Archive for ‘2260’

Reflecting on the events of the class throughout the semester, the one discussion that I remember the best was the one on the nature of humor. More importantly on why physical comedy is comedic at all. Some of the theories that were thrown out there were that it was made funny by way of sympathising, or possibly by years of social conditioning; another possibility is that it could be due to watching Looney Tunes too often as a child. The implications of this are very interesting, and what is implied relates directly to what origin of this humor you subscribe to. Does it show that we are inerently spiteful people who take pleasure in the pain of others? Does it show that we can be so easily trained to enjoy pain, therby baiting an entirely new discussion on the nature of military training, desensitization, and dehumanization during war times? Does it show media influences, or just a sociocultural shift? Is this any new discovery, or are there historical accounts of physical humor before electricity was invented and comedians were recorded? All of these questions are very interesting to me; I am not entirely sure why. It always seems strange how a seemingly trivial topic can be made philisophical if viewed differently. I believe that the psychology of humor is one thing that I may actaully revisit and do some research on at a later date.