Humor

Brainpower Newsletter

This week I speculate a little on the relationship between a good sense of humor and a creative mind. Check out the new wordplay page as well.

Does a sense of humor make for a more powerful mind? Perhaps. There are certainly many creative and intelligent people who also like to have a good laugh. Consider the following two examples.

American physicist Richard Feynman was a joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, for his work on quantum electrodynamics. He is credited with the concept and early exploration of quantum computing. He also had a very well developed sense of humor.

Here is how he is described in Wikipedia: "As well as being an inspirational lecturer, bongo player, notorious practical joker, and decipherer of Maya hieroglyphs, Richard Feynman was regarded as an eccentric and a free spirit. He liked to pursue multiple seemingly independent paths, such as biology, art, percussion, and lock picking." An unusual character, to say the least.

Another example of the combination of a very creative mind with a sense of humor is found in Albert Einstein. You may have seen one of the more famous photos of him, in which he...

Continued here:
http://www.increasebrainpower.com/sense-of-humor.html

- There are more than two credit cards for every person in the United States.

- According to City Ordinance No. 352 in Pacific Grove, California, it is a misdemeanor to kill or threaten a butterfly.

- A byte, in computerese, means 8 bits. A nibble is 4 bits, so two nibbles make a byte.

For this wordplay puzzle, fill in the blank below with a word. That part is easy, but the second part of the challenge is to then use that word three times consecutively in a new sentence, with proper punctuation.

The problem was that we wanted to go to the beach, ___________ it took all day to get ready.

A Wordplay Solution

Here is one possibility (or a few):

I would have used "except," except "except" wasn't quite right, so I tried "but," but "but" wasn't right either, so I used "so," so "so" would be in this sentence three consecutive times as well, and then I finally decided on "and," and "and," as it turned out, was just the word I was looking for.

This little wordplay exercise raises the question of just how many times you can say a word consecutively in a sentence without violating the rules of English grammar. Three times seems to be...

Continued here:
http://www.increasebrainpower.com/wordplay.html

On a beautiful sunny day in Florida, a man freezes to death outside. How is this possible?

(Answer below)

Get outside and walk a little. When working at the computer for a long time, or writing, it can really help to get outside for a minute or two and breath deeply. Movement gets the blood going, breathing gets more oxygen into your system, and the change of environment can stimulate more creative thought. I find this even more helpful when the air outside is cool.

How about many useful and fascinating secrets? Go sign up for the e-course "Secret Information And How To Use It."
Details here... http://www.thesecretinformationsite.com

Challenge assumptions - this is one of the most powerful ways to generate new ideas.
The hardest part about challenging assumptions is identifying all the assumptions that we so easily and subtly make. Learn to do this, though, and you'll have some truly creative ideas and effect solutions.

Start with pen and paper. For an example of this process in action, we will assume the following scenario: You own a bicycle manufacturing company, and you want to create a new product to sell.

How do you get some new and really creative ideas to explore? Write down all your assumptions. These may include:

1. Bicycles need wheels.

2. People buy bicycles to get from here to there...

Continued here:
http://www.999ideas.com/challenge-assumptions.html

Until next time,

Riddle Answer: He climbed into the landing gear of a plane coming to Florida from Cuba, and the temperature at 30,000 feet was 40 degrees below freezing.

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