Fun and Logic

I was watching 2012, an "end of the world as we know it" disaster film, the other night, and it struck me as the perfect example of how two elements...logic and fun...can either join together or be totally at odds. I really enjoy a good everything-blowing-up-and-falling-down-and-people-running-around-in-total-panic/confusion movie as long as everything ends on a note of hope. 2012 was definitely fun, as long as I ignored the sound of logic banging at the door. It was a classic "popcorn"movie--just turn your mind off, your eyes on, and shovel it in with both fists.

Fun frequently requires "the willing suspension of disbelief," but, like a rubber band, it can only be stretched so far before it snaps. Each individual has his/her own tensile strength for belief--the point at which the band breaks, and I'm pretty lucky that mine will go quite a ways. I think that's largely due to the fact that I've never totally given up on being a child.

A child's imagination is almost totally disassociated from logic. Life is a fascinating game that's never been played before. As logic encroaches upon imagination and begins to take on the role of teacher, one's choice of games changes to meld both fun and logic. Chess, crossword and jigsaw puzzles, dominos, most card and board games involve varying degrees of logic. For many adults--me included--it is often because things are not logical that makes them so much fun.

Not that logic itself can't be fun, but I tend to find many logic games maddening, simply because I pride myself on being logical, and I still can't get them. Mathematics, for example is pure logic, yet any game or puzzle involving anything beyond the "If Billy has three apples..." level utterly eludes me.

The relationship between "fun" and "humor" is a most interesting one, and very difficult to explain...at least for me. They are certainly not mutually exclusive, logic and humor, like logic and fun--of which humor is of course a part--can often be at odds, simply because what makes things funny often lies in the flaunting of logic. If we are led to believe or expect one thing, and something totally unexpected happens it can be hysterically funny. There is a certain shock value in humor.

And one can have fun without humor being part of the equation. "Enjoyment" is one of the first words in the Thesaurus's definition of "fun." Star Trek's Mr. Spock isn't noted for his sense of humor, but it's obvious he enjoys what he's doing. I suspect the same is true of many of those we call "workaholics," those who work with their hands, and artists. They do what they do because they love doing it. To them, work is both fun and logical, if they can't really see themselves doing anything else and wouldn't particularly want to if they could. I don't consider writing to be work, even though I spend six hours or so a day at it, but I most certainly do consider it fun.

The capacity for both logic and fun are essential components of human existence. The degree to which we utilize them, and in what proportion, varies from person to person. One can, conceivably, go through life without fun, but it is impossible to function as a human being without logic. I know, I know; most politicians, evangelicals of all stripes, hate mongers and bigots appear to be notable exceptions. But whether they can truly qualify as being human is a question best left for another blog.

My unsolicited advice is to try to apply at least some level of logic to whatever you do. It needn't be deeply analytical, and it really isn't all that hard. Just always ask the question "does this really make any sense?" The brain should be more than just something stuffed in the space between the ears to keep the wind from blowing through. Thinking can really be fun. Wouldn't it be nice if more people tried it?

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