1- Slapstick Humour
The first circuit of humour shown by the upright hairless apes was Slapstick Humour. One ape was walking toward a pond of muddy water, got their foot caught by a root, and tripped, face first into the slop. After a moment of taking the scene in, all the other upright hairless apes began hee-hawing without knowing why. For some reason the pain and misfortune of the fallen ape stirred something new in the upright hairless apes. It made them feel good.
2-Toilet Humour
The second circuit of humour shown by the upright hairless apes was of Toilet Humour. The largest ape was bullying the smaller apes around, grunting orders and gesticulating wildly to make his point. As he picked up the smallest ape, and tossed him in the direction he wanted him to move, the smallest ape let out a large, long, fart of defiance. Another pause, and then the apes began to hee-haw again. The large ape turned in anger and was going to attack the smaller ape when he was struck in the face with a large turd. The hee-hawing grew louder, and out of shame the large ape wandered away for good.
3-Satirical Humour
The third circuit of humour appeared just before speech developed. A new large ape had been bullying the smaller apes around, and behind his back a tall ape was mimicking the large ape's distinctive facial movements and posture. He grunted, and scratched, and pouted and mugged mercilessly. It took the other apes a few moments to realize what the tall ape was attempting to portray, but once it sunk through, the hee-hawing began anew. The first form of political humour.
4-Intellectual Humour
The final circuit developed when speech became available. The first conversations were dry and humourless, amounting to little more than "Animal, there." or "Me hungry" or the always popular "Me So Horny", but the fourth circuit popped into circulation with the invention of the first limerick, which went like this: "There once was a girl named Zee, who was raped by that ape up the tree. The result was most horrid, all ass and no forehead, three balls and an ill-groomed goatee". This was the first form of verbal humour, but also -possibly- the first philosophical musings of humanity's origins. This was a large step beyond stubbing toes, farts, and imitations, this was the beginning of the critique on society that humour has become.
5-Lulz
A strange circuit of humour has recently been identified, known mysteriously as "lulz". This mystical form of humour resists definition, as Potter Stewart once famously said, "I know the lulz when I see it".
Yeah, pretty good. I like it. But, ah, how do you account for Al Gore?
any chance on doing the latter four ciruits?
Quote from: N'yo B?©, Terrorist Zenjaany chance on doing the latter four ciruits?
I've been thinking about that, but so far I haven't been able to come up with anything that seems to apply . . . if anyone else comes up with anything, feel free to add . . .
Is "joking about something because otherwise you're going to scream" a facet of intellectual humour, or of satirical humour, or another circuit entirely?
i especially like how 'language' seems to pop in on the third circuit.
hmm
let me think about the 5-8 circuits and get back to you.
for posterity's sake:
1. Slapstick = Oral Biosurvival...Food, mommy, etc...
2. Toilet Humor = Anal Territorial...Dominance/Submission, daddy, etc...
3. Satire = Semantic Cicuit, Language, Patterns, 'Self' emerges.
4. Intellectual = SocioSexual Circuit, 'Parent' stage or "Maturity", social
heirachy, sex/romantic relations, etc...
***
Quote from: DJRubberduckyIs "joking about something because otherwise you're going to scream" a facet of intellectual humour, or of satirical humour, or another circuit entirely?
I would say it is a little bit of both . . . I think people like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin could be good examples of that type of joke . . . and I would classify both of them as both 3rd and 4th circuit humour. Actually, both have quite a bit of 2nd circuit too.
Quote from: N'yo B?©, Terrorist Zenjalet me think about the 5-8 circuits and get back to you.
Can't wait!
actually, i think carlin somewhat transcends the circuit map, hail eris!
proof that the map either A) is most accurate, and he's a physical master,
or B) that the map is indeed only a map...
or some other option, even.
in his religion joke "Invisible man in the sky" he hits on
oral, anal, semantic and socio-sexual themes, and brings it all
back at the end of the joke with a quote that touches both
the second circuit and the third:
"...and if you do one of those ten things, he'll lock you in a room
called Hell for aALL eternity. . .but he loves you! and he wants your money!"
Quote from: N'yo B?©, Terrorist Zenjaactually, i think carlin somewhat transcends the circuit map, hail eris!
proof that the map either A) is most accurate, and he's a physical master,
or B) that the map is indeed only a map...
or some other option, even.
in his religion joke "Invisible man in the sky" he hits on
oral, anal, semantic and socio-sexual themes, and brings it all
back at the end of the joke with a quote that touches both
the second circuit and the third:
"...and if you do one of those ten things, he'll lock you in a room
called Hell for aALL eternity. . .but he loves you! and he wants your money!"
Carlin is the best . . . now that I read that I think I must have channelled that routine a bit when I was writing the Jehovah bit in my 4th Snub.
Quote from: gnimbleyYeah, pretty good. I like it. But, ah, how do you account for Al Gore?
;) There is no relativity between Al Gore and humor. And if he didn't luck out and get that one extra chemical added to his DNA chain, he wouldn't be able to crack a proper smile.
Wait a minute....(http://www.emotihost.com/ver1/thinking/6.gif)
it's excessively hard to come up with stuff for the following
(i.e. i haven't thought much bout it...):
5. Neurosomatic, i.e. Ecstasy through tantra, or through chastity while
fasting and remaining abstainent.
Sarcastic Humor
everything that is legitamately funny is still funny, but now those things
especially unfunny are made far more hilarious by the fact that the person
that said it/wrote it/etched it on a cave wall WAS NOT FUNNY, and that
truely is funny.
this circuit was formed, most likely, no more than 100 thousand years ago.
like, when we had already stopped living in trees, and were just starting
to come out of caves and plant stuff. a slightly evolved mokey was once
quotes as grunting: "oh, i'm sure that rock would be good. wanker."
6. Neuro Genetic/Neuro Electric, i.e. the 'source' or at least 'archive' that
we draw 'archetypes' from, i.e. God/Goddess manifestations.
Religious Humor
Primitive Domesticated Apes were now forming factions, disagreeing over
which God to explicate the inexplicable. the 'healer-shaman' of one pack
would frequently, in this stage, Mock the god or goddess of another tribe,
by dressing up as that god/goddess much in a jester sense.
religious humor is also called mockery.
7. Meta Programming, i.e. frontal lobe, infinite regress in the mind, fractal.
i.e. a brain studying it's brain, counting the turtles we're stacked on top
of (turtles, all the way down..)
Self Referencial Humor
These are Jokes, about Jokes. first told in the earliest stages of actual
civilization. ancient sumer, babylon, ancient india, ancient china. etc.
these include puns, play on words, jokes about telling jokes, jokes with
recursive data structure (*Slap* don't interrupt me!) and other silly
things most people still consider vulgar.
the first pun ever told that is still translatable was given by Pythagoras:
"I can't carry any more digits! My arms hurt too much!"
8. Non-Local QUantum Circuit, i.e. OOBE's near death experience, esp,
precognition, telepathy, etc numbo jumbo.
does not exist. this simply isn't funny.
Oh, you dropped the ball.
The 8th circuit of humor must be the realization that all of creation and existence is a joke, that everything is funny.
See the way buddah smiles? That's the 8th circuit of humor.
no, that's a profaning of the 8th circuit humor
No, it's not.
It's the only Truth that shall be known.
LMNO
-knows these things.
no, it's quite true what i said,
i can even quote a reliable source.
Quote from: not N'yo B?©8. Non-Local QUantum Circuit, i.e. OOBE's near death experience, esp,
precognition, telepathy, etc numbo jumbo.
does not exist. this simply isn't funny.
Oh.
Well, then.
::giggles at the Universal Joke anyway::
N'yo B?©, Terrorist Zenja, I love your other circuits! I thought long and hard about it, and could come up with nothing. You are a genius.
However, I do agree with LMNO about circuit 8, but that's just my opinion.
Actually, I do have some problems with the structure myself, but I have to go get drunk soon, so i don't really have time to get into it right now. Perhaps on Monday.
Perhaps.
i also said that i hadn't put much thought into it. it's kinda shitty
and slap dash, i came up with those just after writing:
"i didn't put much thought into this..."
That's cool, there's no grading on this section of the exam...
Quote from: LMNOThat's cool, there's no grading on this section of the exam...
Yes there is!
C+ Must try harder. See me after class.
actually...there's not.
::forges the C+ into a PERL grade before getting home::
BUMPED for fixxage.
The way I see it, all humor is based around our reaction to a dissonance between our understanding and what we're seeing. So each circuit is a result of the violation of the understanding in the corresponding circuit of consciousness.
1. Slapstick. "Oh shit! He fell on his ass! I bet that hurt!". Rather than be safe and self preserving, the character is observed being dangerous and putting themself in harm's way. Think 3 Stooges (idiots acting self destructive.)
2. Breaking social norms/roles. "Wait a second... you can't fart in public! That's icky!". What's observed doesn't fit in with perceptions of acceptability. This is the basis of all gross out/swearing grannies kind of humor. Think Little Tramp (bum acting rich and proper).
3. Non sequiter. "Ha ha! That doesn't make any sense!". Rather than be logical and symbolic (as 3rd circuit thinking implies), what's observed is random and meaningless. Think ATHF (meaningless dialogue, almost no characterization), or Monty Python.
4. Shock humor. "haha omg thats horrible". Not just breaking social norms (though there's a lot of overlap), but breaking senses of morality.
5. Decontextualizing the ordinary. 5th circuit thinking is often heavily symbolic and places a lot of meaning on everything (at least when there's weed involved, if all the "this album fuckin speaks to me man" talk is any indicator.) So, when confronted with the astoundingly ordinary, the 5th circuit thinker laughs from the dissonance. Think Warhol (lol, soup cans), Duchamp (lol, it's a urinal), or stoners laughing at nothing.
6. Laughing at yourself: Part 1. You may have seen the light of the world beyond language, beyond spirituality, beyond yourself, but you're still a hairless ape.
7. Laughing at yourself: Part 2. Despite the overtly empowering message of 7th circuit thinking ("I am immortal! I am an infinitely beautiful manifestation of a spiritual consciousness energy that pervades the whole world!"), you're still a dumbass.
8. Laughing at everything. The smile on the face of Buddha.
(more discussion to be added later. Ambien currently kicking in, making revision/writing impossible.)
somewhere around 6 or 7 should be the non-sequitor running joke (NSRJ) that loops back on itself. Much like RAW wanted 5-9 to reflect 1-4, the NSRJ is the one that violates circuit 3, yet whose constant re-appearance hints at the strangeness of synchronicity and universality.
What the hell is in this coffee?
I don't embrace Leary's circuits 6-8 . . . I'm still mulling over TLU's additions.
I don't either, but as MetaLols...
Well, YEAH.
(They're a hilarious way to break out of an argument, however)
BVH
-eristic sophist
i want to add to circuit 3: "regular humor", or, as John Cleese defined it:
"two frames of reference that initially appear separate, are brought into connection/relation with eachother in an unexpected manner"
(felix helped me with a really nice word in this sentence, but i forgot it :) it's cause i read the dutch translation of the book, so i have no idea what John Cleese's definition of humor actually is in plain english)
why circuit 3? because it's a purely logical way of constructing humor. pretty much all simple puns, jokes and cartoons are based on this structure.
That's a non-sequiter.
Quote from: Hoopla on March 06, 2008, 05:20:34 PM
That's a non-sequiter.
what is?
that definition i just posted? no.
a non-sequitur is something that doesn't really make sense, but is so odd so it's funny, like:
Q: "how do you catch a unique rabbit?"
A: "unique up on it."
Q: "how do you catch a tame rabbit?"
A: "the tame way, unique up on it."
while i could point out the two frames of reference and the way they're brought together, if i really tried, it's more suitable for your run of the mill, standard joke like:
two idiots are waiting at the traffic light. one says to the other "it's green.", the other says "a frog!"
frames of reference that appear unrelated initially: 1) traffic lights, 2) frogs
way they're brought into connection: both are/can be green.
unexpected because: one starts a disucssion about the colour of the traffic light, the other interprets this as a sort of "i spy" game. these are in fact two other frames of reference that are brought into connection. the more you have of those, the higher quality a joke is usually perceived and people say things like "that's funny on so many levels!"
Quote from: Wiki
"A non sequitur is a conversational and literary device, often used for comical purposes (as opposed to its use in formal logic). It is a comment which, due to its lack of meaning relative to the comment it follows, is absurd to the point of being humorous or confusing."
So, I would agree with the frog one being a non sequiter, but not your first example.
At any rate, I still think what Cleese is describing is a non sequiter: putting two unrelated ideas together to make funny.
That doesn't make sense?
well maybe. it all depends on definition anyway.
i myself am pretty big on absurd humor, it's what i grew up with, the belgian cartoonist Kamagurka, mostly.
i personally think the first joke is a good example of absurdism, because it starts out with a weird premise (a "unique rabbit"), and then proceeds with a non standard word joke (it is uncommon to leave out a middle letter for a word joke), creating an atmosphere of absurdity, which is somewhat continued in the second question where the same sort of uncommon word joke is made, but pops up in an unexpected part of the sentence.
whereas the second joke, you agree that its style is much more common, right? maybe it's technically a non-sequitur, but when i hear the term, i always think of something that really "does not follow", really has no meaning relative to the comment it follows, not even afterwards, and is therefore absurd.
perhaps a better example:
- how many surrealists do you need to change a light?
- a fish.
and even here, it's not a complete non-sequitur, because the loop is still closed by the fact that "a fish" being a true non-sequitur (it doesn't even fit the question), on a different level it makes sense, because we were talking about surrealists.
that is the point in Cleese's definition, just having a non-sequitur alone, is not enough. that's just nonsense and is perhaps funny because it is dada or absurd. to make it truly humorous, you need to sort of "close the loop", resolve the non-sequitur.
it is this resolving that triggers the laughter, what appeared to be a non-sequitur (unrelated to the previous comment/frame of reference) actually turns out not to be (as soon as the relation is created), and triggers laughter because this relation is drawn in an unexpected way.
Hmmm. You make a good point.
And I think you're right about the Frog not being totally a non sequiter. My favourite type of humour is the non sequiter, although it can be overused easily (case in point: Family Guy with the Manatee jokes), but maybe what I've been non sequiter isn't completely correct.
ah it's just words, as long as we understand eachother :)
also, i really enjoy taking apart jokes into tiny parts until they completely stop moving :D
I would like to have a version of this in LOLLERCAUST. Would you mind Hoopla?
Not at all.
Quote from: triple zero on March 06, 2008, 06:52:43 PM
ah it's just words, as long as we understand eachother :)
also, i really enjoy taking apart jokes into tiny parts until they completely stop moving :D
ME TOO.
I like the dry, awful, cornball humors. Yeah, shocker I know. Don't know why, it's just always appealed to me.
Also the play on words kind of humor.
The "Who's on First" routine I think is one of the best comedic routines ever concocted.