Sermon #1 on 21C Fun

[Junkenstein]

Also, absofuckinglutely about laughter.  More people need to laugh.

Not just that, people need to learn when it's appropriate to laugh. The right answer here is it is (almost) ALWAYS appropriate to laugh, it's just that the laugh changes somewhat based on the circumstances. I laugh all damn day at most things because most of the time it's the only logical response.

Take today, my last day at this place. Various folk acting strangely around me because it was my last day. What other response can you have beyond "Laugh in their face about this behaviour"?

[Dildo Argentino]

AMEN, Reverend!

A good one. In places it really reminds me of "Listen, Little Man!" by Doctor Reich. Only he was more angry and serious. Time and time again it is demonstrated: anger and laughter are a winning combination. Thank you.

[Sita]

People look at me strangely when I smile. I can just imagine the looks if I were to laugh...

[Doktor Howl]

People look at me strangely when I smile. I can just imagine the looks if I were to laugh...

That's half the fun.

[Vanadium Gryllz]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

[Doktor Howl]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

But yes, it is.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

...holy shit.

Yeah, when it leapt from tumblr to facebook, I thought it was a joke.  I posted LOL, but then noticed that I was the only one LOLing.

Not that this stopped me, or encouraged good behavior or anything.  There are limits, and people who would take that seriously have passed those limits.

NEVER STOP THE LOL

THEY WILL PRY MY LOL OUT OF SOMEONE ELSE'S COLD DEAD HANDS.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

I can think of many exceptions to this. Laughing at EVERYTHING, or thinking that there is no such thing as "bad" or "good", makes you a sociopath.

[hooplala]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

I can think of many exceptions to this. Laughing at EVERYTHING, or thinking that there is no such thing as "bad" or "good", makes you a sociopath.

So do sociopaths find things funny?  Is it only empathy they lack? This probably a question for another thread...

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

I can think of many exceptions to this. Laughing at EVERYTHING, or thinking that there is no such thing as "bad" or "good", makes you a sociopath.

So do sociopaths find things funny?  Is it only empathy they lack? This probably a question for another thread...

Yes, they don't necessarily lack affect, just empathy. Seems to be related to underactivity in the amygdala, whereas humor is in the lower frontal lobes.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/412229

UNRELATED: While I was looking for the above link, I happened upon this article, which is kinda jaw-droppingly, shockingly sexist. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/01/hitchens200701#

[xXRon_Paul_42016Xxx(weed)]

Do you mean the 'a man farting louder than a woman is fart-raping her' thing, or do you mean the 'forcing someone to pretend to enjoy your farts' thing?
Because the latter is a lot close to rape than the first IMHO.

The first one.

That has GOT to be satire.

That and teenagers who dont know better on tumblr, who can turn pretty much anything into A Thing, for at least a day or so.  Remember when Benedict Cumberbatch was a slaver?  Exactly.

Wait, what?

[Dildo Argentino]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

I can think of many exceptions to this. Laughing at EVERYTHING, or thinking that there is no such thing as "bad" or "good", makes you a sociopath.

Can I argue with that? Just a little?

First, I think you can believe in good and bad and still laugh at everything. You can be crying your heart out and still be laughing... you can be angry as fuck and still be laughing.

Second: calling 'good' and 'bad' arbitrary labels can be a sign of sociopathy... but I think it can also be a sign of the postconventional person. As  Thaddeus Golas said:

"When your consciousness is open, any action you take in reference to evil has no more significance than digging a ditch to channel floodwaters from a house." - in The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment

Which, don't get me wrong, is a fair bit of significance. In fact, it is all there is.

[Cain]

Do you mean the 'a man farting louder than a woman is fart-raping her' thing, or do you mean the 'forcing someone to pretend to enjoy your farts' thing?
Because the latter is a lot close to rape than the first IMHO.

The first one.

That has GOT to be satire.

That and teenagers who dont know better on tumblr, who can turn pretty much anything into A Thing, for at least a day or so.  Remember when Benedict Cumberbatch was a slaver?  Exactly.

Wait, what?

Jezebel had a fairly reasonable take on this (for once), but it quickly descended from "doesn't have to apologise but would be nice" to "Benedict Cumberbatch is the modern embodient of the Nazi White Power structure" because social media.

There's also a certain delicious irony in (mostly) Americans getting all righteous about British slavery, but that's another matter entirely.

[Vanadium Gryllz]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

I can think of many exceptions to this. Laughing at EVERYTHING, or thinking that there is no such thing as "bad" or "good", makes you a sociopath.

Can I argue with that? Just a little?

First, I think you can believe in good and bad and still laugh at everything. You can be crying your heart out and still be laughing... you can be angry as fuck and still be laughing.

Second: calling 'good' and 'bad' arbitrary labels can be a sign of sociopathy... but I think it can also be a sign of the postconventional person. As  Thaddeus Golas said:

"When your consciousness is open, any action you take in reference to evil has no more significance than digging a ditch to channel floodwaters from a house." - in The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment

Which, don't get me wrong, is a fair bit of significance. In fact, it is all there is.

Well if you laughed at everything there wouldn't be much time to get anything done. And you'd probably end up with a punch to the face eventually. Of course there are situations where you have to take into account the viewpoints and feelings of others into account before letting loose but it's exactly those situations - where a lack of awareness (or everyone else's lack of humour?  ) has led to akward social interactions. Is there a distinction between sociopathy and oddity or are they just the same thing at different degrees of severity?

On the topic of 'bad' and 'good' - possibly a discussion for a different time but I merely meant that a lot of the time when people are getting wound up about something it has already happened and it can't be changed so really one's own reaction to the situation is the only thing you have control over. Why waste mental energy stewing over it?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have laughed at things in the past and been told very straight-forwardly 'That's not funny.' Sometimes this reaction is constrained to just a strange look.

This confuses me every time. I think I just find the unexpected or different to be a lot more fun than some people and putting labels like 'bad' or 'good' on events seems like a waste of thought-power when laughing and waiting to see what will happen next is so interesting.

The point at which a topic becomes Serious Business is a mystery.

I can think of many exceptions to this. Laughing at EVERYTHING, or thinking that there is no such thing as "bad" or "good", makes you a sociopath.

Can I argue with that? Just a little?

First, I think you can believe in good and bad and still laugh at everything. You can be crying your heart out and still be laughing... you can be angry as fuck and still be laughing.

Second: calling 'good' and 'bad' arbitrary labels can be a sign of sociopathy... but I think it can also be a sign of the postconventional person. As  Thaddeus Golas said:

"When your consciousness is open, any action you take in reference to evil has no more significance than digging a ditch to channel floodwaters from a house." - in The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment

Which, don't get me wrong, is a fair bit of significance. In fact, it is all there is.

Oh, good, a bit of philosophical wankery. Just what this thread needed.