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Antievolution.org Discussion Board > From the Panda's Thumb > After the Bar Closes... > Can Creationists actually be funny?

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Arden Chatfield Posts: 6657 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,14:48    A basic question which occurred to me in the wake of Dembki's 'Herman Munster' post: Has Dembski ever made an attempt at humor that was actually funny? I mean, looking back over the last year or two, what comes to mind is stuff like the Herman Munster 'joke' (which reminds me uncomfortably of stuff the wingnuts said about Kerry 3 years ago), his fart video, that stoopid 'brights' parody... Either guffawing at people's appearance, potty humor, stuff you'd expect of a ten-year-old boy with a very mediocre intellect. Maybe there are attempts at humor he's made that *were* funny, but I've just forgotten them. Anyone remember them? I hesitate to say that Dembski is 'humorless' per se, since he clearly tries to make jokes, but his sense of humor seems rather stunted. Denyse O'Leary strikes me as a much more severe example of the same syndrome, who may actually qualify as completely humorless. Now, the larger question: is this a syndrome? Is this inevitable? Is there something about the religious dogmatism and extremely narrow thinking necessary to being a Creationist that destroys one's ability to actually be deliberately funny and witty to anyone without an identical set of ideas? Maybe so. Try and imagine Pat Robertson or some Iranian mullah actually making a witty remark. Hard to see, no? It's certainly not the case that religious people can't be funny: Jews practically invented modern American humor, and I've met Buddhist monks who had extremely robust senses of humor, and who told hilarious stories. But there seems to be something about fundamentalist Christianity and Islam that totally kills any trace of laugh-laugh, even if the person wants to be funny. Observations? -------------- "Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

carlsonjok Posts: 3326 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,14:56    Quote (Arden Chatfield @ June 15 2007,14:48) Now, the larger question: is this a syndrome? Is this inevitable? Is there something about the religious dogmatism and extremely narrow thinking necessary to being a Creationist that destroys one's ability to actually be deliberately funny and witty to anyone without an identical set of ideas? Maybe so. Try and imagine Pat Robertson or some Iranian mullah actually making a witty remark. Hard to see, no? It's certainly not the case that religious people can't be funny: Jews practically invented modern American humor, and I've met Buddhist monks who had extremely robust senses of humor, and who told hilarious stories. But there seems to be something about fundamentalist Christianity and Islam that totally kills any trace of laugh-laugh, even if the person wants to be funny. Observations? I'll give you a topic: Creationist Humor is neither creative nor humorous.  Discuss. Sorry. Stream of consciousness moment. -------------- It's natural to be curious about our world, but the scientific method is just one theory about how to best understand it.  We live in a democracy, which means we should treat every theory equally. - Steven Colbert, I Am America (and So Can You!)

J-Dog Posts: 4402 Joined: Dec. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:09    Denyse is a effing laugh riot! http://post-darwinist.blogspot.com/ From her blog - moderation comments: To Mr. Anonymous: I'm not psychic, so if you won't tell me who you are, I can't guess and don't care. To Mr. Nude World (URL): If you can't be bothered telling site visitors why they should go on to your fave site next, why should I post your comment? They're all busy people, like you. To Mr. Rudesby International and Mr. Pottymouth: I also have a tendency to delete comments that are merely offensive. Go be offensive to someone who can smack you a good one upside the head. That may provide you with a needed incentive to stop and think about what you are trying to accomplish. To Mr. Righteous but Wrong: I don't publish comments that contain known or probable factual errors. There's already enough widely repeated misinformation out there, and if you don't have the time to do your homework, I don't either. To those who write to announce that at death I will either 1) disintegrate into nothingness or 2) go to Hell by a fast post, please pester someone else. I am a Catholic in communion with the Church and haven't the time for either village atheism or aimless Jesus-hollering My sides are just splitting. Yeah.  I can see her headlining at The Comedy Club now. She's about as funny as the Spanish Inquisition. -------------- Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10 Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08 UD is an Unnatural Douchemagnet. - richardthughes 7/11

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:11    Quote (carlsonjok @ June 15 2007,14:56) Quote (Arden Chatfield @ June 15 2007,14:48) Now, the larger question: is this a syndrome? Is this inevitable? Is there something about the religious dogmatism and extremely narrow thinking necessary to being a Creationist that destroys one's ability to actually be deliberately funny and witty to anyone without an identical set of ideas? Maybe so. Try and imagine Pat Robertson or some Iranian mullah actually making a witty remark. Hard to see, no? It's certainly not the case that religious people can't be funny: Jews practically invented modern American humor, and I've met Buddhist monks who had extremely robust senses of humor, and who told hilarious stories. But there seems to be something about fundamentalist Christianity and Islam that totally kills any trace of laugh-laugh, even if the person wants to be funny. Observations? I'll give you a topic: Creationist Humor is neither creative nor humorous.  Discuss. Sorry. Stream of consciousness moment. can't. I'm all Verklempt. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:13    I think intelligent people find incisive wit and satire to be very funny. since those who support ID typically are not incisive, and appear to have lost the vast majority of their wits, they simply don't have much left to work with. so.. we get a doll of Darwin who's head is being squeezed in a vise, or a fart joke of Judge Jones. no real imagination, no wit. They are the purveyors who consider "Jackass" to be high humor. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

Arden Chatfield Posts: 6657 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:14    Quote Denyse is a effing laugh riot! Ah, but remember, I clearly specified: deliberately funny. Can a creationist actually have an effective sense of humor? (We all know they can be regular laff riots when they're trying to act all grown-up like.) -------------- "Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

Arden Chatfield Posts: 6657 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:18    Quote we get a doll of Darwin who's head is being squeezed in a vise, Ah yes, thanks for the reminder. Same trend: jokes you'd expect from a 10-YO boy. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. -------------- "Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:19    Quote (Arden Chatfield @ June 15 2007,15:14) Quote Denyse is a effing laugh riot! Ah, but remember, I clearly specified: deliberately funny. Can a creationist actually have an effective sense of humor? (We all know they can be regular laff riots when they're trying to act all grown-up like.) I thought I just made my case on that point. no, they no longer, if they ever did, have the ability to be deliberately amusing in the sense that the vast majority of intelligent people would think such. I'm serious; there is simply a different psychology there that seems to prohibit them from getting why Monty Python is funny when doing satire, and most certainly being able to use satire themselves in a humorous fashion. I do even recall reading a study on this in my beginning psych course over 20 years ago. you might try googling up something like "the psychology of humor" and see.  I'll bet you'll run into something along the lines of what I am saying here. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

argystokes Posts: 766 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:21    I dunno, JAD calling DaveScot a homozygous pile of garbage still makes me chuckle. -------------- "Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?" -Calvin

J-Dog Posts: 4402 Joined: Dec. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:25    Quote (Arden Chatfield @ June 15 2007,15:14) Quote Denyse is a effing laugh riot! Ah, but remember, I clearly specified: deliberately funny. Can a creationist actually have an effective sense of humor? (We all know they can be regular laff riots when they're trying to act all grown-up like.) Simple answer?  NO Longer answer... this subject / discussion, might be worth a PhD to some enterprising young psychologist, because I do not recall now, or at any time in the past ever hearing / seeing an actual "funny" creao / IDist.  It's just not in them. Yes, I think you are on to something!  Maybe onsomething too, but that I guess is another story. Damn!  Very interesting!  Evo's / Scientist = funny.  IDers/Creos = NOT Funny.  But the fun starts in fitting in all those stodgy, unfunny professors I have known.  I know they weren't IDers or Creos, but they still weren't funny.  Not as un-funny as a Dembski, or a DaveScot, but still, not funny, and not someone to have a drink with.   The Grant Request for this study might even merit it's own show on Comedy Central.   Hmmm. -------------- Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10 Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08 UD is an Unnatural Douchemagnet. - richardthughes 7/11

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:31    Quote might be worth a PhD to some enterprising young psychologist I'm 99% sure this has already been done, and by different people looking at different angles of it.  I do recall reading snippets of this back in basic pych, so the studies on this must have been done quite a while back (probably 30 years or more) again, check the psych lit. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

J-Dog Posts: 4402 Joined: Dec. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:44    Quote (Ichthyic @ June 15 2007,15:31) Quote might be worth a PhD to some enterprising young psychologist I'm 99% sure this has already been done, and by different people looking at different angles of it.  I do recall reading snippets of this back in basic pych, so the studies on this must have been done quite a while back (probably 30 years or more) again, check the psych lit. Ichthyic - Yeah.  I'm turning up lots of papers: 1.  Holy Shit - These People are Effing Dumb - University of Michigan Press. 2.  No Humor - No brains - Dr. Michael Egnor 3.  Jesus Christ - give it a rest already - The Wit and Wisdom of Kent Hovind - Anthology collected by his cellmates. 4.  Hey Peter - I can see your house from up here! Christ On A Cross Collection - Vatican Library 5.  The Wit and Wisdom of IDers -(one page double-spaced paper) 5.  Knock Knock - Who's There - The funniest jokes of the Religious Right- (one page double-spaced paper) -------------- Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10 Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08 UD is an Unnatural Douchemagnet. - richardthughes 7/11

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,15:56    Quote 2.  No Humor - No brains - Dr. Michael Egnor you're kidding! glad I don't use irony meters anymore. oh wait, you are. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

Arden Chatfield Posts: 6657 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,16:01    Quote (argystokes @ June 15 2007,15:21) I dunno, JAD calling DaveScot a homozygous pile of garbage still makes me chuckle. Ah, but does Javison qualify as an actual 'creationist', as such? I maintain that his belief that 'God diddit, then died' puts him in a category all his own. -------------- "Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

hooligans Posts: 114 Joined: Jan. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,16:06    I can just see Dembski getting all steamed up over the likes of Coyne, Judge Jones, all those Behe haters, and  . . . well . . . just about anyone who doesn't bow to his Isaac Newton-like DR. DR. status. Hello!?! This guy just screams out "Napoleonic complex".     Dembski thinks to himself: Unlike Dembski, I use reliable sources to back up my points. According to  Conservapedia, a napoleonic complex leads to "overly aggressive tendencies by some to compensate for being short or small. It is not endemic of all short people, and is only relevent for a small number for whom lack of physical stature may lead to difficulties in accepting themselves." Clearly conservapedia is describing Dembski. Here the only difference is that rather than lacking in height, Dembski lacks intellect. Otherwise the resemblance is obvious . . . his overt aggressiveness, when in the safety of his heavily moderated blog(not in public forums like court though) is clearly a sign of one who fels a need to compensate for a small something (intellect in this case). Furthermore, he clearly has difficulty accepting himself. Thus the need to be the Isaac Newton of Information Theory, and get so puffed up about his staus as DR. DR. So while Coyne might be likened to Frankenstein, I think an appropriate image for Dembski would be either the Elmer Fudd imaged above, or the Napoleon Dynamite image here

Henry J Posts: 5787 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,16:07    Maybe humor uses some of the same brain circuitry that objective thinking uses, so when one suppresses that circuitry in order to prevent objective thinking, as a side effect it also suppresses the humor function as well? Henry

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 15 2007,16:10    Quote I maintain that his belief that 'God diddit, then died' puts him in a category rubber room all his own. Quote I use reliable sources to back up my points. According to  Conservapedia, see, irony and satire are funny. nice bit of artwork, too. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

Stephen Elliott Posts: 1776 Joined: Oct. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,02:39    Quote (Ichthyic @ June 15 2007,15:13) I think intelligent people find incisive wit and satire to be very funny. since those who support ID typically are not incisive, and appear to have lost the vast majority of their wits, they simply don't have much left to work with. so.. we get a doll of Darwin who's head is being squeezed in a vise, or a fart joke of Judge Jones. no real imagination, no wit. They are the purveyors who consider "Jackass" to be high humor. I think that you may be onto something. There does apear to be a difference between what is considered as funny here when compared to UD. Toilet humour seems common at UD while satire is popular here. On a different forum I once made a claim that what we find funny changes as we grow older. I (now) believe (after reading this) that it may be possible to calculate mental development by what we do and do-not consider humorous funny. Alternatively, it could be just a coincidence that many people here apreciate python etc. While most IDers consider Darwin dolls in a vice and fart jokes the apex of sophistication (in comedy). Hey, you could write a thesis on this and maybe be a Dr. Dr. yourself.

stevestory Posts: 13407 Joined: Oct. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,08:42    Quote (argystokes @ June 15 2007,16:21) I dunno, JAD calling DaveScot a homozygous pile of garbage still makes me chuckle. That is just a classic line.

Reciprocating Bill Posts: 4265 Joined: Oct. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,11:40    IMHO good humor, particularly good satire, packs measures of both pleasure and aggression - about which these folks are notably conflicted. As does eroticism, in perhaps different measures.  How erotic are these people? Case closed. -------------- Myth: Something that never was true, and always will be. "The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you." - David Foster Wallace "Here’s a clue. Snarky banalities are not a substitute for saying something intelligent. Write that down." - Barry Arrington

jujuquisp Posts: 129 Joined: Mar. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,12:57    I'm still trying to find one shred of humor in that "Brites" site that Dembski set up.  The articles are supposed to be Onion-like but they are dense and humorless.  I can't find evidence of satire, just lame attempts at mocking.  The Onion makes me chuckle (i've got a subscription).  The Brites site actually makes me gag a little bit supratentorially.  I actually feel a little uncomfortable reading it because the person writing the articles hasn't a grasp on what comedy is, yet I think he/she feels they are writing the funniest thing in the world.  Blech.  Comedy is a talent.  Thinking you have that talent when you don't is pathetic and annoying.

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,13:48    Quote Hey, you could write a thesis on this and maybe be a Dr. Dr. yourself. having gone through the process before, it gives one a sense for what has likely been done before, and while not impossible (see the kin selection in plants thread!), it seems highly improbable to me that someone wouldn't have done this before. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

SpaghettiSawUs Posts: 77 Joined: June 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,18:08    This tread puts me in mind of Lt. Hauk in Good Morning Vietnam: "Sir, in my heart, I know I'm funny." It does appear to be true that a certain mindset, particularly the Right Wing Authoritarian one, is incapable of very advanced or clever humour. I think in identifying the basis a good place to look is in the mind's capacity for abstraction. All good humour works because it relates to something familiar, and a good joke is a bizarre abstraction of a potentially real scenario. There's no question that the mental gymnastics and games played with logic and rationality take their toll on capacity for abstract thinking. That this would thus affect one's sense of humour is probably a given. Regards Spags -------------- On June 23, 2007, 01:06 PM AFDave wrote: "How can we dismiss their theories without first reading their work?"

Ichthyic Posts: 3325 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,18:56    Quote This tread puts me in mind of Lt. Hauk in Good Morning Vietnam: "Sir, in my heart, I know I'm funny." yes, indeed it does.  pretty good pictorial representation of the phenomenon. -------------- "And the sea will grant each man new hope..." -CC

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,19:38    Funy is Teh SINNNNNN!!!!!!!!!LOL -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

Freelurker Posts: 82 Joined: Oct. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 16 2007,23:54    Reminds me of this attempt at biting satire: [The Mutations performing] "Overwhelming Evidence" The weird part is that they thought it was somehow really clever. -------------- Invoking intelligent design in science is like invoking gremlins in engineering. [after Mark Isaak.] All models are wrong, some models are useful. - George E. P. Box

jujuquisp Posts: 129 Joined: Mar. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 17 2007,07:15    I can't believe that anyone thought that "Overwhelming Evidence" song was funny.  I felt extreme embarrassment for the women who were singing that song.  The lyrics were nowhere near witty or clever.

SpaghettiSawUs Posts: 77 Joined: June 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 17 2007,10:55    Please forgive the crosspost from here - it is very much on topic I promise. AFDave's attempt at humour:   Quote OK ... I'm in a good mood so here's a joke for you to sleep on. The old timers already know this one,so this is for the new timers (?) Why did the evolutionist go to the dentist? Because he had a truth-ache. [Dave inserts three *lol* emoticons here. No, really.] (Sorry ... I'll go to bed now) I rest my case :) -------------- On June 23, 2007, 01:06 PM AFDave wrote: "How can we dismiss their theories without first reading their work?"

clamboy Posts: 299 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 17 2007,12:13    Quote (SpaghettiSawUs @ June 17 2007,10:55) Please forgive the crosspost from here - it is very much on topic I promise. AFDave's attempt at humour:     Quote OK ... I'm in a good mood so here's a joke for you to sleep on. The old timers already know this one,so this is for the new timers (?) Why did the evolutionist go to the dentist? Because he had a truth-ache. [Dave inserts three *lol* emoticons here. No, really.] (Sorry ... I'll go to bed now) I rest my case :) Geez, afDave told that one here yonks ago! I replied with my own lame-ity: What time does afDave go to the dentist? Truth-hurty! -three "LAME!" emoticons-

SpaghettiSawUs Posts: 77 Joined: June 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 17 2007,12:21    Yeah, I noticed he got the same reply again, as well as a reminder that it was such an old joke. Did anyone remind him that it's not actually very funny?? Oh yeah... -------------- On June 23, 2007, 01:06 PM AFDave wrote: "How can we dismiss their theories without first reading their work?"

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