Chapter 23
Humor
People Affected: everyone older than 24 months
Type of Emotion: conceptual reward
Conceptual Trigger: “ I learned that X made a rank-reducing mistake that I could have made ”
Mental Effect: positive
Key Feature: the more likely the mistake, the stronger the effect
Key Feature: effect generally stronger in men
Voluntary Expression: laughter
Synonyms: funny, schadenfreude
Type of Emotion: conceptual reward
Conceptual Trigger: “ I learned that X made a rank-reducing mistake that I could have made ”
Mental Effect: positive
Key Feature: the more likely the mistake, the stronger the effect
Key Feature: effect generally stronger in men
Voluntary Expression: laughter
Synonyms: funny, schadenfreude
Purpose
Humor encourages everyone to learn about rank-reducing mistakes that others make.
Learning about rank-reducing mistakes helps you avoid them. Learning about others becoming alcoholics makes you less likely to become an alcoholic.
Reducing rank-reducing mistakes helps group survival. The fewer alcoholics there are, the more efficient a nation is.
Conceptual Trigger
Humor is often triggered when you:
Humor is triggered by lower rank, not low rank. Hearing about strangers begging is not enjoyable. Hearing about a former co-worker begging is.
Humor is triggered by mistakes, not misfortune. You feel humor when you see a man fall down because he stepped on a banana peel. You do not feel humor when you see a man fall down because of illness. Both men have dropped to the rank of people who cannot walk. However, the first man made the mistake of stepping on a banana peel and the second man had the misfortune of illness. You can learn from mistakes, you cannot learn from misfortune. Mistakes trigger humor. Misfortune triggers compassion.
Humor is only triggered by mistakes that you could make. Jokes about giving birth do not trigger humor in men. Jokes about erectile dysfunction do not trigger humor in women. Humor only rewards you for learning about mistakes that you could make.
Humor is only triggered the first time you learn about a mistake. Jokes are not funny the second time you hear them. Humor only rewards you for learning something new.
Humor is not triggered unless there is an unexpected reduction in rank. Watching or hearing an expected reduction of someone’s rank does not trigger humor. If you expect someone’s rank to be reduced, their rank is already lower in your mind. Clowns are not funny to adults. Adults know that clowns will reduce their rank.
Punch lines are funny because they provide an unexpected reduction in rank. ~ Some sad news, President Bush's lapdog passed away. Gee, I didn't even know Tony Blair was sick.
Putdowns and pranks trigger humor. If you witness a putdown or prank, you feel humor. If you are the target of a putdown or prank, you feel humiliation.
Self-effacing humor reduces the comedian’s rank. The Three Stooges and Rodney Dangerfield were funny because they lowered their own rank. ~ As a child, I got no respect. When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up.
Witty jokes trigger humor and pride. Witty jokes also trigger pride because they require insight to be understood. Recognizing the insight elevates your rank to the comedian’s rank. ~ President Bush is waging war for the sake of the environment. He hopes to drive the price of oil so high that we stop driving cars.
Witty putdowns also trigger humor and pride. ~ You’re a waste of carbon.
Puns trigger pride, but not humor. Puns trigger pride because their play on words requires insight to identify. However, they do not lower someone’s rank. ~ I used to be a gold prospector, but it didn’t pan out.
Gossip triggers humor. Gossip is primarily about others losing rank. Friends talk about who is cheating on whom. Co-workers talk about who is being fired. Gossiping also triggers affection, which is true of any conversation.
Gossip triggers more humor than jokes or comedy. People spend a few hours a day conversing recreationally and gossip dominates those conversations. By comparison, people spend less than an hour a day listening to jokes or watching comedies.
Sports fans particularly enjoy upsets because they trigger pride and humor. By winning, the underdogs trigger their vicarious pride. By losing, the favorites trigger their humor.
Mental Effect
Humor encourages everyone to learn about rank-reducing mistakes that others make.
Learning about rank-reducing mistakes helps you avoid them. Learning about others becoming alcoholics makes you less likely to become an alcoholic.
Reducing rank-reducing mistakes helps group survival. The fewer alcoholics there are, the more efficient a nation is.
Conceptual Trigger
Humor is often triggered when you:
- hear a joke
- see a comedy
- hear a putdown
- witness a prank
- hear gossip
- read tabloid news
- see a favorite upset
Humor is triggered by lower rank, not low rank. Hearing about strangers begging is not enjoyable. Hearing about a former co-worker begging is.
Humor is triggered by mistakes, not misfortune. You feel humor when you see a man fall down because he stepped on a banana peel. You do not feel humor when you see a man fall down because of illness. Both men have dropped to the rank of people who cannot walk. However, the first man made the mistake of stepping on a banana peel and the second man had the misfortune of illness. You can learn from mistakes, you cannot learn from misfortune. Mistakes trigger humor. Misfortune triggers compassion.
Humor is only triggered by mistakes that you could make. Jokes about giving birth do not trigger humor in men. Jokes about erectile dysfunction do not trigger humor in women. Humor only rewards you for learning about mistakes that you could make.
Humor is only triggered the first time you learn about a mistake. Jokes are not funny the second time you hear them. Humor only rewards you for learning something new.
Humor is not triggered unless there is an unexpected reduction in rank. Watching or hearing an expected reduction of someone’s rank does not trigger humor. If you expect someone’s rank to be reduced, their rank is already lower in your mind. Clowns are not funny to adults. Adults know that clowns will reduce their rank.
Punch lines are funny because they provide an unexpected reduction in rank. ~ Some sad news, President Bush's lapdog passed away. Gee, I didn't even know Tony Blair was sick.
Putdowns and pranks trigger humor. If you witness a putdown or prank, you feel humor. If you are the target of a putdown or prank, you feel humiliation.
Self-effacing humor reduces the comedian’s rank. The Three Stooges and Rodney Dangerfield were funny because they lowered their own rank. ~ As a child, I got no respect. When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up.
Witty jokes trigger humor and pride. Witty jokes also trigger pride because they require insight to be understood. Recognizing the insight elevates your rank to the comedian’s rank. ~ President Bush is waging war for the sake of the environment. He hopes to drive the price of oil so high that we stop driving cars.
Witty putdowns also trigger humor and pride. ~ You’re a waste of carbon.
Puns trigger pride, but not humor. Puns trigger pride because their play on words requires insight to identify. However, they do not lower someone’s rank. ~ I used to be a gold prospector, but it didn’t pan out.
Gossip triggers humor. Gossip is primarily about others losing rank. Friends talk about who is cheating on whom. Co-workers talk about who is being fired. Gossiping also triggers affection, which is true of any conversation.
Gossip triggers more humor than jokes or comedy. People spend a few hours a day conversing recreationally and gossip dominates those conversations. By comparison, people spend less than an hour a day listening to jokes or watching comedies.
Sports fans particularly enjoy upsets because they trigger pride and humor. By winning, the underdogs trigger their vicarious pride. By losing, the favorites trigger their humor.
Mental Effect
Humor varies with the likelihood of making the same mistake. The more likely it is that you could make the same mistake, the stronger the positive effect. Tabloid newspapers focus on famous actresses who are overweight or have a philandering husband because those are the mistakes tabloid readers are most likely to make.
Humor does not vary with the size of the other person’s rank reduction. Unlike humiliation, humor is not stronger for larger rank reductions. You feel the same positive effect when another person’s rank falls, regardless of how far it falls. You prefer gossiping about a neighbor to gossiping about a famous person. Although a famous person’s rank can fall further, you are more likely to make the mistakes a neighbor makes. Tabloids focus on famous people because many readers know them, not because they have further to fall.
Humor is generally stronger in men. For mistakes that apply equally to both genders, men feel a stronger positive effect than women. Fraternity initiations humiliate pledges. Sorority initiations are friendly gatherings.
Humor seems stronger when it also stops envy. If you envy somebody, it is more enjoyable to see them make a rank-reducing mistake. Their mistake simultaneously triggers your humor and stops your envy. This is the tall-poppy syndrome. People prefer to criticize tall-poppies because it triggers humor and stops envy. The most vocal critics of tall-poppies are their former peers, who feel the strongest envy.
Humor seems stronger when it also stops revenge. If you hold a grudge against someone, it is more enjoyable to see them make a rank-reducing mistake. Their mistake simultaneously triggers your humor and stops your revenge. Spreading gossip about somebody is more enjoyable when the other person has spread gossip about you.
People joke about or criticize others for making mistakes they worry about making. The more somebody could make a particular rank-reducing mistake, the more they enjoy identifying others making that same mistake. People on diets are the first to joke about others being fat. People who have recently quit smoking are the most vocal critics of smoking.
Other Species
Chimpanzees feel humor.
“ Georgia lives at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia. When she sees visitors approaching, she hurries to the tap to collect a mouthful of water. She then mingles with the other chimps, and not even the best observer will spot anything unusual. Georgia can wait for minutes with closed lips until the visitors come near, then there are shrieks and laughs as she sprays them. ” Frans de Waal, Suspicious Minds (NewScientist)
Humor does not vary with the size of the other person’s rank reduction. Unlike humiliation, humor is not stronger for larger rank reductions. You feel the same positive effect when another person’s rank falls, regardless of how far it falls. You prefer gossiping about a neighbor to gossiping about a famous person. Although a famous person’s rank can fall further, you are more likely to make the mistakes a neighbor makes. Tabloids focus on famous people because many readers know them, not because they have further to fall.
Humor is generally stronger in men. For mistakes that apply equally to both genders, men feel a stronger positive effect than women. Fraternity initiations humiliate pledges. Sorority initiations are friendly gatherings.
Humor seems stronger when it also stops envy. If you envy somebody, it is more enjoyable to see them make a rank-reducing mistake. Their mistake simultaneously triggers your humor and stops your envy. This is the tall-poppy syndrome. People prefer to criticize tall-poppies because it triggers humor and stops envy. The most vocal critics of tall-poppies are their former peers, who feel the strongest envy.
Humor seems stronger when it also stops revenge. If you hold a grudge against someone, it is more enjoyable to see them make a rank-reducing mistake. Their mistake simultaneously triggers your humor and stops your revenge. Spreading gossip about somebody is more enjoyable when the other person has spread gossip about you.
People joke about or criticize others for making mistakes they worry about making. The more somebody could make a particular rank-reducing mistake, the more they enjoy identifying others making that same mistake. People on diets are the first to joke about others being fat. People who have recently quit smoking are the most vocal critics of smoking.
Other Species
Chimpanzees feel humor.
“ Georgia lives at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia. When she sees visitors approaching, she hurries to the tap to collect a mouthful of water. She then mingles with the other chimps, and not even the best observer will spot anything unusual. Georgia can wait for minutes with closed lips until the visitors come near, then there are shrieks and laughs as she sprays them. ” Frans de Waal, Suspicious Minds (NewScientist)
Happiness Dissected is a more practical version of The Origin of Emotions.