1) Humor follows a basic pattern: 1) We experience a cognitive
shift (tends
to be toward what is less desirable like failure, mistakes, ignorance,
and vices; typically about problems; involves a set-up and a punch line; a common
technique is aimed at making the audience suddenly change their
interpretation of a word, phrase, or story; usually fit into “descending incongruity,”
2) are in a play mode (disengaged from conceptual/practical concerns,
cognitive shifts are potentially disturbing, we can treat situations that are fictitious playfully (ex: make-believe), distance or one’s
lack of role/passage of time may also help; there are times we experience
amusement and negative emotions, 3) respond to that shift by enjoying it (the pleasure in
humor is social (ex: sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory), exhilarating (joking-“play of
thought or tone,” amusement (involves mental gymnastics), and liberating (comic mode-->people do
normally forbidden things), we can poke fun at the whole serious approach to
life; in the humorous frame of mind, we can challenge any standard belief,
value, or convention and challenge reason by giving free reign to imagination, and 4) we laugh (amusement-“the state of being caused to laugh or smile
with pleasure,” someone’s failure to share amusement is often a matter of
concern; the pleasure in humor has a natural disposition to issue in laughter).
2) Humor actually increases health: People who step
back from problems to laugh experience less stress and/or are more resilient. Studies show that "humor serves as a buffer against stress." (pg 68) As we now know, stress
is a combination of fear and anger and our bodies react as if we were
physically threatened. Stress is a major contributor to heart disease, cancer, and other leading causes of death (it suppresses the immune system, leading to possible damage). Humor occurs “if
there is a situation in which, according to our usual habits, we should be
tempted to release a distressing affect…" Thankfully, laughter “reduces heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and stress chemicals in the blood” and is able to enhance the immune system! Since I’m into psychology, I found it interesting that hearty
laughter involves several areas of the brain, nervous system, and muscle
groups! The ability to laugh at oneself is essential to the
development of moral perspective and can contribute to self-knowledge, integrity,
and mental health. Humor can promote courage by reducing fear.
3) Amusement isn’t an emotion: it's more of a state of mind; amusement
is being struck by the mismatch between a concept and a perception of the same
thing, and enjoying the mental jolt that it gives us. Emotions typically have four components: 1) beliefs and
desires cause 2) physiological changes, which together motivate 3) adaptive
actions...the person’s 4) sensations of those physiological changes are the "feelings"
in emotions (page 28). Those who think that amusement is an emotion defend themselves by saying that it results in physiological changes and sensations of those changes. Emotions engage us and make us more alert, whereas
laughter disengages us and leaves us unable to act. My final point is that “emotions involve cognitive and practical engagement with
what is going on around us....amusement, by contrast, involves cognitive and
practical disengagement from what is going on around us” (pg 32).
These were the three areas in Comic Relief that I found most interesting.
·
The Superiority
Theory, Incongruity Theory, and Relief Theory are also important, but I didn't get much out of them...
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