2014-06-24
Explanation
The Joke
A person challenges scientists by saying, "You scientists think you're so great! But can you draw a beautiful rose? Sing a sublime melody? Tell a joke that makes the world smile? Dance the dance of love?" They then ask, "Can you do any of that stuff?" A scientist responds, "Literary theory is a type of performance art!"
The Humor
The comic plays on the common anti-intellectual argument that science, while useful, cannot capture the beauty and meaning of human experience the way art can. The challenger lists various artistic and emotional achievements (drawing, singing, joking, dancing) as things scientists supposedly cannot do. But the punchline is a non sequitur from the scientist, who deflects by declaring that "literary theory is a type of performance art." This response does not actually address the challenge at all — instead, it takes a shot at literary theory by implying it is not serious scholarship but merely a form of theatrical performance. The joke works on multiple levels: it dodges the original question entirely, it insults a different academic discipline (the humanities), and it suggests that scientists are better at witty put-downs than at the romantic artistic activities being demanded of them.