Kevin V.,

Your little dialog is funny. Dark humor, I suppose it is, but then again, it goes to show you how absurd sin is and how very fun and joy-filled our lives are supposed to be.

Sometimes what we laugh at isn't exactly wholesome, and you wonder what that reflects. I mean, it's one thing to feel accountable for what we do voluntarily. Laughter, though, seems largely involuntary. It's hard to understand what that says about us or how we're made.

The same goes for some of the stranger things we find humor in. It seems so instinctive, I've often wondered: Can we help that?

I've even seen a bit of (dark) humor in Abraham and Isaac riding out to their most famous moment.

"Um, Dad? I couldn't help but notice that we didn't actually bring anything to sacrifice."

(Awkward silence)

"Dad?"

...and getting strange looks-- yes, I am familiar with that. There are about five or six pages straight in Wodehouse's "Right Ho, Jeeves!" which have me either laughing out loud or cracking a rib to refrain from doing so. I recall once in the break-room at a factory assembly-line job when I drew much attention to myself, while trying to be subtle and unnoticed.
(It's the prize-giving scene with Gussie Fink-Nottle, for those who know the book.)

And I am guessing that the word 'reductionistic' is probably just a little bit more accurate than 'deterministic'? I mentioned to one of my scientists how reductionism destroys moral culpability (he's doing work on the neurobiology of mice), and it seemed to be a new thought to him.

Humor is a source of humility. When one can joke about oneself one has set a limit to his own arrogance.

Hey Steve (SKB), glad to see you. We've missed having you join us on other discussion.

Kevin P., I think you are onto something.  One of my husband's jobs is to make me laugh. 

Taking a vacation soon after 9/11, I was reading a very funny book by mystery writer Donald Westlake that made me guffaw. Many people looked at me and smiled. 

But humor has a number of values. For one, people like to laugh, and there are indeed ways to be funny that are respectful and not demeaning or insulting.
For another, humor can disarm a tense situation.
Third, it can make the workplace a more enjoyable place to be.
Fourth, it's a good way to start off a talk or sermon, both because it can relieve a bit of nerves for the speaker, and can get the attention of the audience and make them want to listen.
And last on this particular list, women love men with a good sense of humor! Or so the rumor goes, anyway...

A bit deterministic? With Daniel Dennett as one of the co-authors? Are you... out of your mind? You make me laugh Kim.


(sorry, that was a lame attempt at humour regarding Dennett's physicalism)

Along with the other facets of his legacy, C.S. Lewis wielded humor as a surgeon does a scalpel, helping us not only in debunking nonsense, but also in not taking ourselves too seriously. This is both disarming and liberating. And, in an age of idealogical diatribes, where everything seems to be presented as "way too critical to joke about", it is also a much needed corrective as well as a coping mechanism.

.
Or, “How Dorcas and Nimrod Got Me Through this Past Week”

Nimrod: Hey, Dorcas.
Dorcas: I wish you’d quit calling me that.
Nimrod: Calling you what?
Dorcas: “Dorcas.”
Nimrod: That’s your name for crying out loud.
Dorcas: Not the way you said it.
Nimrod: I said “Dorcas”. How else am I supposed to say it?
Dorcas: It’s the inflection in your voice. It sounds like you’re calling me a dorkus.
Nimrod: I’m just calling you “Dorcas” for crying out loud.
Dorcas: See what I mean? You did it again.
Nimrod: I did not. I called you by your name: “Dorcas”.
Dorcas: Stop it, Nimrod.
Nimrod: Well, hey, you don’t have to get nasty.
Dorcas: I’m not getting nasty. I’m just asking you to get the attitude out of your voice, Nimrod.
Nimrod: Oh I get it. So now you’re going to get back at me by calling me “Nimrod”. I get it.
Dorcas: That’s not what I’m doing.
Nimrod: I suppose you just innocently tacked “Nimrod” onto the end of your sentence there.
Dorcas: That’s right.
Nimrod: With inflection.
Dorcas: What inflection?
Nimrod: What inflection she says.
Dorcas: I didn’t use any inflection.
Nimrod: Neither did I.
Dorcas: You sure?
Nimrod: Sure I’m sure.
Dorcas: Positive?
Nimrod: Absolutely positive.
Dorcus: Promise?
Nimrod: Scout’s honor.
Dorcus: Well…
Nimrod: Yes?
Dorcas: Give us a kiss and let’s forget it.
[smooching]
Nimrod: That’s my dorkus.
Dorcas: And that’s my “Nimrod.”