To quote the old cliche, "Comedy is serious business." "Serious" because it is one of the truest indicators of the health of a society and culture. A culture that can laugh at itself encourages people to be self-reflective and unafraid of hearing all sides of an issue, even the sides that make us cringe and wince.
Now, this is going to s…
To quote the old cliche, "Comedy is serious business." "Serious" because it is one of the truest indicators of the health of a society and culture. A culture that can laugh at itself encourages people to be self-reflective and unafraid of hearing all sides of an issue, even the sides that make us cringe and wince.
Now, this is going to sound completely preposterous, but I mean it seriously. To what extent is the sense of humor drained out of the mass shooters we have in this country and replaced with a sense of superiority, self-righteousness, and vengeance?
A lot of them find humor together online in 4chan forums before doing their mass shootings, it's just not what folks like you or I would consider humor (memes that are racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic, etc.).
Yes, thanks. Humor has such culture-bound references that it also becomes a shibboleth of sorts for the in-group. I have to believe there is a psychological difference between humor of superiority (like that), and humor of community, catharsis, and incongruity (wit). In other words, laughter of such groups is more the grunting of our primate ancestors than any genuine love of life, which the best humor always conveys.
To quote the old cliche, "Comedy is serious business." "Serious" because it is one of the truest indicators of the health of a society and culture. A culture that can laugh at itself encourages people to be self-reflective and unafraid of hearing all sides of an issue, even the sides that make us cringe and wince.
Now, this is going to sound completely preposterous, but I mean it seriously. To what extent is the sense of humor drained out of the mass shooters we have in this country and replaced with a sense of superiority, self-righteousness, and vengeance?
A lot of them find humor together online in 4chan forums before doing their mass shootings, it's just not what folks like you or I would consider humor (memes that are racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic, etc.).
Yes, thanks. Humor has such culture-bound references that it also becomes a shibboleth of sorts for the in-group. I have to believe there is a psychological difference between humor of superiority (like that), and humor of community, catharsis, and incongruity (wit). In other words, laughter of such groups is more the grunting of our primate ancestors than any genuine love of life, which the best humor always conveys.