Friday, December 9, 2011

Moore's Law of Humor


The idea of a supercomputer was proposed in the early 80s by Paul Benioff, Richard Feynman, David Deutsch, and others. At the time, quantum computers didn't exist. They were a wholly abstract concept. Which is a nice way of saying, nobody had a clue how to build them. 

Advancements in technology is a phrase that is synonymous with "have a nice day" because the phrase essentially acknowledges another's existence. If you're alive, we want you to have a nice day, just as we ourselves hope to have a nice day. If you're alive, you know that we're living in an age when our technological prowess has already surpassed our understandings as to how it will effect us. Without this integral piece of the puzzle, we are flying solo, drunk, and in the dark because we haven't a clue as to how to protect ourselves from ourselves. 

Over the last 50 years, the power of computers has doubled every year and a half. This explosion of computer power is known as Moore's Law. Moore's law, named after Gordon Moore, noted the exponential advance in the power of computing in the 60s. "Moore's law isn't a law of nature, it's a law of human ingenuity." Seth Lloyd, Programming the Universe. 







There seems to be an equally exponential advance in the search for positive humor. While I have not yet gathered enough data to support this hunch, I am observing on smaller scale, a similar interest in positive psychology or positive humor. People are actively searching for things on the internet that provoke laughter and provide amusement. 

It's a playful amusement that seems to be driving humor searches. Cheerful views on adversity that allow us to cope and sustain higher levels of happiness, longer, and the ability to make others smile and laugh (share) seems to be on the rise. 

The ability to cope (adapt) during difficult times is one of our defining characteristics as a species. It's this character strength that our societal and cultural milieu depend upon. In this respect, humor does effectively increase our sense of happiness and resilience. 

Our ability to cope is something that can be quantified exponentially. This echoes our search for positive humor - a key component of the evolutionary process. It can be seen in the popular images we encounter when we Google the word "life." 


























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