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Something I agree with. First, The Superiority Theory of Humor, we have the phrase "make fun of" which is when we insult another person or thing and causes laug

Something I agree with. First, The Superiority Theory of Humor, we have the phrase "make fun of" which is when we insult another person or thing and causes laughter, usually the target of making fun is an out group. One devise of making fun is self deprecating humor. Moreover some comedians like Jeff Foxworthy tell stores that the audience can relate to which sets the audience in the in group. Second, The Relief Theory of Humor, we laugh when we are uncomfortable and anxious. Sometimes this mental response manifests in the worst places, for example, Judge Judy scolding a defendant who is laughing while in an anxious predicament. With comedians they can illicit this by making shocking statements. There is a fine line between uncomfortable to the point of laughing and passed the line to the point of out right disgusted (do not go to Comedy Mothership in Austin) where nothing in the state of disgust is funny. As for The Incongruity Theory of Humor, it might be the other side of the same coin as the first. If making other people in the out group very stupid is funny so is making the audience and one self, the in group, very smart funny.

motohagiography 3y ago
Laughter is an involuntary physiological response, so whatever is funny has to trigger that. The ideas in the article about superiority and related sentiments aren't satisfying to me tho. When you look at humor that uses disgust or discomfort/awkwardness, that underlying, necessarily involuntary aspect becomes more obvious. It explains why the failure mode of funny is often "asshole," as well, where you've made a play for someones involuntary responses and failed. To be funny, you have to prevail. I am what I would call semi-pro level funny, where I can make pretty much anyone crack up in almost any situation, but there are people I've offended who will never laugh at anything I say again because they've been hurt by it and don't trust my words or intentions anymore. This trust or feeling of safety is another necessary ingredient. The expectations theory of humour has part of it, but mainly where when you are funny, you are taking peoples expectations on a ride. If you've crashed the bus before, they're not going to trust you to drive it again. Comedians at the top of their art are storytellers, and what a friend calls stand-up philosophers, where at that level, punchlines are just satisfying closure on a baroque network of opened loops. You can compose stories like music, where you build tension and introduce themes and motifs, cresendo and decrecendo, etc. I think we're just at the beginning of understanding what funny is, and I'd suspect we're less than 18 months away from LLMs creating Python's, The Funniest Joke in the world.

motohagiography 3y ago

Laughter is an involuntary physiological response, so whatever is funny has to trigger that. The ideas in the article about superiority and related sentiments aren't satisfying to me tho. When you look at humor that uses disgust or discomfort/awkwardness, that underlying, necessarily involuntary aspect becomes more obvious. It explains why the failure mode of funny is often "asshole," as well, where you've made a play for someones involuntary responses and failed. To be funny, you have to prevail. I am what I would call semi-pro level funny, where I can make pretty much anyone crack up in almost any situation, but there are people I've offended who will never laugh at anything I say again because they've been hurt by it and don't trust my words or intentions anymore. This trust or feeling of safety is another necessary ingredient. The expectations theory of humour has part of it, but mainly where when you are funny, you are taking peoples expectations on a ride. If you've crashed the bus before, they're not going to trust you to drive it again. Comedians at the top of their art are storytellers, and what a friend calls stand-up philosophers, where at that level, punchlines are just satisfying closure on a baroque network of opened loops. You can compose stories like music, where you build tension and introduce themes and motifs, cresendo and decrecendo, etc. I think we're just at the beginning of understanding what funny is, and I'd suspect we're less than 18 months away from LLMs creating Python's, The Funniest Joke in the world.