What exactly is humor? I'm curious about your opinions.

[zambize]

@aurum  I believe you're right, the egos job to protect, defend and survive.  That doesn't imply that every action we do protects, defends, or leads us in some way to survival. The way the ego gets us to survive is by rewarding us with temporary pleasure when we eat, temporary pleasure when we dominate others.  We are chasing pleasure, not the things that cause it.  Think of people who do heroine, they aren't protecting, defending, or leading us to survival.  In reality it's clearly killing you but because it's bringing you pleasure, you do it.  I think there are likely two types of humor, humor which solely seeks after pleasure for the sake of pleasure, and humor which seeks to expose the truth.  Ego dominates the world, yet there is humor everywhere, I think it's a stretch to say that all humor is a letting go of this.   I used knock knock jokes, and I can see your argument there as something childish and raw, let's think of a more intense form of what some people would consider humor.  Think of all the people who called Barrack Obama a monkey, or jokes that aim to put people down.  There are people who genuinely laugh at these jokes, but it's a stretch to call them honest in nature, raw, or childish.  Just like pleasure, humor probably has it's hedonism  and surface level pleasure, as well as a deeper form of shredding off the ego.

@Samra  

I hope I addressed both your points fully!

Edited November 29, 2018 by zambize

[Shin]

[Consept]

This, a serious conversation about humour is hilarious to me 

[Pat Pagano]

All of these have absolutely changed the way I think about humor, and I also feel like i have a better grasp of high and low consciousness comedy. 

15 hours ago, Nahm said:

@Pat Pagano A surprise change in perspective. Try it today. No commitment to any perspective. Flow from any one, to any one. People engrained in one perspective will be thinking you’re very funny. Just make sure you are taking your humor seriously, and don’t mess up. It’s not a game. 

I followed this as best as I could today, especially with the flow of perspectives. I had a very good day and it felt like a much more full or rich experience thank you. 

Also kept in mind a few other posts and the videos. All great perspectives to embody. Thank you all. 

[DrewNows]

Just recently contemplated humor for the first time. So glad I saw this thread. It is so fun to see different perspectives and begin to question my own. Why did that ridiculous video clip make me laugh? Why might someone not find it funny...? 

Nahm’s post is spot on when I think about how I try to make funny’s 

who can tell me why a toddler laughs when there parent hurts themselves? 

 

[Charlotte]

31 minutes ago, DrewNows said:

who can tell me why a toddler laughs when there parent hurts themselves? 

 

Who can tell me why I laugh when someone hurts themselves ?

Seriously interested in some answers though!...

[Nahm]

3 hours ago, DrewNows said:

who can tell me why a toddler laughs when there parent hurts themselves? 

Same thing’s going on. Kid was used to perspectiveless perfection (infinite...infant). Then the grown up is sizably intimidating. But then they trip on a toy like an idiot. The veil is funny at first, as long s someone else has it on. Later, as “grown ups”, it’s “suffering”. 

[Nahm]

8 hours ago, Pat Pagano said:

I followed this as best as I could today, especially with the flow of perspectives. I had a very good day and it felt like a much more full or rich experience thank you.

?? Give it a go again, while consciously breathing from your stomach - all day. Perhaps a line known all too well between hilarity and seriousness will be experienced in a new way, as in, no such line. Maybe without that line, things start to appear to be a little different than usual. Those who enforce that line are seen more clearly for who they aren’t, made from what they’ve decided to take seriously. But alas, we’re all just tripping over our toys. 

[Outer]

6 hours ago, Charlotte said:

Who can tell me why I laugh when someone hurts themselves ?

Seriously interested in some answers though!...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

[Charlotte]

@Outer If someone trip's up in the street (and don't injure themselves) I find it funny but at the same time a small amount of empathy is given for their accident. There is a fine line with this because if someone demonstrates any injury or psychological suffering I don't find it funny.

 

[DrewNows]

3 hours ago, Nahm said:

Same thing’s going on. Kid was used to perspectiveless perfection (infinite...infant). Then the grown up is sizably intimidating. But then they trip on a toy like an idiot. The veil is funny at first, as long s someone else has it on. Later, as “grown ups”, it’s “suffering”. 

Really cool Nahm thanks! So even as an infant, the baby can be making some size comparisons (kinda doesn't sound right)? Or is the "veil" often showing up in the form of a reaction as seen by a kid? 

[DrewNows]

@Charlottethe lower your self esteem the more you might find it funny to see someone actually hurt themselves physically or psychologically. come'on where's your sense of humor!?! 

[Charlotte]

@DrewNows Yes I can see this being a possibility. I've witnessed people pointing and laughing at another's misfortune but it's more spitefully rather than for humourous reasons I think. It's as if they need to belittle other to feel better about themselves. 

[Nahm]

 

34 minutes ago, DrewNows said:

Really cool Nahm thanks! So even as an infant, the baby can be making some size comparisons (kinda doesn't sound right)? Or is the "veil" often showing up in the form of a reaction as seen by a kid? 

Assuming you are somewhere around 5 - 6 ft tall, imagine everyone else is 15 - 18 feet tall, and you don’t understand their language - no mental comparison is needed. ‘Perspective’ is developing as awareness is “attaching”, infinite intelligence is limiting (as a verb) in experience (in appearance).

    The veil is God forgetting. The veil is not psychological conditioning, or identification with physicality, though we’re all free to use words interchangeably of course. 

 

[DrewNows]

10 hours ago, Nahm said:

 

Assuming you are somewhere around 5 - 6 ft tall, imagine everyone else is 15 - 18 feet tall, and you don’t understand their language - no mental comparison is needed. ‘Perspective’ is developing as awareness is “attaching”, infinite intelligence is limiting (as a verb) in experience (in appearance).

    The veil is God forgetting. The veil is not psychological conditioning, or identification with physicality, though we’re all free to use words interchangeably of course. 

 

Not fair! I cannot be in the place if an ? as I have much more knowledge. However I can imagine what frustration an infant might endure communicating and having to relate to such beings. 

How do you mean veil being God forgetting? Maybe a lack of oneness? 

[Joseph Maynor]

On 11/29/2018 at 1:57 AM, zambize said:

Because humor is meaningless and fun, just like life

That's why I don't like humor much.  I like humor but I don't indulge in it.  Somebody beat philosopher Herbert Spencer at chess and Spencer looked at the person and berated them for spending so much time mastering such a useless game as chess!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Spencer

Edited December 1, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Nahm]

4 hours ago, DrewNows said:

Not fair! I cannot be in the place if an ? as I have much more knowledge. However I can imagine what frustration an infant might endure communicating and having to relate to such beings. 

How do you mean veil being God forgetting? Maybe a lack of oneness? 

Apparently.

[Pat Pagano]

On 11/30/2018 at 1:10 PM, Nahm said:

 

Assuming you are somewhere around 5 - 6 ft tall, imagine everyone else is 15 - 18 feet tall, and you don’t understand their language - no mental comparison is needed. ‘Perspective’ is developing as awareness is “attaching”, infinite intelligence is limiting (as a verb) in experience (in appearance).

    The veil is God forgetting. The veil is not psychological conditioning, or identification with physicality, though we’re all free to use words interchangeably of course. 

 

The way you explained perspective is really interesting.  I have not heard it explained that way before and I really like that. This changes the way I look at babies, comedy, and perspectives ahahah

[Pat Pagano]

@Nahm Your post from a few days ago has got me really thinking about seriousness and giving me a lot of new ideas on what it is and how it works, why it is here and lots more. Thank you.

[Aquarius]

Building up tension in the audience, then helping them let it go in the same time. It's fun games, really.