Professor at Large: The Cornell Years by John Cleese
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"[...] a danger that has been developing in our society for several years. This danger is based on three separate wrong beliefs. The first is the belief that being decisive means taking decisions quickly. The second is the belief that faster is always better. The third is the belief that we should think of our minds as computers."

The quote above comes from the first page of Professor at Large. The Cornell Years (2018) by John Cleese, one of the six members of the legendary Monty Python troupe, the funniest and most intelligent comedy team that has ever graced this Earth. The original BBC show ran from 1969 to 1974; the team also produced several famous motion picture movies, such as Monty Python's the Meaning of Life, Life of Brian, or Monty Python and The Holy Grail. John Cleese, who has frequently been called the "funniest Python", is the author of many celebrated sketches. He is also the writer (along with his then wife, Connie Booth) and the performer in another hilarious TV show, Fawlty Towers.

This is not a comedy book nor a book about comedy. It is quite a serious collection of writings that deal with sociology, psychology, religion, and art in general. In the Introduction, Stephen J Ceci, an eminent psychologist from Cornell University, explains the circumstances of nominating John Cleese as a Professor-At-Large. The book makes it evident how inspired the choice was.

Professor at Large is composed of several separate pieces: Mr. Cleese's lectures, seminars, and interviews. I will highlight a few selected pieces that I have found outstanding in this absorbing collection. Most readers will probably be interested in two chapters that refer to Monty Python's popular movie Life of Brian, which had been denounced by some as blasphemous, sacrilegious, or profane. Mr. Cleese explains

"Life of Brian was not an attack against religion. Our intention was to make fun of some of the ways some people practice what they claim is religion."

The chapter Sermon at Sage Chapel unequivocally confirms this point. Mr. Cleese writes about religion very seriously yet, naturally, he would not be himself without throwing in some hilarious passages like

"I don't think this [making people feel guilt] works psychologically because if Dick Cheney were scourged for hours and then crucified, I would genuinely feel sorry for him ... eventually."

I find the chapter The Human Face fascinating as it deals with topic, which I am currently working on with my undergraduate student - image recognition technology. While we are focusing on computer algorithms Mr. Cleese - whose objects to be recognized are human faces - writes about related social issues, and about human perceptions of beauty. For instance, he mentions studies that have shown that fictitious faces, created by averaging many real faces, seem to be more attractive to people than the actual faces, likely because of eliminating natural asymmetries.

I love the hilarious passage (I mean the writing is hilarious - the subject matter is grim and depressing) about a fundamentalist novel that envisions the final battle between Good and Evil, where the evil is embodied by the forces of globalism, and the evil army - in the service of Lucifer - is commanded by the Secretary General of the United Nations. Fortunately, the forces of Good triumph and the flesh of globalist scoundrels dissolves on their bones and "their tongues dissolve[d] in their mouths."

Strongly recommended read!

Four stars.


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