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Sometimes Missing in Mathematics classrooms is mathematical humor, which might alleviate the tension that many students experience. Also needed are opportunities for mathematical insight, through which students might sense the pleasure of doing mathematics. Humor and insight have many similarities. Both are creative acts. Both emerge from our predisposition to explore and take pleasure in novel ways of seeing and understanding our world. We are drawn to apparent dissonance, to seek to understand complexity, and to make ourselves more complex; these elements often produce positive feelings and all can be a part of both humor and insight.
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Gadanidis et al. (2005) studied this question.
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