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vrover · 10-13-2004, 08:13 PM

What makes people laugh? One theory is that people laugh to relieve anxiety; when we are very stressed, making noise and breathing quickly can help us to feel better, although that sounds weird >_>.
Robert Heinlein suggests in his classic "Stranger in a Strange Land" that we only laugh when we see something is wrong. I'm inclined to believe this, not only because Robert Heinlein is an excellent author, but because any joke, any funny incident you might think of is, basically, wrong. What I mean by wrong is not fitting with what we are used to: we laugh at a grandmother kicking a baby into the air, because that's not what grandmas do. We laugh at a pun, because it means something that it isn't.

Or perhaps we laugh because we feel appreciation for the maker of the joke, whether an amusing pun or a comical accident. We laugh as a sort of applause. Or maybe we laugh just to show that we understand we should laugh- if we "get" a complex joke, we laugh to show ourselves that we're clever.

What do you think? Oh, and sorry if I ruined all future jokes for you.

10-13-2004, 08:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
vrover Upright	Where does the funny come from? What makes people laugh? One theory is that people laugh to relieve anxiety; when we are very stressed, making noise and breathing quickly can help us to feel better, although that sounds weird >_>. Robert Heinlein suggests in his classic "Stranger in a Strange Land" that we only laugh when we see something is wrong. I'm inclined to believe this, not only because Robert Heinlein is an excellent author, but because any joke, any funny incident you might think of is, basically, wrong. What I mean by wrong is not fitting with what we are used to: we laugh at a grandmother kicking a baby into the air, because that's not what grandmas do. We laugh at a pun, because it means something that it isn't. Or perhaps we laugh because we feel appreciation for the maker of the joke, whether an amusing pun or a comical accident. We laugh as a sort of applause. Or maybe we laugh just to show that we understand we should laugh- if we "get" a complex joke, we laugh to show ourselves that we're clever. What do you think? Oh, and sorry if I ruined all future jokes for you. __________________ "Jam!" said the parrot encouragingly.