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The Science Behind Being Funny. This Is No Joke.
The Relief Theory
The perception of humor is directly related to the release of built up tension. We are set up through tension to get to a release point of humor. And that release has been shown to actually be good for our health.
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The Superiority Theory
It suggest that our humor is derived from the misfortune of others, which makes us feel superior.
That explains for example why a lot of us find it funny when people fall down.
The Incongruity Theory
We find humor when something happens that doesn't fit with what we expected to happen. It's about the unexpected.
The Kick of the Discovery Theory
Humor, just like the joy of always learning new things, works by leading us one way and then suddenly shifting our perceptions.
Shock and surprise are needed for that turn, but there must be a destination too.
The Benign Violations Theory
It says that humor comes from a few necessary conditions:
- There needs to be a norm violation (moral norm, a social norm, or a physical norm).
- There needs to be a safe context where the violation takes place. That gives us permission to laugh.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Humour in philosophy
- Henri Bergson, a Fresh philosopher of the late 19th century, was also an author of a famous essay that focused on laughter. Before Bergson, few philosophers had given laughter much t...
Humour and respect
Everyone who ever had to explain their own joke knows that comedy cannot survive analysis. Once you take humour apart, it loses its effect and dies in the process.
Henri Bergson published his essay on laughter in 1900. He believed that laughter should be studied as 'a living thing' and treated with 'the respect due to life.'
Conditions for laughter to thrive
Henri Bergson's general observations related to when laughter is most likely to appear and thrive:
- The comic is strictly human. When laughter is directed at non-humans, we may laugh, but only because we have detected some human attitude or expression.
- Laughter has no greater foe than emotion. Emotional states like pity, melancholy, rage, etc. make it difficult for us to find humour in the things we might otherwise have laughed at. But humour also appears to serve as a coping mechanism in the face of tragedy or misfortune.
- Laughter seems to require an echo. It is used in the context of social bonding.
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Humor during a crisis
For ancient Greek philosophers, humor was something that had the potential to undermine authority and the good order.
Today, in democratic societies, those in power are mocked and their p...
The power of laughter
- Humor, in a way, protects us from life's grim reality. We joke because if we didn't, we'd cry.
- Humor and laughing are also a social vocalization that includes some and excludes others. Jokes establish who is inside the group and who is not. We laugh with people to belong, and at others to exclude.
- In our current crises, humor is everywhere because fear is too. Laughter binds us together against a common enemy.
When to joke
Poking fun at the ills of the world is only funny if they are considered benign. No one is making memes about child abuse that may increase during periods of enforced domestic isolation.
Observations about people's behavior can be funny if they poke fun at a social norm in a relatively inoffensive way, such as hoarding toilet paper.
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Defense Mechanisms
Our defense mechanisms really kick into high gear during situations where we feel threatened. That doesn’t necessarily mean physically threatened, but also in high-stress environments where ...
Avoidance
Mechanism motto: I’m going to stay as far away from that stressful thing as possible.
The problem with avoidance: Things don’t go away just because you ignore them. That assignment will still need to get done. That conflict with that co-worker will need to be resolved eventually.
Denial
Mechanism motto: There’s no way that’s going to happen.
The problem with denial: Denial is more than just avoiding a potentially threatening thought or circumstance—it involves vehemently denying the fact that it even exists. It blinds you with unrealistic optimism.
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