As a Professor of Behavioral Science, I often enjoy saying silly things to my classes.  Interspersed in my lectures, I  occasionally make nonsensical statements partly to see if students are listening, partly to amuse myself and because it’s fun.  For example, during a lecture on child development, I said that “research has shown that if your parents don’t have children, chances are  you won’t either”. Or in a lecture on the etiology of mental illness I said: “Mental illness is inherited—You get it from your children”.  After saying these silly things, I look around the room  and invariably I see some kids are taking notes. “What are you writing this down for!” I shout with a laugh. My favorite is what I said during a lecture on Freud’s 5 psychosexual stages.  When I came to The Oedipal Stage, I said, in a serious tone:” Oedipus was the original mother -@#$%*&……. Have you read about it?  It was in all the papers.” Some students continue to write it down, others look up at me as if to say:”Whaaa?”