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What\’s so funny?

Interesting article in the New York Times recently.

See, this is the kind of psych that interested me when I was studying it. Apparently if you\’re not a professional comedian, you\’re only as funny as you are powerful. Or if you want to flip that around, it would seem that if you perceive yourself as being in an inferior position, you\’ll be more inclined to laugh as a way to make friends and improve your standing.

Seriously, fascinating stuff. And I like the annecdote at the end about when the grad student told the joke.

As a bonus… since I used the word before, it gives me an excuse to link to one of my favorite movie trailers of all time: Comedian.

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2 responses to “What\’s so funny?”

  1. anderswa Avatar
    anderswa

    i’m sometimes annoyed with myself by how much of my spoken interactions (with co-workers, mostly) are in a laugh-type voice. for anyone who knows me well, it’s a clear sign of my discomfort with my surroundings. i do that a lot lately at work.

    semi-relatedly: i’ll never forget watching “natural born killers” for the first time. at one point, rodney dangerfield is shown as being abusive towards his on-screen daughter, juliette lewis. it’s a disgusting scene, but there’s a laugh-track behind it, and, despite being grossed out, i found myself laughing along with it. pavlovian.

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  2. Brian Scott Avatar
    Brian Scott

    I really did not like Natural Born Killers. I thought most of it was just dumb. But I also remember that scene. It was very effective. Exposed the tools that TV and movies use to affect you.

    I had a similar reaction to The Truman Show. The scene where Truman is reunited with his dad – it is entirely contrived, I know it is contrived, but because of the music playing in the background I find myself getting choked up by it.

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