Professor Daniel Gilbert reads his book "Stumbling on Happiness" and I often listen to him while driving. The whole book has to do with mental difficulties minds have dealing with the future. But he is witty and throws in clever and memorable comments that are irrelevant to his point but worth hearing.
Such acts of imagination allow you to reason about the things you are imagining and hence solve important problems in the real world, such as how to get a grapefruit into your lap when you really need one.
Gilbert, Daniel. Stumbling on Happiness (pp. 140-141). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
When I really need a grapefruit in my lap? Did he just say that?
My mind is like an agile Border Collie and it will zip off on a tangent if given an invitation. As I have mentioned, little side comments like that, words I suspect of being tailored for chuckles and mental popcorn, such comments grab my attention. I reach over and stop the audio while I ponder.
When I really need a grapefruit in my lap? I can't recall ever needing a grapefruit anywhere, much less, way less, in my lap. Is there something missing in my life? Am I grapefruit-lap deficit? Would I be more manly, more American, a better husband if I faced lap needs for grapefruit more openly? Have I been denying my grapefruit needs when I shouldn't? Would my lap be a better lap if I had a grapefruit in it more often?
See, this is the sort of interrogatory amble that sets my doggy mind off and running but only if I hear and understand those little side comments that might easily be missed. Dan Gilbert has three TED talks and he does this same thing in all of them. If I were his talk coach, I would urge him to slow down. Watch a professional comedian and see that he or she delivers a good line and then waits a beat or two for people to get and experience the joke. Too fast or too casual and some of the best lines get lost.
