My husband brought this subject up today...not in those exact words, but he was talking about why people think that seeing other people get hurt is humorous. Take for example, America's Funniest Home Videos. I haven't seen that show for a long time, but I imagine that it still has a lot of face plants, slips, trips and painful looking accidents. Why do we find these things amusing? If you took these videos to a third world country...would they find it funny or is this just some kind of civilized reaction to seeing pain? I am curious to know. I wonder if someone could get a research grant for something like that? I don't think its a purely American thing, since British comedies are rife with physical comedy also (physical comedy should be translated as pain).
Is this a natural reaction? Or is it learned? I have no idea, but if its learned it appears to be learned at an early age, because my kids seem to find this kind of thing amusing, and I don't remember teaching them to laugh at things like that. On the other hand, is it a male thing? These are questions that someone must know the answer to.
I have noticed through witnessing situations that are amusing to some people, that the person that goes through the pain, is usually not amused by it. Perhaps some would mistake their embarrassment for amusement, but generally I think that they are just in pain, and embarrassed that there are witnesses to that pain. So, its pretty safe to say that inflicting pain on yourself will not bring you happiness. It doesn't seem like inflicting pain on another person purposely will bring you happiness either. However...witnessing an accident, or better yet, pain that has come from an unwise decision or activity on the part of someone else, seems to make us feel better. Maybe that is why people laugh. They see someone trying to show off on a skateboard for their friends do a faceplant, and they think to themselves "I would never do anything that dumb." This is an instant boost to their personal self esteem, and makes them feel superior to the poor person that is on their way to the emergency room. They see someone braving the cold winter weather, slip on a patch of ice, and fall on their rear end, and the witness is suddenly more grateful to be where they are, and not falling on their own rear. Seeing the misfortunes of others does seem to give a kind of comfort to those who don't have misfortunes themselves. We all go through those times though. Most everyone has had some painful or embarrassing incident, where they were the one that everyone was staring at and/or laughing at. So is it human nature to forget about our own past embarrassments when we see someone else going through it themselves? What has happened to compassion? I am not sure. But I am going to think twice the next time I see someone trip and fall, or ride their bike into a tree. Of course I won't be able to help feeling glad that I am not the one going through the pain, but maybe I will be brave enough to offer a hand up to them, or to apply first aid, or just a word of encouragement. I hope that my children will grow up to be compassionate rather than callous, and that they will also be able to find some humor in their own misfortunes rather than the misfortunes of others.
Is this a natural reaction? Or is it learned? I have no idea, but if its learned it appears to be learned at an early age, because my kids seem to find this kind of thing amusing, and I don't remember teaching them to laugh at things like that. On the other hand, is it a male thing? These are questions that someone must know the answer to.
I have noticed through witnessing situations that are amusing to some people, that the person that goes through the pain, is usually not amused by it. Perhaps some would mistake their embarrassment for amusement, but generally I think that they are just in pain, and embarrassed that there are witnesses to that pain. So, its pretty safe to say that inflicting pain on yourself will not bring you happiness. It doesn't seem like inflicting pain on another person purposely will bring you happiness either. However...witnessing an accident, or better yet, pain that has come from an unwise decision or activity on the part of someone else, seems to make us feel better. Maybe that is why people laugh. They see someone trying to show off on a skateboard for their friends do a faceplant, and they think to themselves "I would never do anything that dumb." This is an instant boost to their personal self esteem, and makes them feel superior to the poor person that is on their way to the emergency room. They see someone braving the cold winter weather, slip on a patch of ice, and fall on their rear end, and the witness is suddenly more grateful to be where they are, and not falling on their own rear. Seeing the misfortunes of others does seem to give a kind of comfort to those who don't have misfortunes themselves. We all go through those times though. Most everyone has had some painful or embarrassing incident, where they were the one that everyone was staring at and/or laughing at. So is it human nature to forget about our own past embarrassments when we see someone else going through it themselves? What has happened to compassion? I am not sure. But I am going to think twice the next time I see someone trip and fall, or ride their bike into a tree. Of course I won't be able to help feeling glad that I am not the one going through the pain, but maybe I will be brave enough to offer a hand up to them, or to apply first aid, or just a word of encouragement. I hope that my children will grow up to be compassionate rather than callous, and that they will also be able to find some humor in their own misfortunes rather than the misfortunes of others.
1 comment:
I think part of it is psychological. If it's called "AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS", you automatically find it funny. Also, cartoons like Looney Tunes have LOTS of stuff like that...
Post a Comment