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The study seems to say that whether a person uses humor (and what kind) depends on their place in the social hierarchy. But that is a far cry from saying that t
by miloshh 17y ago
The study seems to say that whether a person uses humor (and what kind) depends on their place in the social hierarchy. But that is a far cry from saying that the purpose of humor is to define the hierarchy.
Similarly, the type of food people eat reflects their social standing, but the purpose of food clearly isn't to define the social hierarchy.
- ankeshk 17y ago>but the purpose of food clearly isn't to define the social hierarchy. Actually food is used to define social hierarchy in many groups and societies - mainly the order in which it is eaten. The head of the family eats first and gets the largest piece of the chicken.
- nreece 17y agoIn many groups, the head of the family eats last and gets the smallest piece of the chicken. P.S. I'm using humour for self-defence.
- seanstickle 17y agoI think I remember that Leeeeeroy Jenkins was not the leader of the group, but he was the only one to have chicken.
- alextp 17y ago> Actually food is used to define social hierarchy in many groups and societies - mainly the order in which it is eaten. The head of the family eats first and gets the largest piece of the chicken. So you're saying that the hierarchy would not exist except for the food? The OP's post said that humor, like food, _reflects_ an existing hierarchy, and, as far as I can see, this dinner table hierarchy would exist regardless of the food.
- joe_the_user 17y agoThe telegraphs summary seems like your standard effort to simplify a complex signaling action into a simpler action. Real research, on things like game theory, actually has shown how a single signal can have multiple functions that vary depending on the context. This "research" is clearly not aware of these modern advances... Uh, and the funniest thing is that the only article in the "Journal Of Pragmatics" that I could find said just the opposite: "Humor serves a wide range of functions at work, one of which is to foster collegiality. An analysis of interactions in New Zealand workplaces showed that one of the most important functions of humor was the construction and maintenance of good relations with fellow workers. " ( http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VCW-4GPW3GR-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=994621965&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=6c962b91e5e20578206bdb0b596e2e5e http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi... )
- GavinB 17y agoWhen integrating dogs into a new group, trainers often intentionally create a specific hierarchy. This serves to keep the dogs from creating it themselves via fighting, and can allow for one dog to be a leader, for example if you need them to cooperate in pulling a sled. One of the key ways of creating the hierarchy is to feed the alpha dog first, and only feed the other dogs when the alpha dog is done. This is of course not the only way to create a hierarchy, and as you point out one would exist even if food was so abundant that it wasn't an issue.
- ankeshk 17y agoThe hierarchy would exist - yes. But the order in which food is eaten reinforces the hierarchy - no?
- alanthonyc 17y agoNo. The order in which the food is eaten is simply a reflection of the hierarchy. One eats first because one is the king. One does not become the king by eating first.
- nollidge 17y agoIn my experience, the head of the family feeds the kids first, eats a salad and a breadstick, then eats a full meal off of what's left on the kids' plates.