
Humour is a far more complex process than primeval pleasures like sex or food - fogus
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527451.400-the-comedy-circuit-when-your-brain-gets-the-joke.html?full=true&print=true
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btilly
The article points out that people used to think that nonsense jokes were more
sophisticated and philosophical than classic, resolvable humor, while the
research being reported on indicates that the opposite is true. Which leads me
to wonder who used to think that. Because it is obvious to me looking at my
son's attempts to tell jokes that nonsense jokes are something kids figure out
(and respond to) at a younger age than classic, resolvable humor.

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metamemetics
Jokes With Realistic Endings
<http://www.mcsweeneys.net/1999/10/13jokeland.html>

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Groxx
I propose an amendment to Blonde Joke #116:

How do you brainwash a blonde? By telling them thousands of blonde jokes,
until their sanity breaks and they accept whatever you tell them.

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dkimball
I haven't seen theories of "philosophical anthropology" independently verified
by MRI very often, so it's very interesting to see this -- confirming that all
human beings experience humor and find it in incongruity, and thus, among
other things, that we learn where a civilization finds a lot of incongruities
by looking at the subject matter of its jokes. (It's also refreshing to see
something like this with science, not culturally insular pop psychology,
behind it.)

So, I'd predict that a civilization with more, stronger stresses should have
simpler forms of humor, and one with an easier mental life should range
further afield in its search for laughs. This looks like it's confirmed in the
contrast between, say, Monty Python and Seinfeld on the one hand, and
Restoration English, classical Greek, and Golden Age Spanish comedy on the
other; does anyone know enough about East Asian or, say, Aztec (properly
Mexica) humor to be able to say whether the pattern holds there, too?

This also suggests that LOLcats reveal intensifying pressures in American
social life. Of course, such pressures do exist, so the question is whether we
can plausibly suspect causation...

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jerf
It would seem to me plausible that while your metric may hold when considering
society as a whole, zooming in on a subset, especially a self-selected subset,
will invalidate your thesis. Every society will have people who love simple
humor, if for no other reason than there is a chunk of people who are below-
average intelligence.

I'm not saying below average intelligence -> liking LOLcats, nor liking
LOLcats -> below average intelligence; I like them too. It's just that you can
not enjoy humor you can not comprehend, which leaves them with the simpler
stuff. It's a selection effect, one I would think would dominate the thesis.

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dkimball
You have a very good point about the dangers of zooming in, especially on
self-selected subsets; but I didn't mean that LOLcat fans are less
intelligent. I think that simpler forms of humor indicate, not lower
intelligence in those enjoying them, but tensions and stresses that are nearer
to the surface of their lives. (Did I mention that "All Your Base" still
cracks me up?)

By my theory, Monty Python's "wide accountant sea" is the product of a
civilization that is largely content with its lot in the world; but if a
civilization finds it adequately entertaining to observe that I are serious
cat and this are serious thread, then there are problems somewhere near the
surface of that civilization, and the civilization is aware of them.

As an example: at least as far as I know, East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, and
Korean) humor is much simpler than American and English; East Asians are more
intelligent than Americans and Englishmen on average (at least as measured by
IQ testing), but they have social stresses that are _much_ nearer to the
surface.

I also doubt that low intelligence limits comprehension of refined humor. G.K.
Chesterton thought that the English peasantry, who were at the least
uneducated, were better at telling and at understanding jokes than their
social betters; my own -- admittedly just anecdotal -- experience also seems
to suggest no correlation between intelligence and sophistication of humor,
but a high correlation between low social class and low education on the one
hand, and good comedic style on the other.

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jerf
I think _intelligence_ affects your understanding and enjoyment of humor, but
intelligence is not particularly strongly correlated with social class or
standing; there are smart garbage men and people I would say are actively
stupid running around with PhDs in various things. It is certainly correlated,
but less strongly than our instincts-to-hierarchy would have us believe.

(I would also observe the relevant definition of "sophistication" here would
have to be something about joke complexity or the subtly of the incongruous
connection being made, rather than the explicit subject matter. Someone who
never heard of Proust would never generate one of my favorite unfamous Python
sketches, the "Summarize Proust" competition sketch, but they can still be
subtly humorous in their own way. Or humuorous, as the case may be.)

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SlyShy
The title makes this article seem like one of those "good work psychologists,
that was obvious to us already" results, but it's actually much more
interesting than that.

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warfangle
Truly - this is more neuroscience than pop psychology.

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Alex3917
Alistair Clarke probably fits the definition of pop psychology, but his book
is a lot more insightful than these findings:

[http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/source_all_h...](http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/source_all_humor_alastair_clarkes_8_patterns_recognition)

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CodeMage
Very interesting stuff. I wonder how they would explain the fact that most
people seem to dislike verbal puns. Being one of those people who enjoy them,
I never really understood other people's dislike for them and it keeps
puzzling me.

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gcheong
I think people like their own puns but tend to roll their eyes at other
people's (while secretly enjoying them).

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Groxx
Especially with "groaners", where part of the fun is _inflicting_ the pun on
the receivers ;)

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ErrantX
My Dad's favourite joke is this:

 _Man walks into Paint shop and asks for some black paint. "Sorry we only do
white", says the guy behind the counter. "Not a problem", replies the man, "im
on my bike"._

It's great if me or my brother are there when he tells it because we instantly
crack up laughing and no one else joins in :)

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DannoHung
Is it funny because it's completely incongruous?

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ErrantX
The article opens with a similar joke. As it says: some people find it funny,
others dont

