Humor+&+Satire

**[[image:Laughter.jpg width="400" height="345" align="right"]]The First Joke: Exploring the Evolutionary Origins of Humor**
By Joseph Polimeni and Jeffrey P. Reiss, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada  (Here are a few ideas drawn from their paper on humor.)

**Given that even a simple joke can utilize language skills**, theory of mind, symbolism, abstract thinking and social perception, humor may arguably be humankind's most complex cognitive attribute. Despite its complexity, humor is also paradoxically reflexive – people typically laugh without consciously appreciating all the causal factors. Whether something is funny or not is often dependent on nuanced verbal phrasing in combination with a full appreciation of prevailing social dynamics. Humor generally contains two incongruous elements; one element is socially normal while the other constitutes a violation of the “subjective moral order.” (Moral order is defined as the "rich cognitive and emotional system of opinions about the proper order of the social and natural world.")

**Humor is complex and dependent on a myriad of subjective associations.** Unlike any other animal, only humans seem to fully possess the cognitive machinations necessary for humor. The use of rich complex symbols within the framework of a universal syntactical structure, in combination with a high-powered working memory invariably leads to intricate conceptualizations. This ability — to quickly manipulate multifaceted symbols in the service of even more intricate conceptualizations — may be an essential distinguishing feature of homo sapiens.

media type="youtube" key="Lvcnx6-0GhA" width="560" height="315" "**An argument, in Critical Thinking,** is not just a conversation in which two people hurl abuse at each other. Neither is it the same thing as straightforward disagreement; there’s a difference between arguing with someone and merely contradicting them. As Monty Python’s Argument Clinic sketch puts it, an argument is “a collected series of statements to establish a definite proposition,” an attempt to persuade by offering reasons. Any statement that attempts to persuade you that something is true by offering at least one reason for thinking that it is so counts as an argument." (From criticalthinking.org.uk) 

Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live media type="youtube" key="iVvpXZxXWZU" height="360" width="640"

Language & Humor
**Humor, definition from [|wikipedia]**: "The tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humors (Latin: //humor//, "body fluid"), control human health and emotion. People of all ages and cultures respond to humor. … Though ultimately decided by personal taste, the extent to which a person will find something humorous depends upon a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, intelligence and context."

**Humor is often punctuated by visual content.** That's why many people like slapstick, because of visual comedy. media type="youtube" key="gT2Iii0Psao" height="360" width="640"

Humor & Context
**Context: ** 1. **The parts of a written or spoken statement** that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context. 2. **The set of circumstances or facts** that surround a particular event, situation, etc.

The Power of Satire
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Definition from [|wikipedia]: "**In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals or society into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon." In the video below, British BCC Host, David Frost, discusses the impact of satire on politics with American satirist, Jon Stewart and Bill Maher. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">media type="youtube" key="7bznJf6_u4w" height="315" width="560"
 * <span class="wiki_link_ext" style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Daily Show 2012 **
 * <span class="wiki_link_ext" style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Daily Show, KOS **

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Satire in Politics
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">**As anyone who knows Shakespeare understands,** the role of the fool or court jester can be very powerful. Shakespeare often placed a fool near his kings. The fool's role was to speak "truth to power." As author Isaac Asimov says in his //Guide to Shakespeare//, "That, of course, is the great secret of the successful fool–that he is no fool at all." The role of political satire in the 2008 presidential election is an example of this adage. It played so significant a role, it may have impacted the outcome of the election. Below is commentary on the subject of political satire and it's impact, written on [|Salon.com] before the 2008 election.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Steven Colbert, White House Press Corps Dinner, 2006, Part I <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Steven Colbert, White House Press Corps Dinner, 2006, Part II <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Steven Colbert, White House Press Corps Dinner, 2006, Part III

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Comedian George Carlin Speaking to the National Press Club, 2009
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">media type="custom" key="25262096"

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Much of today’s political humor requires a smart and savvy audience** that keeps up with current events — if only in order to mock it. “I just don’t think people would find our show funny if they were getting their news from us,” says Samantha Bee, “Daily Show” correspondent. “They would have to be getting the news from somewhere to get the jokes. I mean, I don’t think you would understand or enjoy the show at all if you didn’t know a little bit about what was going on in the world. I think you would find it terribly confusing, and would be watching it with no sense of irony, and then you would be lost and change the channel.”
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Salon.com:**

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**But has any of this smart political humor had an impact on the candidates,** the election or our politics? It may be safe to argue that comedy changes the national mood, but can it change the national political climate in more fundamental ways?

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**“Plato and Aristotle feared humor’s power to undermine authority,”** says Provine, who distinguishes between “laughing with” and “laughing at” types of humor. “‘Laughing with’ is bonding, and what we do with friends and like-minded folks. ‘Laughing at’ is directed to others, as in ridicule and jeering. Recently, Palin has been tapping the ‘laughing at’ mode toward Barack Obama.” Provine says ‘laugh with’ humor tends to be more effective, however. “Tina Fey may have a very real effect on the election outcome, and to a lesser extent, so will David Letterman, because their more gentle and devastating variety is more effective than the heavy-handed Palin sort. It may sway the uncommitted and influence the faithful.” || <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Jon Daily on Satire — Rolling Stone Interview <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">existing news. Here's an example: The clip in the upper right shows <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">John McCain wandering on the set at the end of the presidential <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">debate between Senator McCain and then Senator Obama on October <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">7, 2008. The clip directly to the right shows McCain wandering <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">behind Obama in the same debate. (McCain's wandering begins <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">2.52 minutes into the clip and runs to 3.15 minutes.) These are the <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">moments that led to the satirical skit on //Saturday Night Live// shown <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">in the clip above. The clip also talks about Tina Fey's success at <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">lampooning VP candidate, Sarah Palin. Here's another clip of <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Tina portraying [|Sarah Palin.] The interesting question is whether <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">this and other successful satire had any impact on the outcome of the <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">2008 election. ||  || <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Jon Stewart & Bill Maher on Satire <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Colbert Nation <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">The Daily Show <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">[|The Onion, a satirical news site]
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px;">**How Powerful is Satire?** ||
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">media type="youtube" key="-UdHGunH-2I" height="323" width="431" align="left" || <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">media type="youtube" key="UsxEyKWESn0" height="252" width="336" ||
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">**As the article above points out,** satire draws from
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">More video clips on satire: **