1.
Humor
depends on a specific time. We all know the phrase, “laughter is universal,”
but I think this is only true in the sense that everyone physically laughs. What
is deemed funny does not span across generations and across time, but is time
specific. Morreall goes into great depth analyzing which form of art is better,
comedy or tragedy. In the end, he surmises that, “[h]owever valuable the
attitudes fostered by tragedy were in past centuries, they are now largely
obsolete, and some of them dangerous to the survival of the species. Comedy fosters
a more rational, critical, creative attitude that is more adaptive” (Morreall 81).
Our current uptight, highly stressed out, mentally rigid societies need comedy
to remind us how to act like humans instead of fast paced machines. Similarly,
where comedy was once viewed in a negative light because of the loss of
self-control and disengagement that accompanies laughter, we now highly value
laughter; not only does laughter allow us to avoid the “fight or flight”
emotions in cognitive shifts, but even more basically, laughter is beneficial
for one’s health by reducing anxiety, pain, and boosting the immune system
(93).
2.
Amusement
is more of a state of mind, not an emotion. Emotions are evolutionarily
productive; fear and anger send us into “fight or flight mode,” thus
contributing to Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, otherwise known as survival
of the fittest. “Emotions typically have four components: (1) Beliefs and
desires cause (2) physiological changes, which together motivate (3) adaptive
actions. The person’s (4) sensations of those physiological changes are the ‘feelings’
in emotions” (28). But in humor, do we really believe the situation of the
joke? (Maybe those that see gullible written on the ceiling do). We do
physiologically respond in laughter, but in the opposite way that fight or
flight emotions cause us to act; emotions engage us and make us more alert,
whereas laughter disengages us and renders us unable to act. And how can an
inability to act be adaptive? Usually it is not. Because amusement possesses
only two of the four characteristics of emotions, amusement is not considered
an emotion. “Emotions involve cognitive and practical engagement with what is
going on around us....Amusement, by contrast, involves cognitive and practical
disengagement from what is going on around us” (32).
3.
Humor is
character building. Morreall spends a whole chapter explaining previous
views which say that humor is negative because of the lack of action and
disengagement that it causes. All of the negative views that he expands upon,
and then refutes, are negative only in certain situations and are not true of
humor itself. Then, he switches to discuss the positives of humor, where he
focuses on intellectual and moral virtues. On an intellectual level, he says
that humor promotes open-mindedness, divergent or creative thinking, and critical
thinking (112-113). On a moral level, humor also contributes to
self-transcendence, defined as the ability to “[rise] above personal concern to
appreciate the interests of others” (115). Other important outcomes of humor
are self-knowledge, integrity, mental health, patience, acceptance of people’s
shortcomings, graciousness, perseverance, and courage. Don’t all of these
virtues seem beneficial to possess? Aren’t they things that we as a society
value? Yes, and all you have to do to acquire these character traits is laugh a
little more. Attend a comedy show or two, learn how to drop a few puns in
normal conversation, learn a few good jokes for certain occasions and you are
on your way to possessing many highly desirable moral qualities.
No comments:
Post a Comment