Laughter

3 Commentsby   |  10.04.10  |  Beginning of Scientific Psychology (Part III-A)

I was very interested in the discussion we had last class on the evolution of laughter and its connection with pain. Laughter does seem to come about far too often when we watch someone get hurt. The television show America’s Funniest Home Videos is a prime example of this. It is one of the most popular tv shows in America and has been airing for 20 years. However, even with a TV PG rating, it is one of the most, if not the most, violent show on television. The whole show is centered on people getting injured whether it was an accident or some stupid choice. Why is this so funny to us? Is it because we have no personal attachment to the people we see getting hurt? Is it because we empathize with them, yet since they sent in the tape we know assume they are ok and “laugh with them”? Or is it because of their stupidity? There are many different theories people from our class have stated on why laughter is found after an injury. I think a big part of it is to show a mutual agreement between the observer and the person getting hurt that everything is all right. Yes you just got hurt, and I am concerned for you. However, it was not bad enough to cause any prolonged injury, so we laugh in agreement that something bad could have just happened and didn’t. Thus relieving some of the stress and discomfort from the situation.

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3 Comments

  1. Mary Tomkins
    1:59 pm, 10.04.10

    I find it interesting that the videos that I think are the funniest are the ones where animals hurt themselves. Maybe the fact that they had no idea what was going on makes it funnier? Just a thought.

  2. Logan Sellers
    2:01 pm, 10.04.10

    I think the reason we laugh at shows such as this because we operate under the assumption that the person is now ok, and given the context of this show it is safe to lafe because that is the goal of the show. If the show streamed live footage of people doing similar things then I would assume the reaction would be vastly different despite being under a similar context. We know that the event has been resolved, and we assume no long term harm came from this person’s misfortune. If we saw someone jump off of a trampoline and land on the ground and break their neck, we probably wouldn’t react with laughter. Also we give control to the editors of the show and presume they aren’t going to show us disturbing images of violent injuries. With giving that control up we allow ourselves to be comfortable with other persons getting injured.

  3. Brandon Schmermund
    6:04 pm, 10.04.10

    A lot of times I will end up watching videos of others hurting themselves when I am wanting to cheer up from a day that wasn’t very positive for me. It is sad to say that sometimes we feel better by making others feel bad or by witnessing others get hurt, whether by accident or on purpose. This may sound terrible, but watching others getting injured is a good stress reliever.

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