Academic Humor for Real

Academic humor is usually an oxymoronic term but every now and then you find an exception to the rule. Here’s one from Georgetown professor George Viksnins, delivered at a Fund for American Studies conference:

“Apparently, Einstein went to heaven and learned there was a housing shortage. Saint Peter informed him that he would have to share a condominium with three other people. And Einstein said, ‘No, no. Wait a second. I want to interview these people before I commit to spend infinity with them’

“So, Einstein asked the first one, ‘What is your IQ?’And he said, ‘145.’ So, Einstein said, ‘Well, that’s fine. I’d be delighted to be one of your roommates. We can discuss nuclear physics, we can discuss relativity theory and so on.’ He asked the second one, ‘What is your IQ?’ The second said, ‘Well, it’s 120.’ And Einstein thought about it for awhile, then said, ‘Well, we can talk about literature. You probably know some foreign languages, you know some foreign literature, so we can discuss that.’ Then he asked the final one, ‘What is your IQ?’ and the final one said, ’85.’ Einstein though about this for a long time and said, ‘How did the market do today?’”

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail contact@academia.org