Why do you find this funny again??

Originally posted by ColoradoJens
reply to post by gabby2011

 

You just hit the proverbial nail on the head...a while back I posted I did something similar as a five year old - and I LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKE...by doing something dumb (which ALL children do)...I believe, without knowing what this really means, but that incident, made me think twice about doing it again. And I felt bad -AND I started to defend the "picked on" kids...maybe I felt so bad I LEARNED something.

CJ

Very happy to read that you are admitting it was a MISTAKE ..and you learned from it.. far better than saying..hey..its no big deal.... and people who are bothered by such behavior are the ones with issues.

I thought it was funny. But to answer the question;

Laughter is a social function, the person kicking away the matress was doing it to gain acceptance from the group.

ALS

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL

Laughter is a social function, the person kicking away the matress was doing it to gain acceptance from the group.

Hmmm..what does that say about the person wanting acceptance ?..they are willing to trick and hurt someone for it?..and worse yet..what does it say about the "group" they are seeking acceptance from?

Seems odd to me ..that so many people put down the elite for their selfish actions....can rationalize laughing at this post.. and see it as only a way to gain acceptance. Pretty darn creepy if you have to stoop to these levels to gain acceptance.

reply to post by confreak



I think it would be funny if aliens came and decimated every life form on this planet just for a kick.
At least, there's some form of inherent humor in that scenario for ME...

Whether anything is "funny" or not is simply a matter of opinion.

I imagine that I laughed because at a glance (weighing up the scene) the belly-flopper hasn`t sustained any life threatening injuries (as a result of landing on grass).

Evolutionary psychologist speculate that laughter is an adaptive behaviour and that its distinctive staccato sound is a signal to denote a false alarm - someone has fallen etc. without harming themselves.

----------

Edit to add :

The neurology and evolution of humor, laughter, and smiling: the false alarm theory V. S. Ramachandran

Abstract

Laughter (and humor) involves the gradual build-up of expectation (a model) followed by a sudden twist or anomaly that entails a change in the model — but only as long as the new model is non-threatening - so that there is a deflation of expectation. The loud explosive sound is produced, we suggest, to inform conspecifics that there has been a ‘false alarm’, to which they need not orient. The same logic may underlie tickling (menacing approach followed by a light non-threatening contact). Thus tickling may serve as ‘play’, a rehearsal for adult laughter. And lastly, when one primate encounters another, he may have always begun with a threat gesture —to bare his canines — but upon recognizing the individual as kin he may stop the grimace halfway and ‘smile’. When the insular cortex is damaged, patients giggle in response to pain, presumably because they can still sense the pain ('danger') but the pain is no longer aversive (‘false alarm’), thereby fulfilling the two key requirements for laughter.

ScienceDirect


Interesting stuff

As morbid as it is, we do laugh at others' pain, especially if it doesn't involve death or dismemberment

reply to post by confreak

Dang you can actually kick a mattress away?

That is good question why do we laugh at slap stick humor, some times I cringe but with a giggle, I dunno i WILL HAVE TO READ THE POST.

SORRY CAPS
oops

Originally posted by DeReK DaRkLy
reply to post by confreak

 

I think it would be funny if aliens came and decimated every life form on this planet just for a kick.

At least, there's some form of inherent humor in that scenario for ME...

Whether anything is "funny" or not is simply a matter of opinion.

Intergalactic funniest home videos?

reply to post by UmbraSumus

I imagine that I laughed because at a glance (weighing up the scene) the belly-flopper hasn`t sustained any life threatening injuries (as a result of landing on grass).

How can you be so sure?... he landed on his hands fairly hard..he could have damaged some tendants in his wrists?..maybe he can't play football because of it..you really don't know that.

And if he didn't get injured....whos to say the next person won't be... (some kid seeing this could very well try and pull the same thing on cement)

It's funny, cause you didn't see it coming. I actually thought he was going to land on the mattress, and bounce off, or do some crazy flip. The last thing I would have expected, was to see a full mattress get pulled from under him, while he lands on the grass.

Originally posted by babybunnies
As morbid as it is, we do laugh at others' pain, especially if it doesn't involve death or dismemberment

Yes..some of us do laugh..at accidents.... not everyone laughs at every instance of intentionally caused pain.

Not all humans are alike..obviously..

There are some creeps out there who laugh at others pain....especially when it involves death and dismemberment.

I remember we used to watch AFV with our kids when they were little. One day my husband and I looked at each other..(when it was obvious the tape had been set up) ..and said wow..some people actually go out of there way to film their kids or other kids being hurt..so they can win money??

I realized after a time..that watching kids getting hurt.... wasn't really a healthy form of entertainment..and was only showing our kids that it is ok to laugh at people in pain.

Originally posted by gabby2011
reply to post by UmbraSumus

 

I imagine that I laughed because at a glance (weighing up the scene) the belly-flopper hasn`t sustained any life threatening injuries (as a result of landing on grass).

How can you be so sure?... he landed on his hands fairly hard..he could have damaged some tendants in his wrists?..maybe he can't play football because of it..you really don't know that.

And if he didn't get injured....whos to say the next person won't be... (some kid seeing this could very well try and pull the same thing on cement)

I was taking an evolutionary perspective on the origins of laughter as opposed to commenting on the `rights or wrongs` of an individuals behaviour.

If you reread my comment you will notice I said "life threatening injuries" ........ damaged tendons would not fall into such a category.

im sure all this has been said before but.....

Actual vocalized laughter = Social function which serves to signal that 'what just happened is okay, it is not a threat or a insult'

But that does not explain why something IS funny, concerning this specific video it could be because of a sudden feeling of superiority (i think this is called the superiority theory) another reason could be because an assumption you made is proved totally wrong (as someone above said, its a surprise !). If you look at all visual and written jokes they all involve a two step process - Assuming something and then realizing this assumption was wrong.

It's funny because something unexpected happens.That's how jokes work.

youtu.be...

reply to post by UmbraSumus

If you reread my comment you will notice I said "life threatening injuries" ........ damaged tendons would not fall into such a category.

First off..thank you for correcting my wrong usage of the word ( it should have said tendons)

I understand what you are trying to say about the origin of laughter.. but life altering seems to me a serious enough reason to not find it funny. Many "pranks" may not be life threatening..but they can indeed affect the quality of life...later on down the road. My example of the man with life long back injury..because of a prank is an example.

Are we supposed to say these pranks are ok..as long as nobody dies?

reply to post by gabby2011


If this kid gets hurt belly flopping in grass he will DIE playing football. Perhaps he would be better suited learning to do something that didn't incorporate using his body. Well, then again, people do get carpal tunnel sitting at a computer all day...perhaps keyboards should be banned?

Gabby, I've said the same thing since my first post. Without learning experiences, you simply can't learn. Tell the child the pot is hot and they will touch it still...but not the next time. There has to be a balance...to see you this upset at a boy belly flopping in grass - I mean, yeah, an 8 year old taking out the car? Yeah, that can kill you. Pouring gasoline on someone and lighting them on fire? Yeah, death. Shooting an apple of your buddies head? Death. Pushing a mattress on grass away from someone jumping on it...a silly kids prank. If you use the theory that a "prank" may hurt someone thus no pranks, then you have to apply the same logic to everything...no driving in cars - other people MAY crash into you...no walking in public, a car may fly onto the sidewalk and kill you...I mean, if you can't see the difference of EVERYDAY NORMAL ACTIVITY - yes, NORMAL -and putting someone in serious danger, well, I won't be able to change your mind. And lastly, you can only tell your children so much. They need real life experinces (including doing dumb things) to survive and grow. If indeed this boy was hurt (how possibly could he have been? Jumping on grass?) he should be given an award for the biggest wimp around. Maybe he'll toughen up a bit.

CJ

what about the crowds watching gladiators,

Geeee you humans are strange,

en.wikipedia.org...
www.gibbsmagazine.com...
OK so from recent experience, Monday I am in the emergency room, in excruciating pain with a gallbladder attack, the whole time I am laughing with my daughter and the nurses cracking jokes,

yup> like i always say everything in life boils down to some sort of survival mechanism.

Fear joy love hate, all connected

Regarding a theory of humor, it is a big topic. There is a full Wikipedia article (some might have found this already on this thread.) Another link, which I have read thoroughly:

www.tomveatch.com...

My own theory is similar to that presented in the link above, which is that laughter is produced to block strong unpleasant emotions: anger, fear, disgust, hatred, confusion. Laughter has highly similar physiological aspects to these strong emotions. (For example, it is hard to distinguish someone laughing violently and crying violently.)

The blocking mechanism usually occurs when you feel you are in a place of complete safety. Blocking can also occur because the wording of a joke or depiction of an image makes it seem especially unrealistic or improbable, or because there is some extraordinary justice in the punch line. In all cases, the laughter immediately cancels out or precludes the otherwise strong and unpleasant emotion.

The harder you automatically block the unpleasant emotion, the funnier it seems.

The other day, a prostitute approached me and told me she would do anything I wanted for $50 bucks.

I gave her $50 bucks and told her to go paint my house.

I think that the above joke, told by Chris Rock, is really funny. The anger, disappointment, shame, temptation, and all those other emotions (about another person trading sex for such little money, and the awkwardness of the whole situation) are blocked by realizing there is a certain weird justice and life lesson. The fact is, whenever a prostitute approaches me (which happens from time to time during life) I always feel acutely uncomfortable and a little disgusted with the world. That makes this particular joke funny to me.

A lot of words and ideas here. Sorry.