Geometric Proof
I have long had a fascination for Things Greek. In college at Texas Tech we saw the plays, Media and Antigone then I read Oedipus Rex. It was quite the education. I had long been enamored of Ovid, Shakespeare and Hamlet and soon discovered the dark McBeth which tickled my fancy for an old appreciation of Alfred Hitchcock, Boris Karloff, and the macabre. So The Twilight Zone, The Night Gallery and years of The X-Files primed me for this latest quest with UT starting in May 2020 .
Add thirty-one years teaching Stand Up Comedy writing and performing with UT. (I was a freelance contributor to Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologues during the time Jay was guest host during Johnny Carson’s final season). The University of Texas Informal Classes and holding live comedy performances at The Laff Stop, The Funny Bone and The Dallas and Addison Improvs nightclubs. I will be holding a new set of courses through UT again.
My most recent study of Plato and Socrates began while developing a new course with Bill “Leatherface” Johnson of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. While at the same time I revisited Plato and The Allegory of The Cave. This fascinating Greek work led me to study plato and his mentor Socrates. Especially given that Bill and I have designed a new course, “P.E.P., The Perceptions Enhancement Project.” Based on the dramatic curve, and Bill’s study and certification as an NLP Practitioner.
For a comedy writer, exploring new manners of examining philosophical ideas opened wide my window of perception and in flew Socrates the philosophical genius and his “Geometric Proof.”
A geometric proof involves writing reasoned, logical explanations that use:
- Definitions: Statements of the precise meaning of a word, especially as found in a dictionary.
Wright: A constructive worker (used chiefly in combination): a wheelwright; a playwright.
2)Axioms: Self-evident truths or the basic facts that are accepted without any proof (for example, a straight line can be drawn between any two points.)
In mathematics: 1+1=2, 1–0=1.
“Discretion is the better part of valor.”
“Easy come easy go”
“The Right Arm Of The Law”
“First Things First.”
“Tie One On.”
“Shoot From The Hip.”
“The Kiss Of Death.”
“Draw up a Play.”
“A penny saved is. A penny earned.”
This particular example has the qualities of both an axion and a postulate.
3) Postulates: Statements that are assumed to be true without proof (for example, an angle has only one bisector). To claim or assume the existence or truth of, especially as a basis for reasoning or arguing. To assume without proof, or as self-evident; take for granted.
Postulate: Suggest or accept that a theory or idea is true as a starting point for reasoning or discussion: Astronomers postulate that the comet will reappear in 4000 years.
Also, common assumptions about logic or mathematics.
4) Previously proved theorems: E=mc2
The Irrationality of the square root.
Fundamental Theorem of Algebra
The Pythagoras Theorem
The impossibility of dissecting of a triangle
All used to arrive at a conclusion about a statement.
How does this relate to comedy? The stand-up is this age’s philosophical Plato. Examining questions looking for irony and absurdity to illustrate by exaggerations.
