Title: The Role of Humor in Innovation
Context: Send in the clowns; I want to change the world.
Synopsis: Changing the way people think is not easy. Neither is making them laugh. But they actually may be one in the same thing, or at least one way of getting people to change the way they perceive their world. What (effective) humor does is force people to reexamine how they look at (oftentimes) problematic or complicated issues without the pressure of being serious weighing down the discourse. Good play involves laughter, as should good learning, both of which have their foundation in exploration. And exploration is the path we all take in our daily quest to solve the problems we are tasked with solving each and every day. So go out there and laugh today people. Your bosses will thank you for it.
Best Bit: “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’, but ‘That’s funny.'” -Isaac Asimov
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