Humor Quote by John Pollack
““As the late neurologist Max Levin theorized: "If play were not pleasurable, kittens would never chase each other's tails, and so would lack practice in the motor skills needed for survival. If there were no pleasure in the appreciation of the absurd, if there were no fun in playing with ideas, putting them together in various combinations and seeing what makes sense or nonsense -- in brief, if there were not such a thing as humor -- children would lack practice in the art of thinking, the most complex and most powerful survival tool of all.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Book of Joy, 2016
Play provides essential practice for creative thinking and survival by making us engage with absurdity and humor.
In simple terms: Play trains thinking skills.
Key Takeaway
Encourage playful exploration.
Themes
creativity
learning
survival
humor
playfulness
Mood
joyful
inquisitive
Type
inspirational
philosophical
When to use this quote
- education
- innovation
- child development
- problem solving
Key Concepts
cognitive development
neuroscience
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- How does play enhance problem solving?
- What role does humor play in learning?
A Different Perspective
Humor may not be universally valued.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
