAY
"The woman with a dream in her heart cannot sleep; every day she rises with the sun. At morning, the flowers which line the meadows are more beautiful. 'But for whom these flowers?' You ask. Do you?" (At this point she unbuttons her shirt and opens it for a moment- Her dress is covered with floral prints.) ".... they are for the handsome shepherd who lives just here...."
"Every day like this I bring the lovely shepherd beautiful cornflowers, which I tremblingly hang on his door. And my poor heart throbs and races. So for whom does it beat so fast? You ask. Do you? .... It's for the handsome shepherd who lives just here...." Actually, during this whole song, she is addressing the audience, but in an abstract way. With "Do you?" it gets pointed and (punctures?) (highlights?) the 4th wall. But perhaps I'm going too far with this. The Wikipedia article points out, "The fourth wall should not be confused with the aside or the soliloquy, dramatic devices often used by playwrights where the character on stage is delivering an inner monologue, giving the audience insight into their thoughts."
This whole song, and other singing in the opera, by Dessay, show quick and fluid changes of a range of emotion so charmingly that I think it's great "exercise" of mirror neurons. She is one of the most entertaining people I've ever watched. (Granted, the overall effect is comedy; but the emotions and body language portrayed, moment by moment, are realistic. OK, there's only a vague mirror neuron connection here and I'm making up reasons not to delete the links. But it's my web page. (Actually, this site is about humor, too. LOLoS (lauging out loud or silently).) OK, back to the 4th wall issue; obvious acting and even singing -- She's singing TO us and AT us, after all, not just portraying a singer -- OK, 4th wall, more excuses. It's my web page.) Here are some other examples from Orpheus:
"Ah! Quelle triste destin�e!" lamenting her abandonment and confinement by Pluto (priceless, noticing a can on the couch, tossing it onto the floor, and then kicking it a minute later; bouncing on couch while singing) 2min 30sec
"Fly duet" Jupiter[1], in the guise of a fly, sneaks into her locked room through the keyhole; seduction follows (The scene opens with Cupid running across the stage). 5min 1sec
Finale Expressions going from dismay and consternation to gaiety in a few seconds, and some expressions I don't have names for. (She has just found out that Jupiter[1], the tall fellow in white at her left, is going to change her into a bacchante [3], for eternity in the Underworld.) 1min 15sec.
Entire opera. 2hr 2min 13sec
(Here's the same song, with an audience. Check out the singing at 4m50s-5m24s and 6:49-end.)
(These are good to watch without sound. In the first one particularly, the studio recording, watch the orchestra behind her, which is punctuating. Her expression throughout most of this performance I would call "worshipful," particularly when she raises her hands, and just after the last note.)
More Dessay.... The mechanical doll in Tales of Hoffman (and a modest one! Pulling her dress down, at 0:41 seconds).
Articles related to Natalie Dessay
49 consecutive selections with Dessay.
Paley Center, and Met, reviews of Dessay.
This
fourth wall stuff has a bearing (IMO) on an issue regarding free will, which is
the claim that, if God knows the future, then the future is fixed, and we have
no free will to do otherwise than what God knows will happen. (See Footnote 14) (Discussion to be developed later.)
23.
Based on a genre of arithmetic riddles. Actually there�s no clear answer as far
as I can see. Mirror neurons operate in concert or have single functions, and
how they interact (if they do) with other mirror neurons, in one�s
self or another person, is something I�m ignorant about. Of course �6-1/2� is
silly anyway.
24.
Based on �Why did the chicken cross the road?�
25.
Based on the �Isabelknock knock joke. In this case, at the end, the usual
sequence is reversed.
Top of page (for people who googled "chickens mirror neurons")
What are mirror neurons? Here's some introductory material.
2015: Wikipedia article
1996: Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions
original article March 1996, by G. Rizzolatti and others
2008: The Mirror Neuron Revolution: Explaining What Makes Humans Social Scientific American, July 1, 2008
2013: What We Know Currently about Mirror Neurons Current Biology Dec 2, 2013
2014: The Myth of Mirror Neurons by Gregory Hickock
2015:Rethinking the Mirror Neuron System Theory Rethinking the Mirror Neuron System Theory Journal of Vision, September 1, 2015
2015: Premotor cortex pictures (Google/images)
2015: Human mirror neuron pictures (Google/images)
To find text in here, with a PC, use CTRL+F; Command and F, on a Mac.
Part One: The jokes
Mirror neuron #2: "What did one mirror neuron say to the other mirror neuron?"
Mirror neuron #1: "You got it!"
Mirror neuron #2: "You got it!"
Mirror neuron #1: "That's enough now."
Mirror neuron #2: "That's enough now."
Mirror neuron #1: "I'm an idiot."
Mirror neuron #2: "That's what I am; what are you?"
Mirror neuron #1: "Where'd you get that?"
Mirror neuron #3: "I won it at the farm show."
Mirror neuron #1: "Hi, I'm a mirror neuron and my name is Ho."
Group: "Hi Ho."
Mirror neuron #2: "Ha ha. But you don't have to say you're a mirror neuron. We're all mirror neurons here."
Mirror neuron #1: "Well, OK. Hi-- "
Mirror neuron #2: "You don't have to say 'hi'. We know you're introducing yourself."
Mirror neuron #1: "But then how can I sell any fish?"
A waiter comes over.
"What would you like to drink?"
The nun says, "I'll have a manhattan."
The waiter calls out, "One manhattan."
The bartender calls back, "One manhattan."
The priest says, "I'll have what she's having."
The waiter calls out, "Another manhattan."
The bartender calls back, "Another manhattan."
The mirror neuron says, "I'll have a martin eye." The two words are spoken separately.
The waiter, mimicking the mirror neuron, calls out, "One martin eye."
The bartender calls back, "Is that crazy mirror neuron in here again?"
A: Wave to it.
A: No one knows yet. They just stand around watching each other.
A: Throw in a bar of Thorazine.
A: A really good listener, but don't send it out to get groceries.
A: Because it said, "Concentrate."
Mirror neuron #2: "I do't know, but if you keep doing that you'll go blind."
Mirror neuron #1: "I'll stop when I need glasses."
A#1: Mimics what?
A#2: Does a mirror neuron mimic in the woods?
A: Because it isn't sure if it's its.
Bob: I don't know. What's the difference?
Alice: There's two of one, and one of the other.
Bob: But which one?
Alice: How do I know? I'm a mirror neuron specialist, not a snake specialist.
A: Think about it.
A: One inspired Romans 9:14-23, and the other is a frustrated potter.
A: A crazy mixed up Druid.
Mirror neuron #1: "Please pass the soap."
Mirror neuron #2: ""No soap. Rizzolatti!"
Mirror neuron #1: "What's that supposed to mean?"
Mirror neuron #2: "Here's a clue. I could have said no soap radio', but that would be different."
Mirror neuron #1: "What's the difference between a radio and a Rizzolatti?"
Mirror neuron #2: "One provides information of general interest, and the other one wakes you up every morning."
Mirror neuron #1: "I have the feeling I'm being set up. Are you pulling my leg?"
Mirror neuron #2: "You've gotta be kidding. Mirror neurons don't have legs."⁷
Mirror neuron #1: "Well, they don't sit in a bathtub, either."
Mirror neuron #2: "OK, you win. Here's the soap."
Mirror neuron #1: "Wow, that's a lot of sheep."
Mirror neuron #2: "There are --:wait -- 173 sheep in that field."
Mirror neuron #1: "That's amazing. How did you do that so quickly?"
Mirror neuron #2: "Easy. I counted their legs and divided by four."
Mirror neuron #1: "But, wouldn't that take a lot longer than just counting the sheep themselves? And how can you see all their legs?"
Mirror neuron #2: "Naaah, it's just that I've waited a long time for a chance to use that joke. I had no idea how many sheep there were. But I really had you going, didn't I!"
Mirror neuron #1: "Ha ha, I was the one that had you going. Of course I knew you were kidding."
Mirror neuron #2: "Can't stand to have someone fool you, can you."
Mirror neuron #1: "There's no need to be critical. You're the one who can't take it, not me."
Mirror neuron #2: "There's no point in denying what I said. I'm a mirror neuron. I can tell what you're thinking."
Mirror neuron #1: "Think you're smarter than me? I can tell what you're thinking, too; and you're the one who's on the defensive, not me."
Mirror neuron #2: "How can we be arguing about this? We both know what the other one is thinking."
Mirror neuron #1: "Good question. But I can tell it's not sincere.,"
Mirror neuron #2: "Dammit, you're full of beans. I know you're lying."
Mirror neuron #1: "On the contrary."
Mirror neuron #2: "How can we settle this? This is an impossible situation!"
Mirror neuron #1: "Indeed it is."
A voice responds, "No one in here but us mirror neurons, boss."
The farmer replies, "You mean chickens have mirror neurons?"
The voice answers, "They sure do, boss."
The farmer pulls out his cell phone and taps in a number. "Hello, Alice, this is Bob. There was a noise in the
hen house, and I think someone's trying to steal my chickens. But when I investigated, a voice said it was mirror neurons. Alice, do chickens have mirror neurons?"
Alice says, "That's an interesting question, Bob, but let s back up a little. First of all, chickens can't talk. Second, the whole subject of mirror neurons is controversial."
Bob says, "Alice, that may be, but I can't get the question out of my mind. Do chickens have mirror neurons?"
Alice says, "Just a minute, I'm online. I'll google that.... chickens mirror neurons.... Bob, all I'm getting is this joke."
Bob says, "Well, it's not very funny."
Alice says, "We re on the same plate there. Must be our mirror neurons! Ha ha!"
Bob says, "Alice, that's just totally lame. Theres nothing funny about mirror neurons."
Alice says, "Whatever. Goodnight, Bob."
Bob says, "Goodnight, Alice." They disconnect.
The voice says, "Goodnight, boss."
Bob stands perfectly still.
The voice says, "By the way, boss, I'm sure you don't mind my saying this, I think your lady friend had a bit of a fourth wall problem there, when she mentioned this joke."
Bob says, "What do you mean?"
The voice says, "It's like if an actor's character refers to the play, or a story refers to itself. She's part of the
narrative, and she refers to it. But that's not a big deal."
Bob says, "Hmmm, that sounds like something a mirror neuron would notice, all right."
The voice says, "I guess so, boss. I'm not an expert on mirror neurons. I'm just speaking from my nucleus."
Bob looks up at the sky for a moment, turns around, and walks back toward the house.
But he's thinking, "Wait a minute. How did that mirror neuron know what Alice was saying on my cell phone? She wasn't on speaker. And It did the same thing she did!"
Behind him, in the hen house, a chicken screams.
A: (I don't have time to figure this out. The solution is left as an exercise for the reader. Sorry.)
Mirror neuron #2: "To get to the same side?"
Mirror neuron #1: "Aha, you thought this was another chicken joke, didn't you!"
Mirror neuron #2: "Actually, I didn't think the chicken story was funny."
Mirror neuron #1: "It doesn't matter what you think. Your sense of humor is impaired."
Mirror neuron #2: "You're a fine one to talk. You have the sense of humor of a collar button."
Mirror neuron #1: "This is like our train ride yesterday, when we saw the sheep. What's wrong with you anyway?"
Mirror neuron #2: ,"What? You think I should go to MNA, don't you."
Mirror neuron #1: "I didn't say that."
Mirror neuron #2: "But I know what you're thinking."
Mirror neuron #1: "Well, thanks for admitting it."
Mirror neuron #2: "You're welcome."
B: Who's there?
A: Isamirrorneuron.
B: Isamirrorneuron who?
A: Is a mirror neuron necessary in an empath?
B: That,'s esoteric.
A: Is a teric necessary on a bike?
B: No, that's "Is a bell necessary on a bike?"
A: Isabel who?
Part Two: Disclaimer
B. Originality of the jokes
What are
mirror neurons? Some researchers believe
(not meant skeptically) that certain parts of the brain, in some animals, have a function of mimicking, or simulating, the (objective) actions
of other animals, or producing (subjective) experiences like the ones the other
entities are having. Studies in non-human animals can be done with individual
neurons; human studies, by non-invasive imaging. Sometimes the mirror neuron
activity can be seen as collective (many neurons), sometimes individual. Some
researchers believe that mirror neuron activity allows us to understand one
another, or to be empathetic.
This area of study is several decades old, but �mirror
neuron� is relatively recent (1996). My jokes anthropomorphize mirror
neurons and play with some of the ideas about them.
I need to say that Stephan Pastis is, IMO, the Anthropomorphizer in Chief of cartoon art. I read his daily strip, Pearls Before Swine, in color in the Washington DC Express, religiously. He has outstanding puns, fourth wall violations, talking critters of all sorts, and a deeply witty, self-deprecating sense of humor. On 6 Oct 2012, I sat near his book signing table for two hours, as the line of fans went by, after his presentation in Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington DC, where they had, in the opinon of the staff, the biggest crowd ever. The signing line went way out into the parking lot. I enjoyed his interactions with fans, and when the line got down to three people, I stood at the end and waited for my turn to thank him.
)-:
[Not a nice thing to do.]
OK, so, what does "Rizzolatti" mean? Giacomo Rizzolatti was the senior scientist of the
research team that pioneered work on mirror neurons. Rizzolatti once wrote
that, early in his research (in 1991), the prestigious British journal, Nature, declined to publish a paper from
him because of its �lack of general interest.�(Footnote (not done yet)) That
gave me the idea for a switcheroo sub-joke (�and the other one wakes you up
every morning�).
NOTE (5-31-15): I was explaining the idea of a prank joke to my friend, Cassandra, using "no soap radio," and she said it was funny, to her, because (and she gave a funny interpretation). "That's OK," I said, "and that actually is funny, but the way it's supposed to work, is the other person laughs but doesn't really see any humor in it." "Oh," she replied, "Then I didn't get it." Which I think is very funny!
Imagine God about to confront Job, thinking, "After all this trouble, Job is still resolutely loyal. These three friends of his have him all stirred up, wondering why he's been suffering so much. I mean, he shouldn't think he deserves the good fortune he's lost, but on the other hand, he doesn't deserve what's happened to him, either. Time to set him straight- Get rid of those conundra floating around in his psyche. But this is going to be a fourth wall violation. Well, better make the most of it. By the time I'm finished with him, he won't be wondering about anything!"
End of sidetrack / footnote / (sorry for the confusion).)
Well, hmmm, let's see.... I asked, "What does this all have to do with mirror neurons?" Aha, yes, it's an issue of God having, or not having, compassion.
The lack of compassion evident in Job, or in Romans 9:14-23 ("I make people for vessels of wrath or mercy; does a pot complain to a potter? You humans have your toy soldiers and your World of Warcraft; I have my toy humans, and my world of warcraft." (I'm paraphrasing slightly.) In these two passages (Job being considered as a large passage), God's lack of mirror neurons is total. Consider also His predictions (not prophecies) for humans whose cities reject the messages of the apostles:
Matthew 10:14,15: ".... shake the dust off your feet." 15 "Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city...." 11:21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." 22 "But I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you." 23 "And you, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day." 24 "But I say to you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you."
More thoughts on Romans 9- Wrath and mercy- Why does God need vessels? I'm struggling with this. I should answer the phone. Where does it start? God needs vessels for wrath, which is directed at someone. Not just a rock. He isn't just kicking rocks, or slamming his hand on the table, or
It seems like a tautology of some kind. Something that has internal necessity, but not external. Compassion / mercy / suspension of wrath / object of wrath / experiencing all this -- the whole ball of wax -- what if it weren't happening? What would be missing?
Voltaire said, if God didn't exist, man would invent him. Drama. Projection. Enough. I have to answer the phone. Whoops, it isn't ringing any more.
This was too much for me, and I stopped
watching the shows. On the other hand, there are positive uses of fourth wall awareness. In The Purple Rose of Cairo, an actor leaves the movie screen
and steps into the theater, eventually falling in love with a fan, and having
problems encountering the actor who plays him (the movie screen character).
This leads to hilarious situations, including one in which the other
characters in the movie start complaining about him not being there.
PART NINE Contrary views
www.wired.com/2013/12/a-calm-look-at-the-most-hyped-concept-in-neuroscience-mirror-neurons/
Talking Brains: What Mirror Neurons are Really Doing
(Click here for tips on controlling YouTube videos.)
In the opera, Orpheus in the Underworld, by Offenbach, Eurydice is singing about her lover, a shepherd, and addresses the audience pointedly a couple of times. In the YouTube fragment presented here, at 42sec and 1min47sec, she asks a question, then says, "do you ask? Do you?" Here are the still-shots, as links, in the context of the song:
(Click here for tips on controlling YouTube videos.)
Natalie Dessay- Makes me laugh hard in Orpheus. Unfortunately she is about to retire from her operatic career (late 2013). I got a ticket to see her March 12! Carnegie Hall.... She was wonderful Possibly one of the last performances of her opera career. Possibly one of the nicest evenings of my life, and I got to go with a friend. Here'a an interview with her at YouTube. T=1:16:30. Another YouTube, where she shows great changes of expression at 1:55:20-43.
And then for perfect beauty, two performances of The Bell Song, one in a studio, then in a concert hall. Her high notes are electrifying/mesmerizing at 1:18, 5:36 and 8:12. 5:10-5:40 is amazing. And 7:10-8:23. Well,the whole thing. Beauty.
(Click here for tips on controlling YouTube videos.)
Here's a review: Natalie Dessay and Imogene Coca: Clowns with Soul, by Rebecca Paller, May 5, 2008:
"Laurent Pelly's production of Donizetti's most light-hearted work (updated from 1800 to World War I, and bursting with sight gags), which I had seen in London last January with the same leading players: Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Fl�rez, Felicity Palmer, and Alessandro Corbelli.
"I want to sing the praises of Natalie Dessay, the petite soprano from Lyons, France, whose innate sense of comedy is about as good as it gets. She has the rubber face of a clown-funny with an underlying poignancy-and the loose-limbed movements of the great silent film comedians. A few years ago she told Opera News that her favorite TV show was Inside the Actors Studio, and that she especially loved an episode of the show with Johnny Depp. "I love this guy. Because he's crazy. He's crazy in his choices, without any compromise. It's always a surprise. You don't know what he's going to do," she said.
In La Fille du R�giment (The Daughter of the Regiment)
Dessay as Marie, the "daughter" who has been raised since infancy by a regiment of devoted soldiers, is also full of crazy surprises-whether she's demonically ironing and identically double-folding each soldier's Henley shirt in "Mon r�giment" or metronomically looking from left to right (Pippi Longstocking pigtails flying helter skelter) after being reunited with her boyfriend Tonio (Fl�rez) and her adopted father Supice (Corbelli) in the infectious second-act trio, "Tous les trois r�unis."
"Dessay on the big screen brings to mind the late, great Imogene Coca�Sid Caesar's longtime partner on the fifties television program Your Show of Shows. Take a look at the YouTube clips below (Coca and Caesar in a sketch lampooning classical musicians, and Dessay in highlights from the London production of La Fille du R�giment) and you'll see what I mean. Both, not surprisingly, studied ballet as kids and were theater animals from the word "go." The humor and humanity shine through in everything they do."
Back to the 4th wall idea-- Near the end of a performance of the "Bell Song" the audience applauds at the wrong moment (5min 29sec into that fragment). She smiles and gestures, letting them know they should stop. OK, here are some more excerpts from Orpheus:
(Click here for tips on controlling YouTube videos.)
"La femme dont le coeur r�ve" singing about her lover, the shepherd (who is actually Pluto) (same URL as "whole song" above). 2min 33sec long
"Duet Orph�e/Eurydice" continuation of shepherd issue: confrontation with husband
(Click here for tips on controlling YouTube videos.)
L'air des clochettes (Bell song) "Ou va la jeune hindoue". LAKM�, L�o Delibes. Natalie Dessay -- pure beauty in sight and sound -- what is her facial expression? In contrast to the fluid, diverse presentation of changes in the previous links, here is a steady, contemplative performance (with an exception at 5 minutes 59.7 seconds- A brief smile, approximately 0.1397 seconds long.) My mirror neurons are activating big time, and my tear ducts, and I'm grinning, and I can't tell exactly what it's about. I just had to include this link. :-D
Les oiseaux dans la charmille - English Subs - Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and here's a synopsis.
.... I got a bit carried away.... What does this have to do with mirror neurons? Or with empathy? Well, facial expressions and body language. (Here's a PDF about facial expressions: https://www2.bc.edu/~russeljm/publications/fac_expr_mean.pdf. Oddly, there are no illustrations of facial expressions.) I got diverted, off track in my fourth wall comments. As I was making the screen shots of Dessay addressing the audience, I realized her range of expressions was worth focusing on. Back to the fourth wall comments....
Fourth wall awareness, or awareness of the context of an experience, can be instructive, and is worth cultivating. But it can be carried too far. The fourth wall -- in this case, taken to be the lens, or collection of filters and presuppositions and expectations one has -- is supposed to be transparent, not filled with grids, lists, diagrams, and measuring rods. We don't want to become too aware, second guessing and tripping ourselves up, like Aesop's centipede.
Part Four: Footnotes
under construction-- Most of this file is being edited -- come back later. :-)
Contents:
Start of page
Part One: The Jokes
Part Two: Disclaimer
Part Three: Comments on the jokes
Part Four: Footnotes
Part Five: Random notes
Part Six: Using various search engines
Part Seven: Rizzolatti
Part Eight: Ramachandran (text) (see also his Ted talk: "The Neurons That Shaped Civilization", November 2009, and transcript of that talk.)
(Uploaded Apr 14, 2012) "Being Human" 4:31, on Mirror neurons and phantom limb phenomenon- Woman felt pain in phantom thumb until she watched her husband massage his thumb(also refer to Nov 2009 Ramachandran video, at 6:47)
Part Nine: Contrary views
Part Ten: PubMed and PubMed Central journal articles
Part Eleven: Mirror neurons unite! (Nothing done with this, so far....)
Part Twelve: Mirror neurons and religion
Part Thirteen: Contents
Part Fourteen Empathy cartoons (about Nonviolent Communication)
Part Fifteen: The Fourth Wall (Remember, this is a DRAFT. I haven't figured out yet, where to put this internal link. You can use CTRL+F to find "fourth wall" or "4th wall". Or just "wall" for that matter.
Part Sixteen: Natalie Dessay, a discussion and links embedded in a discussion of the 4th wall.
Part Seventeen: Romans 9 -- To be edited
Part Eighteen HTML guides
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