Caution: Prankster Lurking About
Posted: February 7, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: exception to the rule, placido domingo, practical jokes Leave a comment »But enough joking. I am singing. This is all my life. —Placido Domingo
There is an annoying new habit that has crept into this house. Every time one of us gets up from the computer, Noah goes running into our seats to take it. If you get up to go to the bathroom, he is in the chair, opening up files from YouTube or his Minecraft preoccupations.
There is one exception to the rule though: when I am working on design projects, he knows he has to stay off. Yesterday was one such instance. I made a point of it as I got up to go to the bathroom. This is what I found when I got back.
This is the monster I have created.
After poking around Google, I found this New York Times article.
Psychologists have studied pranks for years, often in the context of harassment, bullying and all manner of malicious exclusion and prejudice.
Yet practical jokes are far more commonly an effort to bring a person into a group, anthropologists have found — an integral part of rituals around the world intended to temper success with humility. And recent research suggests that the experience of being duped can stir self-reflection in a way few other experiences can, functioning as a check on arrogance or obliviousness.
