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Ponder and laugh
Sep. 2nd, 2015 10:50 amThe best humor, as in the case of later books by Terry Pratchett, is both funny and profound. I can't think of any current writer who comes close to Pratchett in combining the two attributes, but Jasper Fforde makes a valiant effort, a fact the latest book in his "Thursday Next" series reminded me of.
I'll skip irrelevant background context and come right to the point: Fforde reminds us of the need to devote a little time each day, even if only a few seconds, to pondering something about the world and to laughing.
Pondering reinstills a sense of the wonder of the world. I get some of that from the scientific perspective in my daily work: the deeper you delve into ecology, the more ramifications and recomplications you discover. In the words of Johnathan Swift, "So nat'ralists observe, a flea / Has smaller fleas that on him prey; / And these have smaller fleas to bite 'em. / And so proceeds Ad infinitum." Or as the Hindu world myth would have it, "it's elephants all the way down". But there are many wonders other than science to be experienced if you pause a moment to ponder; my favorite recent insight was into just how weird it must be to be a house cat, and to be owned by something inexplicable that is close to 20 times one's own size. Imagining what that must be like near to blew my mind. Then there are the daily miracles of a lover's smile and the touch of her hand.
Laughter, of course, has its own rewards, particularly when shared. My favorite recent geek joke was Fforde's throwaway line about a new compression format for jokes, JAPEG*. Sheer brilliance! But humor can be much more profound, as in the case of Québecois comedian Martin Matte**, who recently delivered a funny and touching tribute to his father. My favorite bit was his reflection, driving home from the funeral home with his father's ashes in an urn in the passenger seat, about whether he could legitimately take the commuter lane reserved for cars with two or more passengers. And whether his father would be "burned" if a cop stopped them.
* For the less geeky: a "jape" is a joke, and JPEG is the current standard for compression of photographic images.
** And pause a moment to appreciate the beauty of a world that has an École Nationale de l'Humour in it.
Laughter has the additional virtue that it makes the Forces of Darkness gnash their teeth in frustration. There are days when I think they're winning, but it does my heart good to deny them the satisfaction of making me resent it. There are virtues to a heroic death, but given the low likelihood of such an outcome from a humble editor's life, I'll be happy to die with a laugh on my lips and the sound of grinding teeth in the cosmic background.
I'll skip irrelevant background context and come right to the point: Fforde reminds us of the need to devote a little time each day, even if only a few seconds, to pondering something about the world and to laughing.
Pondering reinstills a sense of the wonder of the world. I get some of that from the scientific perspective in my daily work: the deeper you delve into ecology, the more ramifications and recomplications you discover. In the words of Johnathan Swift, "So nat'ralists observe, a flea / Has smaller fleas that on him prey; / And these have smaller fleas to bite 'em. / And so proceeds Ad infinitum." Or as the Hindu world myth would have it, "it's elephants all the way down". But there are many wonders other than science to be experienced if you pause a moment to ponder; my favorite recent insight was into just how weird it must be to be a house cat, and to be owned by something inexplicable that is close to 20 times one's own size. Imagining what that must be like near to blew my mind. Then there are the daily miracles of a lover's smile and the touch of her hand.
Laughter, of course, has its own rewards, particularly when shared. My favorite recent geek joke was Fforde's throwaway line about a new compression format for jokes, JAPEG*. Sheer brilliance! But humor can be much more profound, as in the case of Québecois comedian Martin Matte**, who recently delivered a funny and touching tribute to his father. My favorite bit was his reflection, driving home from the funeral home with his father's ashes in an urn in the passenger seat, about whether he could legitimately take the commuter lane reserved for cars with two or more passengers. And whether his father would be "burned" if a cop stopped them.
* For the less geeky: a "jape" is a joke, and JPEG is the current standard for compression of photographic images.
** And pause a moment to appreciate the beauty of a world that has an École Nationale de l'Humour in it.
Laughter has the additional virtue that it makes the Forces of Darkness gnash their teeth in frustration. There are days when I think they're winning, but it does my heart good to deny them the satisfaction of making me resent it. There are virtues to a heroic death, but given the low likelihood of such an outcome from a humble editor's life, I'll be happy to die with a laugh on my lips and the sound of grinding teeth in the cosmic background.