What makes jokes funny?
An interesting summary
of theories about what makes for humor:
- Benign violation
- Incongruity
- Surprise
He also makes the
point that humor is social. We laugh more readily when we're with other people.
More interestingly,
he casts humor as a lubricant that eases the tension between collaborating and
competing with each other.
If we think about
that, humor can be inclusive as well as exclusive. There's the humor of making
fun of others that ends up casting them out while reinforcing bonds within the
group targeting others. We don't like that, and we can think of examples of bullying
behavior.
On the other hand,
humor can be inclusive and be a tool for drawing people in. A common example is
the humor deployed by speakers when they start their speech to draw the
audience in. Other times, that kind of humor can ease a tense situation. Can
you think of instances you've seen where humor has drawn people in?
