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This is one of the most beautiful ideas to have ever entered my awareness. Laughter is hard to beat in terms of sheer beauty--the more of it in the universe, t
by bckr 5y ago
This is one of the most beautiful ideas to have ever entered my awareness.
Laughter is hard to beat in terms of sheer beauty--the more of it in the universe, the better. And on same planet what's more!
- fastball 5y agoNot to be nitpicky but I would say there are definitely situations where laughter is not a positive (edit: or beautiful) thing – laughing at someone else's misfortune, laughing in pain, etc.
- lostlogin 5y agoCompletely agree. However some of the most painful things I’ve done have been objectively hilarious. I wish I’d seen me drop a beehive.
- nomilk 5y agoFrom Paul Graham's 'Taste for Makers' essay: > humor is related to strength. To have a sense of humor is to be strong: to keep one's sense of humor is to shrug off misfortunes, and to lose one's sense of humor is to be wounded by them.
- bckr 5y agoAbsolutely. Nevertheless, and to nitpick, "beauty" and "positivity" are not isomorphic.
- fastball 5y agoSure, but I wouldn't call laughing as the world burns "beautiful" either – more "psychotic".
- bckr 5y agosee baskethead's comment nearby
- jcims 5y agoI just have to say that i have had a word stuck on the tip of my tongue for an embarrassingly long time, maybe six months now. I’ve had occasion to use it several times recently on a project but it was just stuck wherever words get lost. I’m cruising HN in a post completely unrelated to what I’m doing and there it is, in living color: isomorphic. I could feel the tension release in my brain as it sunk in. Thank you!
- narag 5y agoNow you can use it in all kind of improper situations and laugh out loud isomorphically.
- jcims 5y agoIt's totally getting abused.
- hetspookjee 5y agoNow I’m looking for the word for the phenomenon that you’ve described and we all can relate too!
- amelius 5y agoBut rats and cows don't know that.
- timeon 5y agoHow do you know?
- baskethead 5y agoTragedy and comedy are the basis of all theater.
- bouvin 5y ago“Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” Mel Brooks [1] [1] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/21470-tragedy-is-when-i-cut-my-finger-comedy-is-when https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/21470-tragedy-is-when-i-cut...
- fastball 5y agoBut not all theater is meant to make you laugh?
- trollied 5y agoIndeed. I have a nervous laugh that sneaks out in less than ideal situations :(
- peterburkimsher 5y agoLaughter is remarkable because, like clapping, it's contagious, and it shares joy and happiness with a whole community. In the process of laughing together, our bodies move in time, which synchronises our muscle movements, which synchronises our heartbeats. Yes, laughter is very powerful, and is a wonderful force for good in the universe :)
- uhtred 5y agoI find it sad that not many people seem to laugh genuinely. So many people do the fake laughter, wiping away imaginary tears, at things which just aren't funny but which they seem to think they should appear to find really funny in a group.
- the_af 5y agoI've read, but forgot where, that grinning -- not exactly laughter, but a related act -- is also related to aggression or has its roots in it. It's hard to deny exposed teeth in a wide green -- think chimpanzee -- look at least slightly threatening.
- bckr 5y agoThink about this--as omnivores, we are happy when fed by flesh--Feasting amidst laughter--joy amidst butchery. Can we transcend this--sublimate laughter into a realm of undeathful life? Should we? Are vegans and transhumans idealogical bedfellows? I love chickens--as pets and as dinner.