This Story is Sooooo Interesting

Australian researchers have discovered that an inability to understand sarcasm is an effective warning sign of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the second most common form of dementia, in people under 65. FTD affects a person's ability to infer meaning non-literally. Consequently, it's impossible for a patient with FTD to pick up on his caregiver's mood without being told directly, and these patients can come across as unempathetic. Since understanding sarcasm requires a person to pick up on an inferred meaning that's the opposite of the literal meaning of the words being said, FTD patients can't pick up on it. Since most humor depends on double meanings and abstract thinking, people with FTD can't detect that either. In short, anyone who watches and enjoys MADtv most likley has FTD. More details here.