Horror-mirth and reaction formation

[Golden Applesauce]

Horrormirth isn't just laughing.  I see where you're coming from - The Horror is as much a part of it as the humor, and this board seems to focus more on the humor.  (Can you blame us?  It's funnier that way.)

I find the humor in the incongruity/absurdity of our situation.  We are, bar none, the single most advanced species/civilisation in Known Space .... and the economic system we've built for ourselves makes it more profitable to start wars to sell weapons than to feed people.  Seriously?  What is wrong with us? 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I think that for my own funeral I'm going to designate someone to liven the mood for me. I'll have it in written instructions so if anyone takes exception to it they can whip it out and say they're fulfilling my wishes.

Perhaps I could have used a better phrase.

[Requia ☣]

I had thought whipping it out would be part of the instructions.   

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I had thought whipping it out would be part of the instructions.   

It will be now. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I think that when we laugh at the state of the world, deep down we are not fooling ourselves, its just merely a superficial defense towards the anxiety that we feel deep down.

Nope.  I really am a hateful bastard, Christ, I hate these monkeys so much that I want them actually GET what they've been SCREAMING for...A government and a society that will give them what they deserve.

[The Johnny]

I think that when we laugh at the state of the world, deep down we are not fooling ourselves, its just merely a superficial defense towards the anxiety that we feel deep down.

Nope.  I really am a hateful bastard, Christ, I hate these monkeys so much that I want them actually GET what they've been SCREAMING for...A government and a society that will give them what they deserve.

Maybe horror-mirth needs to come along with misanthropy as to not be in reality a defense mechanism?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I think that when we laugh at the state of the world, deep down we are not fooling ourselves, its just merely a superficial defense towards the anxiety that we feel deep down.

Nope.  I really am a hateful bastard, Christ, I hate these monkeys so much that I want them actually GET what they've been SCREAMING for...A government and a society that will give them what they deserve.

Maybe horror-mirth needs to come along with misanthropy as to not be in reality a defense mechanism?

No.

Horrormirth is a compound word.  Anything can be funny, even if it also evokes horror.

Just because it strikes YOU as a "defense mechanism", doesn't mean it isn't actually funny to others.

[The Johnny]

Im questioning the workings on why certain things are "funny" - and even others than myself have pointed out that sometimes theres the choice between "crying or laughing", which goes along with my proposition that its a defense against anxiety or sad emotions.

[East Coast Hustle]

Whether intentional or not, you appear to be positing that it can ONLY be that, in spite of the fact that some of us actually find that shit funny.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Im questioning the workings on why certain things are "funny" - and even others than myself have pointed out that sometimes theres the choice between "crying or laughing", which goes along with my proposition that its a defense against anxiety or sad emotions.

For you.

For me, it's "laughing until I can't stop screaming", which is a different thing entirely.  

This is the Post-American Century.  Crying isn't an option.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Whether intentional or not, you appear to be positing that it can ONLY be that, in spite of the fact that some of us actually find that shit funny.

His choice:  Laugh or cry.

My choice:  Laugh or rage.  Usually both.  And it ain't anxiety, because I already KNOW we're fucked.  The worrying part is over.

[Whatever]

This is the Post-American Century.  Crying isn't an option.

Beautiful!!! 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

This is the Post-American Century.  Crying isn't an option.

Beautiful!!! 

Actually, you can cry, but only when Representative Boehner and/or Glenn Beck are speaking.

[Triple Zero]

I would say that it is fundamentally wrong to say defense mechanisms of any kind are superficial.  There's really no benefit to saying "well this facet of human experience is wrong, and this one is right."  You may not value your horrormirth, but that's your loss, not ours.

Superficial is probably the wrong word, but I do believe that a lot of these defence mechanisms are based in repressing emotions that are better let out properly. Such as swallowing your anger, hate or tears. But also "pleasing" people, going along with their [perceived] prompts [conflict avoidance], often in very subtle or subconscious ways.

One of the reasons I heard why it's better to let the emotions out, is that 1. keeping them in causes stress, which in turn 2. causes illness. But I don't have any evidence to cite for that [nr.2 is well-researched, though. nr.1, not so sure]. But another reason that I can attest from personal experience is that if you have learned from a young age to keep certain emotions subdued or diverted [and a lot of people have], you may never have learned to express them properly, to let them out and use them in a beneficial way. [I find I have this problem with anger, never really learned to use it properly, and when it comes out, it can make me cry and shake, which is not really a useful way of dealing with it, which in turn reinforces the idea to repress it again]

But I don't know yet really how to apply this to Horrormirth.

[It's kinda wishy-washy alternative stuff, which I learned at that Emotional Body Work course I started taking a while ago (I mentioned it in another thread). But I quit that because the teacher was a manipulative charlatan, ingrown in his "intuitive" ways, spouting bullshit, he would probably feel quite at home at TCC [except for the Wiccan and supernatural stuff]. When I called him to inform him I wouldn't be attending the last two classes of his course, he tried to talk me over, to convince me, with such perseverance it would even put an oldskool door-to-door salesman or Jehovah's Witness to shame (there were even a few thinly veiled threats about my health if I would quit).  I don't know yet if I'm going to say fuck it and leave it at this, or whether I should take some action. I kinda want to email one or two people from the group and ask what he said why I wouldn't be there anymore, or his version of the phone conversation.  I do know, however, that this person is incapable of communicating with me.  I did learn a couple of things though, so I believe it was the clash of our personalities, not the concept of Emotional Body Work, to be fair his method was pretty solid too, if only he'd get somebody else than him to teach it]

ANYWAY, sorry for the derail.

Horrormirth.

What about times when you laugh at something, and you immediately feel bad that you laughed, cause you shouldn't? (the squirrel catapult videos come to mind for me. They have me giggling, but also feeling sad for the squirrel)

[Whatever]

This is the Post-American Century.  Crying isn't an option.

Beautiful!!! 

Actually, you can cry, but only when Representative Boehner and/or Glenn Beck are speaking.

:coffeekeyboard:  Dammit!  There isn't another one to steal!!