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Is amusement at the misfortune of others... (pg. 3)
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| Lira |
Rather than thinking about what people should laugh about, we should focus on what people actually think is funny, regardless of the context.
As Moongoose said, sometimes people may joke about the holocaust. But, even these jokes about the holocaust have something in common: the unexpected.
Being empirical creatures, that build up systems of logic based on experience, we expect the world to behave regularly. Now, sometimes, that doesn't happen. For example, I sure didn't expect the guy in that video to get out of the car and do what he did. That's why I mentioned incongruence (sorry about citing Kierke - I was mistaken, it was Kant's idea). I agree with the quote that the greater and more unexpected (...) this incongruity is, the more violent will be [one']s laughter . I mean, the thought of doing that with a car was too absurd for me, and I bursted out laughing. This is why the thread about anal fisting was funny: why would anyone expect such a sharp increas of popularity in 2006?
Sure, there are other theories of humour, such as the superiority theory (which does have a point, since some people have trouble when they're laughed at), the relief theory (which also raises interesting points), and the play theory (which I know nothing about :p).
Here's an example of something unexpected and that MrJBJ might find funny, given the nature of this thread:
| quote: | A philosopher once had the following dream.
First Aristotle appeared, and the philosopher said to him, "Could you give me a fifteen-minute capsule sketch of your entire philosophy?" To the philosopher's surprise, Aristotle gave him an excellent exposition in which he compressed an enormous amount of material into a mere fifteen minutes. But then the philosopher raised a certain objection which Aristotle couldn't answer. Confounded, Aristotle disappeared.
Then Plato appeared. The same thing happened again, and the philosophers' objection to Plato was the same as his objection to Aristotle. Plato also couldn't answer it and disappeared.
Then all the famous philosophers of history appeared one-by-one and our philosopher refuted every one with the same objection.
After the last philosopher vanished, our philosopher said to himself, "I know I'm asleep and dreaming all this. Yet I've found a universal refutation for all philosophical systems! Tomorrow when I wake up, I will probably have forgotten it, and the world will really miss something!" With an iron effort, the philosopher forced himself to wake up, rush over to his desk, and write down his universal refutation. Then he jumped back into bed with a sigh of relief.
The next morning when he awoke, he went over to the desk to see what he had written. It was, "That's what you say." |
:p
In this case, one can say we're laughing at the fact that he's not as smart as he thought he was, which is a kind of misfortune. But upon a more careful analysis, you can see that it's much more than that. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Rather than thinking about what people should laugh about, we should focus on what people actually think is funny, regardless of the context.
As Moongoose said, sometimes people may joke about the holocaust. But, even these jokes about the holocaust have something in common: the unexpected.
Being empirical creatures, that build up systems of logic based on experience, we expect the world to behave regularly. Now, sometimes, that doesn't happen. For example, I sure didn't expect the guy in that video to get out of the car and do what he did. That's why I mentioned incongruence (sorry about citing Kierke - I was mistaken, it was Kant's idea). I agree with the quote that the greater and more unexpected (...) this incongruity is, the more violent will be [one']s laughter . I mean, the thought of doing that with a car was too absurd for me, and I bursted out laughing. This is why the thread about anal fisting was funny: why would anyone expect such a sharp increas of popularity in 2006?
Sure, there are other theories of humour, such as the superiority theory (which does have a point, since some people have trouble when they're laughed at), the relief theory (which also raises interesting points), and the play theory (which I know nothing about :p).
Here's an example of something unexpected and that MrJBJ might find funny, given the nature of this thread:
A philosopher once had the following dream.
First Aristotle appeared, and the philosopher said to him, "Could you give me a fifteen-minute capsule sketch of your entire philosophy?" To the philosopher's surprise, Aristotle gave him an excellent exposition in which he compressed an enormous amount of material into a mere fifteen minutes. But then the philosopher raised a certain objection which Aristotle couldn't answer. Confounded, Aristotle disappeared.
Then Plato appeared. The same thing happened again, and the philosophers' objection to Plato was the same as his objection to Aristotle. Plato also couldn't answer it and disappeared.
Then all the famous philosophers of history appeared one-by-one and our philosopher refuted every one with the same objection.
After the last philosopher vanished, our philosopher said to himself, "I know I'm asleep and dreaming all this. Yet I've found a universal refutation for all philosophical systems! Tomorrow when I wake up, I will probably have forgotten it, and the world will really miss something!" With an iron effort, the philosopher forced himself to wake up, rush over to his desk, and write down his universal refutation. Then he jumped back into bed with a sigh of relief.
The next morning when he awoke, he went over to the desk to see what he had written. It was, "That's what you say."
:p
In this case, one can say we're laughing at the fact that he's not as smart as he thought he was, which is a kind of misfortune. But upon a more careful analysis, you can see that it's much more than that. |
lira: taking the fun out of funny :( :p |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
lira: taking the fun out of funny :( :p |
Isn't it ironic that, when you talk about sex, you get horny; but when you talk about humour, you get bored? :D
Anyway, my girlfriend's just sent me a joke relevant to this thread. A Brazilian ppriest had the stupid idea of flying, carried by balloons, just a few kilometres away from the ocean. He didn't have permission to fly, he didn't know how to use his GPS and the mobile phone he brought along with him had autonomy for just 3 hours of conversation, even though he had planned to fly for 20 hours. Everyone told him it was dangerous, but he said he had God by his side. In the end, the obvious happened, he lost altitude and the wind dragged him into the sea. The authorities searched for him but found nothing. Now that you know the context, here's the joke:
Brazilian scientists are euphoric after the flying priest was reported missing. After so many attacks from Intelligent Designers and Quantum Mysticists, the score of the game is clear:
God 0 - 1 Newton and Darwin :D |
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| KiNeTiC ENeRgY |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
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lol, I love the raptor head. |
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| whiskers |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Isn't it ironic that, when you talk about sex, you get horny; but when you talk about humour, you get bored? :D
Anyway, my girlfriend's just sent me a joke relevant to this thread. A Brazilian ppriest had the stupid idea of flying, carried by balloons, just a few kilometres away from the ocean. He didn't have permission to fly, he didn't know how to use his GPS and the mobile phone he brought along with him had autonomy for just 3 hours of conversation, even though he had planned to fly for 20 hours. Everyone told him it was dangerous, but he said he had God by his side. In the end, the obvious happened, he lost altitude and the wind dragged him into the sea. The authorities searched for him but found nothing. Now that you know the context, here's the joke:
Brazilian scientists are euphoric after the flying priest was reported missing. After so many attacks from Intelligent Designers and Quantum Mysticists, the score of the game is clear:
God 0 - 1 Newton and Darwin :D |
yeah, i cant believe nobody posted about this in the COR. i laughed. so so hard. if there's ever a good argument against the existence of god!! :D cool way to die though. |
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| Dervish |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
cool way to die though. |
Has to be said though as the priest was sinking into the water he must have been thinking. "Bastard whole life dedicated to a false god, no shagging around no fun....plus the internet is gonna be full of people calling me a prize cunt!" |
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| ToF |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
yeah, i cant believe nobody posted about this in the COR. i laughed. so so hard. if there's ever a good argument against the existence of god!! :D cool way to die though. |
You are so wrong. You know what they say, God had better plans for him. :haha: |
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| Esiotrat |
| It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt......then it's hilarious. |
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| Pjotr G |
| don't rule out the subtle balance between TooFunnyToBeTrue and TooTrueToBeFunny |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
There seems to me a world of difference between what is actually humour and what is funny sometimes. I'd say that in the majority of our laughing at stereotypes, sitcoms, jokes, satire, etc. There is a strong inclination towards it being sparse much more than a learned response, much like fears, and at its best, a social contagion not dissimilar to sadness. Perhaps we teach [because we were taught] that laughter is a 'correct' response to the sort of detached empathy it takes to recognize relief in one's own safety at the ridiculous expense of someone whose fate has little bearing upon our own lives. Amusement is very much a coping mechanism in this sense - just as tears come easy to some, laughter comes like some uncontrollable wave to others - even if it is a grin suppresed for the appearance of respectful sympathy.
I remember seeing people jumping out of buildings on September 11th on the news and in school, it was 'funny' for all responsive purposes, to me at least. Others were crying because they were... scared? I don't pretend to understand people who cry easily, nor do I think there is any sense at laughing, but wow, was I relieved to be in my safe, white, suburban classroom while people in New York had to deal with the full brunt of America's mistakes!
Is this callous - is this cruel? Is derision at the most impending stimulus of mortality truly a spiteful, hateful, deplorable thing? all this introspection, I'ma just go back to 4chan and Ogrish.
All I am saying is there comes a point where knock-knock jokes are ear-splittingly dumb. Where anecdotes that end in even the most punny of racist remarks erode at the very spirit of humour and that all that can be further communicated through laughter is the insanity of living in a world where you're going to die laughing because others die dying and in shambles at their loss when they never really had anything but laughter but were too busy crying about how it wasn't enough because they were FILLING MY GOD DAMNED EARS WITH KNOCK-KNOCK JOKES WHILE I BEAT THEIR FACE IN WITH A HAMMER HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
But seriously, rape is funny and you suck for not believing in the power of laughing. |
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