After a mostly miserable childhood in the small Israeli village of Tel Aviv (his words), Ori Amir moved to the US, where he gained a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and launched a second career as a stand-up comedian.
Amir is now a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he researches what happens in our neural networks when we are trying to be funny.
His interest in this was triggered after realising there were around 20 studies examining brain activity when we are enjoying comedy, he says, but nothing about the creative process involved in being funny. Amir’s research also investigates attempts to use artificial intelligence to generate humour.
“I’m afraid that if I make any jokes about artificial intelligence, I will get in trouble in the future. Artificial intelligence would cancel me. So I’m refraining from making any such jokes,” he tells his audience.
Amir’s stand-up act also includes anecdotes about life as a PhD student. “It’s going to take seven years, the first five-and-a-half-years to work very hard on developing a silly accent,” he adds. “Then you do some original research and it all culminates in a dissertation defence in which you present your work in front of five important neuroscientists. And if you fail, they eat your brains.”
This is the third episode of Tales from the Synapse, a 12-part podcast series with a focus on brain science, produced in partnership with Nature Neuroscience and introduced by Jean Mary Zarate, a senior editor at the journal.
The series features brain scientists from all over the world who talk about their career journeys, collaborations and the societal impact of their research.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Culture clashes: Unpicking the power dynamics between research managers and academics
This alternative way to measure research impact made judges cry with joy
“Just get the admin to do it.” Why research managers are feeling misunderstood
A funder's guide to tackling setbacks and winning grants
Sexual harassment in science: tackling abusers, protecting targets, changing cultures
Bullying in academia: why it happens and how to stop it
Magical meeting: a collaboration to tackle child malnutrition in Bangladesh
How to deliver a safer research culture for LGBTQIA+ researchers
Trolled in science: “Hundreds of hateful comments in a single day”
Dodging snipers, fleeing war: displaced researchers share their stories
Science on a shoestring: the researchers paid $15 a month
Shielding science from politics: how Joe Biden’s research integrity drive is faring
Unlocking the mysteries of the brain’s neocortex
How to keep Ukraine’s research hopes alive
How trauma’s effects can pass from generation to generation
How deep brain stimulation is helping people with severe depression
Restoring the sense of smell to COVID-19 patients
Understanding the difference between the mind and the brain
The hospital conversation that set a young epilepsy patient on the neuroscience career path
How ice hockey helped me to explain how unborn babies’ brains are built
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Reaching your Goals
What It’s Like To Be...
The Ken Coleman Show
The Cardone Zone
How to Be Awesome at Your Job