At root, it’s an absurd world we live in. And if you want to hone your intellect, you’ll gladly wrap your mind around all that absurdness:

In a series of new papers, Dr. Proulx and Steven J. Heine, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, argue that these findings are variations on the same process: maintaining meaning, or coherence. The brain evolved to predict, and it does so by identifying patterns.

When those patterns break down — as when a hiker stumbles across an easy chair sitting deep in the woods, as if dropped from the sky — the brain gropes for something, anything that makes sense. It may retreat to a familiar ritual, like checking equipment. But it may also turn its attention outward, the researchers argue, and notice, say, a pattern in animal tracks that was previously hidden. The urge to find a coherent pattern makes it more likely that the brain will find one.

And the discernment of that pattern ushers in new kinds of learning. The brain rejects the irrational in favor of rational pursuits.

Toward that end, I’ll now consider the mission of this blog to be the serving up of steady doses of nonsense. Your noggin will thank you.