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Humour

Humour or '''humor''' (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or|spelling differences) is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism|humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Greek language|Greek: χυμός, ''chymos'', literally juice or sap, metaphorically, flavour), control human health and emotion. People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. The majority of people are able to experience humour, i.e., to be amused, to laugh or smile at something funny, and thus they are considered to have a '''sense of humour'''. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour induced by humour to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal taste (aesthetics)|taste, the extent to which an individual will find something humorous depends upon a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, Maturity (psychological)|maturity, level of education, intelligence and wiktionary:context|context. For example, young children may favour slapstick, such as Punch and Judy puppet shows or cartoons such as ''Tom and Jerry''. Satire may rely more on understanding the target of the humour and thus tends to appeal to more mature audiences. Nonsatirical humour can be specifically termed "recreational drollery".Seth Benedict Graham ''A cultural analysis of the Russo-Soviet Anekdot'' 2003 p.13Bakhtin, Mikhail. ''Rabelais and His World'' 1965. Trans. Hélène Iswolsky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press p.12 Many Theories of humor|theories exist about what humour is and what social function it serves. The prevailing types of theories attempting to account for the existence of humour include psychology|psychological theories, the vast majority of which consider humour-induced behaviour to be very healthy; spiritual theories, which may, for instance, consider humour to be a "gift from God"; and theories which consider humour to be an unexplainable mystery, very much like a mysticism|mystical experience.Raymond Smullyan, "The Planet Without Laughter", ''This Book Needs No Title''

Understanding humour

Arthur Schopenhauer lamented the misuse of the term "humour" (a German language|German loanword from English language|English) to mean any type of comedy. However, both "humour" and "comic" are often used when theorizing about the subject. The connotation of "humour" is more that of response, while "comic" refers more to stimulus. "Humour" also originally had a connotation of a combined ridiculousness and wit in one individual, the paradigm case being Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff. The French were slow to adopt the term "humour" and in French, "humeur" and "humour" are still two different words, the former still referring only to the archaic concept of Four Temperaments|humours. Western humour theory begins with Plato, who attributed to Socrates (as a semihistorical dialogue character) in the ''Philebus'' (p. 49b) the view that the essence of the ridiculous is an ignorance in the weak, who are thus unable to retaliate when ridiculed. Later, in Greek philosophy, Aristotle, in the ''Poetics_(Aristotle)|Poetics'' (1449a, pp. 34–35), suggested that an ugliness that does not disgust is fundamental to humour. In ancient Sanskrit drama, Bharata Muni's ''Natya Shastra'' defined humour (''hāsyam'') as one of the nine ''nava rasas'', or principle ''Rasa (aesthetics)|rasas'' (emotional responses), which can be inspired in the audience by ''bhavas'', the imitations of emotions that the actors perform. Each ''rasa'' was associated with a specific ''bhavas'' portrayed on stage. In the case of humour, it was associated with mirth (''hasya''). The terms "comedy" and "satire" became synonymous after Aristotle's ''Poetics'' was translated into Arabic language|Arabic in the Islamic Golden Age|medieval Islamic world, where it was elaborated upon by Arabic literature|Arabic writers and Early Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosophers such as Abu Bischr, his pupil Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation, and instead identified it with Arabic poetry|Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as ''hija'' (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension" and made no reference to light and cheerful events or troublous beginnings and happy endings associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" thus gained a new semantic meaning in Medieval literature. The Incongruity Theory originated mostly with Kant, who claimed that the comic is an expectation that comes to nothing. Henri Bergson attempted to perfect incongruity by reducing it to the "living" and "mechanical".Henri Bergson, ''Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic'' (1900) English translation 1914. An incongruity like Bergson's, in things juxtaposed simultaneously, is still in vogue. This is often debated against theories of the shifts in perspectives in humour; hence, the debate in the series ''Humor Research'' between John Morreall and Robert Latta.Robert L. Latta (1999) The Basic Humor Process: A Cognitive-Shift Theory and the Case against Incongruity, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 3110161036 (Humor Research no. 5) Morreall presented mostly simultaneous juxtapositions,John Morreall (1983) Taking Laughter Seriously, Suny Press, ISBN 0873956427 with Latta countering that it requires a "cognitive shift" created by a discovery or solution to a puzzle or problem. Latta is criticized for having reduced jokes' essence to their own puzzling aspect. Humour frequently contains an unexpected, often sudden, shift in perspective, which gets assimilated by the Incongruity Theory. This view has been defended by Latta (1998) and by Brian Boyd (2004).Brian Boyd, Laughter and Literature: A Play Theory of Humor Philosophy and Literature - Volume 28, Number 1, April 2004, pp. 1-22 Boyd views the shift as from seriousness to play. Nearly anything can be the object of this perspective twist; it is, however, in the areas of human creativity (science and art being the varieties) that the shift results from "structure mapping" (termed "bisociation" by Koestler) to create novel meanings.Koestler, Arthur (1964): "The Act of Creation". Arthur Koestler argues that humour results when two different frames of reference are set up and a collision is engineered between them. Tony Veal, who takes a more formalised computational approach than Koestler, has written on the role of metaphor and metonymy in humour,Veal, Tony (2003): "Metaphor and Metonymy: The Cognitive Trump-Cards of Linguistic Humor" (Afflatus.uce.ie)Veale, Tony (2006): "The Cognitive Mechanisms of Adversarial Humor"Veale, Tony (2004): "Incongruity in Humour: Root Cause of Epiphenomonon?" (Afflatus.ucd.ie) using inspiration from Koestler as well as from Dedre Gentner's theory of structure-mapping, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (professor)|Mark Johnson's theory of conceptual metaphor, and Mark Turner (cognitive scientist)|Mark Turner and Gilles Fauconnier's theory of conceptual blending. Some claim that humour cannot or should not be explained. Author E.B. White once said, "Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind."Quotationspage.com As with any form of art, acceptance depends on social demographics and varies from person to person. Throughout history, comedy has been used as a form of entertainment all over the world, whether in the courts of the Western kings or the villages of the Far East. Both a social etiquette and a certain intelligence can be displayed through forms of wit and sarcasm. Eighteenth-century Germany|German author Georg Lichtenberg said that "the more you know humour, the more you become demanding in fineness."

Evolutionary explanation of humour

Alastair Clarke explains: "The theory is an evolutionary and cognitive explanation of how and why any individual finds anything funny. Effectively, it explains that humour occurs when the brain recognizes a pattern that surprises it, and that recognition of this sort is rewarded with the experience of the humorous response, an element of which is broadcast as laughter." The theory further identifies the importance of pattern recognition in human evolution: "An ability to recognize patterns instantly and unconsciously has proved a fundamental weapon in the cognitive arsenal of human beings. The humorous reward has encouraged the development of such faculties, leading to the unique perceptual and intellectual abilities of our species."http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ph-maf062708.php

Humour formulae

Humour can be verbal, visual, or physical. Root components:
- appealing to feelings or to emotions.
- similar to reality, but not real.
- some surprise/misdirection, contradiction, ambiguity or paradox. Methods:
- hyperbole
- metaphor
- reductio ad absurdum or farce
- Framing (social sciences)|reframing
- comic timing|timing Rowan Atkinson explains in his lecture in the documentary "''Funny Business (TV series)|Funny Business''"Rowan Atkinson/David Hinton, ''Funny Business'' (tv series), Episode 1 - aired 22 November 1992, UK, Tiger Television Productions that an object or a person can become funny in three different ways. They are:
- By behaving in an unusual way
- By being in an unusual place
- By being the wrong size Most sight gags fit into one or more of these categories. Humour is also sometimes described as an ingredient in spiritual life. Humour is also the act of being funny, such as making people laugh. Some synonyms of funny or humour are hilarious, spiritual, wise-minded, outgoing, and amusing. Some Masters have added it to their teachings in various forms. A famous figure in spiritual humour is the laughing Buddha.

References

External links

*
- International Society for Humor Studies Category:Humor|* Category:Defence mechanism simple:Humour

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