Memories of Childhood: Aesop’s Fables are as Relevant Today as They Were 2,600 Years Ago

a post by Aleksa Vučković for the Ancient Origins blog


Aesop’s fables used animals as the characters in the story. ( Archivist / Adobe Stock)

The Frog and the Mouse, The Fox and the Stork, The Boy Who Cried Wolf – these, and many other wonderful fables, were a big part of childhood for many of us. But now that childhood is gone, did we stop to think about the man who wrote them and the deeper, important messages that they convey?

Well, here at Ancient Origins we always remember to touch up on history’s richest subjects and today we are uncovering the centuries of storytelling and the mysterious identity of the figure who wrote it all – Aesop.

Educational, witty, and inspirational, these short fables always had a ‘moral of the story’ – important small lessons that can be a big part of growing up. But we never realized that even in the 20th century, we were listening to the same tales as children from Classical Antiquity. And that is exactly what makes these fables so important – they are immortal.

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Hazel’s comment
I would normally put posts from Ancient Origins into the “10 for Today” trivia posts that I create at weekends but I got really involved with this one and did not want you to miss it!
Take care – even the ads look interesting!

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The Comedy of Reflexive Modernity: Reason, Religion and the Ambivalence of Humour

an article by Simon Speck (University of Derby, UK) published in Cultural Sociology Volume 13 Issue 2 (June 2019)

Abstract

This article utilizes Ulrich Beck’s concept of ‘reflexive modernity’ to account for the ambivalent view of humour in the public sphere: its celebration as a form of criticism of irrationality and injustice and its censure as a vehicle for the denigration of subordinate or marginal groups and identities.

The article argues that the power and ambivalence of humour in contemporary culture can be understood with reference to the two key features of reflexive modernization: the demand for the discursive justification of all claims to cognitive and normative authority and the obligation to respect the equal rights of all individuals.

Drawing on Beck’s distinction between a ‘first’ and ‘second’ modernity, the article uses the example of the Danish ‘Muhammed Cartoons’ to show that critical-emancipatory joking cannot simply lay claim to an ‘Enlightenment’ view of secular-scientistic reason in conflict with an atavistic and backward ‘religion’ due to the transformation of reason by reflexive scientization and the transformation of religion resulting from the effects of globalization and cultural cosmopolitization.

The article draws on accounts of the comic practice of Muslim comedians and a consideration of the British TV sit-com Rev to demonstrate the possibility of a ‘religious’ joking that is thereby eminently ‘modern’ whilst respecting the values of human universality and individual dignity.

The article concludes by reiterating the centrality of Beck’s theory for the understanding of the enduring power of comic representation to constitute a cultural reflexivization endemic in contemporary society and argues for the relevance of ‘reflexive modernity’ to cultural sociology.

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Why humor is an essential life skill

a post by Matt Davis for the Big Think blog

From your health to leadership, a good sense of humor can improve nearly every aspect of life.

• Studies have shown that a sense of humor can improve your mental and physical health, boost your attractiveness, and improve your leadership skills.
• There are a variety of theories and styles of humor, each of which can improve your understanding of the subject.
• Humor may be a critical life skill, but can it be taught?

Mark Twain said that "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing after all. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations, and resentments flit away, and a sunny spirit takes their place." He's certainly not wrong. Humor may very well be the great thing. It touches upon nearly every facet of life—90% of men and 81% of women report that a sense of humor is the most important quality in a partner, it's a crucial quality for leaders, and it's even been shown to improve cancer treatments. There's no doubt that humor is a life skill that everybody needs. But how do we define humor, and can it be taught?

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Can Humor Alter Your Brain Chemistry?

a post by Nichole Force for the World of Psychology blog



Do you know why everyone isn’t in a mental hospital? Because there isn’t enough room. Philosophers have long observed a dearth of happiness among humanity. Henry David Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” John Stuart Mill observed, “Unquestionably, it is possible to do without happiness; it is done involuntarily by nineteen-twentieths of mankind.”

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An Appraisal of the Utility of a Chocolate Teapot

Thank you, thank you, thank you -- both to Phil Bradley for finding this "article" in the first place and to the "researchers" at PLOKTA online for publishing it (in May 2001) -- I haven't laughed so much in a very long time.

How useful IS a chocolate teapot? This paper explains all.....