Henri Bergson's Theory Of Laughter As A Necessary Social Norm

Lundberg states that positive humor is nurturing and makes everyone feel good. According to Goodman (1992), "Laughing with others builds confidence, brings people together, and pokes fun at our common dilemmas. Humor is laughter made from pain, not pain inflicted by laughter." In a study conducted by Keltner and Bonanno (1997), it was asserted that bereaved persons when engage in humor become more involved in their ongoing experiences and less dedicated to reminiscence and involvement with their past.

All of those terms come to one conclusion; laughter is a safety net and is it the best way to relieve stress. Aristotle, 384-322BC – laughter is a form of derision (Nicomachean Ethics) [2]. Work problems can be very tiring, especially in the world of constant competition where every single person what’s to climb up the ladder of success. Comedies based on work environment concentrate on issues that people may

Humor relates to the Super-Ego through the acknowledgment of oneself being ridiculous. “Superego has gone under ‘maturation’ maturity that comes from learning to laugh at

Wonderland Popular historian Steven Johnson describes his book Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World as a history of play – pastimes that humans have invented to amuse themselves and serve as an escape from the everyday grind. In the book, Johnson examines how fun and leisure, the seemingly idle and frivolous aspects of society, have helped shape it. Here are some interesting insights and historical tidbits from Wonderland: 1. The human brain desires novelty

E.101 M.27 Oh the stress of it all I chose the following: Psychological Moderators of Stress, that I found very interesting and important in the textbook Psychology by Davis, S. and Palladino, J. 2007, p. 636 – 638. Distraction: I console myself by going to the movies, museums, gardens, historical places, taking the Metrolink and the Coaster trains to San Diego, CA, (among other distractions).

Funny Business In the Tedx video What Makes Things Funny speaker Dr. Peter McGraw has a word or two on what he believes makes things funny. Dr. McGraw, a marketing and psychology professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, is an expert in the interdisciplinary fields of emotion and behavioral economics. Dr. McGraw explains how he thinks we can live a more humorous life, and how to not step over the line when making jokes.

Alternatively, the author uses hypocrisy to confirm her claim by drawing the readers in to see what the actual meaning of what Jim’s colleagues said in the autopsy is. Hypocrisy is about saying or feeling one thing and doing another. In “Humor in Arguments,” the editors clarify the centrality of laughter as either appearing of duplicity to situations. They mention, “Laughter can also expose hypocrisy or break down barriers of prejudice and thereby help people see their world’s differently” (Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz 399).

The final theory that I would use to describe Jeff is the self-objectification theory. This theory includes insight and humor. According to the text, mature individuals are capable of self-objectification, seeing themselves accurately and insightfully, often with a sense of humor. I say that Jeff fits this opinion because he can not only laugh at others, but also himself with his dummies.

Hazlitt’s repetitive use of parallel structure solidifies the perspective that a tragedy and a comedy are two sides of the same coin. Hazlitt states, “We weep...we burst into laughter... We shed tears... we burst into laughter….” This anaphora unifies the view saying "we" to include everyone.

In so far laughter provides an empathic connection, and empathy provides insight to morality and understanding of other’s points of view, comedy is able to provide insight to new knowledge through empathic understandings. Nonetheless, the blueprint whereby an author makes someone laugh in order to influence their understandings is not such an easy feat. Creating a relatable character through humor is something even the best of writers have struggled. As George Lucas found out with Jar Jar Binks, whom he predicted to be a fan favorite, there is a fine line between the audience laughing with at a character and laughing at them. Shakespeare, on the other hand, was nearly flawless in his portrayal of Falstaff--who is widely loved among his readers.

Human beings are prone to laugh at certain entertaining events. Laughter is typically described as a response to a particular situation. We all have unconsciously laughed or smiled at least a hundred times in our entire life. The intriguing question about this matter is why do people laugh? This strange action must have something to do with the human nature.

Aristotle: Melissa McCarthy is acting like a buffoon in this bit. Hobbes: Why do you say that Aristotle? A: In this bit she is carrying her humor in excess, she is also striving after humor at all costs and willing to cause pain to the object of the laughter instead of aiming at what is true and right.

Critchley says (p. 9) that true humor has to change the situation. By this statement, I believe he meant that true humor allows one to shed light on topics or issues that might have been left in the dark due to pride or fears of expressing them, in an attempt to help release tension or change the situation or environment. True humor can change one’s perceptions of things. An example of true humor was presented in the story “Santa Land Diaries”, when he mentioned a husband sat on Santa’s lap and when asked what he had wanted for Christmas, another men yelled “I want a broad with big tits”. I think this is true humor because it helped to release the tension in others and changed the environment by causing others laugh.

Humor in the Henhouse In his essay “Chicken in the Henhouse”, Sedaris utilizes various forms of humor to demonstrate that you can’t stereotype an entire group of people and that you shouldn’t judge people. Sedaris argues that stereotypes cause a negative self image and feelings such as guilt despite being innocent of any misdeeds society implicates him in. Serdaris uses humor to make himself more relatable which can be explained through the use of the superiority, incongruity, and relief theories to prove that stereotypes can not define everybody. By practicing humor throughout his essay, the author makes his argument more effective and able to further impact his audience more than it would have without humor.

Laughter as a Universal Force Mark Twain, American author, once said, “The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter” (Twain). Twain is referring to a weapon as fighting repression, meaning that laughter will save humanity from being unhappy due to one’s own mindset, which is applicable to everyone. In Ray Bradbury’s novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade explore the mysterious realm of the carnival, which is like nothing they have ever seen before. With the help of Will’s father, Charles Halloway, they conquer their fears with theme of laughter. In Mikhail Bakhtin’s chapter, “Rabelais in the History of Laughter” from his book Rabelais and His World, he further goes into depth on the many uses for laughter to free people of fear and repression.