Limits

I once did a mistake of declaring in a B-School interview that I had a great sense of humor. I was asked to crack a joke, and I froze. It happened again today. I didn't freeze, and managed to blabber something. And one of the interviewers burst out laughing, unusually loud, while the others had no clue what was going on. Don't know what the funny guy found funny in my joke, but there must have been something. I find it really hard to crack a joke when somebody asks me to. I find it hard to demonstrate any of my talents when asked to. I can do it when I like, but not on request.

I have conducted various kinds of experiments with people's sense of humor, and each one has been a great experience. It's really amazing how people behave at the very upper limit of their sense of humor, the point at which everything breaks down and they behave in strange and unexpected ways. It's like the Zero Kelvin - you never know how things would behave until you reach there. Teasing people is fun, even at the extreme limits. I feel proud to say that I was beaten once and was on the verge of being beaten on multiple occasions. Some started crying. Some embarrassed me in public. Once a strong guy got so pissed off that he lifted me and held me upside down for about 5 minutes, until I promised I'd never tease him again. People have tested my limits too. But we'll talk about my limits some other time ;-)

I think, not only humor, but for every personality trait, the best way to judge a person is to take him/her to the extreme limit. That's where you get the real picture of the personality. This reminds me of Stress Interviews, which are based on the same concept. So it seems I am not talking "globe", as they say in the IIMs :-)