Three Theories on Humor

What makes something funny? Here’s some theory’s that might explain that.

The relief theory suggests that humor is meant to release psychological tension. A nervous laugh if you will.

This theory was endorsed by Sigmund Freud. He thought that humor created tension in us that we released by laughing.

This theory proposes that you laugh at others misfortunes because you feel superior. If you see someone fall, you laugh because you feel good about how strong your balance is, or something like that.

This theory can be traced all the way back to my boy Plato.

I think they made up words for this theory. Anyway, this theory asserts that humor comes from things being out place, but close enough that there’s a connection.

Take this quote from Dan Gilbert. The ending doesn’t, how do you “feel avocado?” But, he prefaces the confusion by building up how much your brain likes things to make sense, and dislikes nonsense, so when he says “feel avocado” it makes sense within the context he set up.

Trying to come up with a conclusion to this post is making me feel avocado…

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