Humornow

In article 124, laughter is described as a bodily reaction to a rush of blood plus an increase of air in the lungs which leads to explosive laughter (Descartes 21-22). Meanwhile, article 125 explains that laughter stems from joy and awe or joy and hatred. For example, being pleasantly surprised or being at awe of the level of hatred you have towards something. Joy does not stem from a topic, rather it’s an involuntary reaction of excess air and blood in lungs (Descartes 22). This associates laughter with a violent image of death and survival. Essentially, laughter is a necessity for survival  In article 126, Descartes states that, in laughter there is either admiration and joy or wonder and joy; which increases blood flow that causes an inflation in the lungs. Additionally, too much joy causes a violent reaction- laughter. Another cause for an abundance of laughter may be liquor, an increase of liquor causes thick blood to be rushed by hatred to the heart. The fluctuation of blood ...

Caroline Kunz Dr. Ellis EN 446 13 February 2023 Descartes and Spencer's Theories of Laughter       Over the course of these readings, I found it difficult to grasp the idea that laughter can be caused by hatred. Typically when I think of laughter, I think of positive and joyful experiences, as opposed to those that are negative or distressing. Therefore, I was surprised to read Descartes' claims that "although it seems as though laughter were one of the principle signs of joy, nevertheless joy cannot cause it except when it is moderate and has some wonder or hate mingled with it" (22). He believes that, when one is joyful, the lungs are too full with blood to allow for laughter to physically occur. On the other hand, laughter can be so easily associated with hatred, as, in his opinion, it is common to laugh at our enemies when they experience the troubles we feel they deserve. This concept was difficult to apply to my own life, as I find myself laughing and smiling m...

  Victoria Sabatino  Humor Studies February 12, 2023 Thoughts on Freud I want to discuss one of Freud’s processes of humor, specifically his first one. On page 112, Freud talks about how there might be two people, one humorous and one or two spectators who laugh at something the humorous one said or did (even without the intention of being funny). The reaction of the observer is what makes this humor, and Freud gives the example of the man in the jail cell. Freud states that this is less of a sense of humor, but more of a satisfaction.  I mostly just wanted to comment and say that I find this type of under-your-breath humor to be very funny. When you pay attention to others, they will say things under their breath that you will find yourself laughing at. Also, this makes me think of the character Dennis from It’s Always Sunny, as he has a type of humor where he will get angry and restate the obvious, or mutter under his breath. I feel as though a lot of the writers we h...

  Laura Latham  EN 446D 01  February 11, 2023 Laughter through the Tough Times  According to Descartes, laughter is associated with the emotions of wonder, hatred, and joy. At first glance, it seems as if this list is excluding a common example of laughter, inappropriate laughter. This is not the laughter that results from a joke that is not politically correct, it is the kind of uncontrollable laughter that comes from a deep sadness or feeling of loss. Inappropriate laughter is most prevalent in sad times, however inappropriate laughter is not the effect of sadness.  The bodies’ physical reaction to emotions is an attempt to create a homeostasis of emotions. For instance, laughter is supposed to release the wonder, hatred, or joy held within the body. Spencer explains in his hydraulic theory of nervous energy that muscular movement is how the body releases nervous energy, and that laughter is a common muscular reaction that releases energy. If there is no m...

  Descartes's reasoning for the forces that inspire laughter made me laugh. I have never heard such creative reasoning to the biological processes associated with laughter and its accompaniment two the three of the six basic emotions wonder, hatred and Joy. He describes one of the reasons for laughter by saying, "which part of the blood being driven by the heart by some slight emotion of hatred, assisted by the surprise of wonder, and mingling itself there with the blood from the rest of the body" (Descartes 22). As a biology major, I have never heard of blood mingling with wonder and flowing through the rest of the body. I also completely disagree with the accusation that laughter can only be propelled by wonder, joy or hatred. I have laughed out of frustration, ignorance, and confusion, none of which I would associate with joy, wonder, or hatred. Creating these binaries for what humor can be is against what upholds the mystery of humor. Dissecting and analyzing incorrec...

           It is very strange to me that something as subjective as humor should be philosophized about, but  here we are. The concepts of "finding something funny," "humor," and "laughter" seem to lose a bit of the  joy that typically accompanies them with all of this scientific and philosophical mumbo-jumbo. Freud  always manages to turn everything into a symptom of repression and perversion.           Freud says that humor can be liberating, and that it is rebellious in nature. A lot of our generational  humor today rebels from the humor of previous generations, and from the social norms emphasized by  previous generations. This is all well and good, but Freud also says that the energy in joking is the same  energy that is used to repress hostile or deviant thoughts and feelings. Joking hides our true feelings and  intentions like the subconscious. We are not always as good at suppressing o...

     This was my first experience reading David Sedaris and from the introduction l immediately could see why people have such mixed reactions to him and his work. (I have never seen someone spend that much time going on about how you can’t publish anything without offending someone these days without it being a major 🚩🚩🚩.) While I’ve only read what was selected for this class—I think at least with these works the primary target is himself. In the first essay we read, “The Incomplete Quad” it’s only natural to be disgusted by his behavior and treatment of Peg. He very obviously is using Peg because helping her makes him feel some kind of power: “Peg was my charge, my toy, I was the only one who knew how to turn her off and on” (38). He later recounts, after he takes her to visit his family and she is no longer of use to him, that he sees her as a hinderance and doesn’t want to help her fulfil her basic needs. Sedaris isn’t asking you to laugh at how poorly he treated P...