So Facebook has a memory feature and they sometimes show you post you made on that same day some years back. one of these post recently was of a theory of laughter I made back in 2015 right below is the original but I also figured why not retone it for LinkedIn with the help of AI, Since I been trying to expand my network on the platform,
Original 2015 article with some minor spelling and grammar modifications.
Yesterday while laying in bed I thought about why we sometimes laugh at the pain of others. I came up with a theory and just before writing this I did a bit of research, so as to not create something that was already made as well as to minimize my level of ignorance on the subject. Before going into my theory I would like to talk about my research and share a true story.
There are several theories on humor like the superiority theory, a theory tracing back to ancient philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and coming closer to our time with Thomas Hobbes 1588 -1679. His theory states that we laugh at the misfortune of others because it makes us feel superior and that brings us joy and laughter, an interesting and logical theory but I don’t agree with it, possibly due to bias (I recognize that I try to see the good in people and situations).
moving on to other theories that are closely related to mine, my theory may just be a supporting hypothesis to these older theories. The 2 theories I will talk about shortly seem to me to be more or less the same the first one is the relief theory first mentioned in a 1709 essay written by Lord Shaftesbury, This theory as well as the Incongruity theory began to gain ground on the ancient superiority theory, I will not talk about incongruity theory… I ain’t got all day.
To explain Relief theory we can use the analogy of hydraulics, humor is the relief valve in a pressurized vessel. This theory gets real wacky but remember that this theory is a fairly old, not to worry the other theory I talk about is a rather modern one, so back to relief theory laughter releases animal spirits that have built up pressure inside the nerves, yeah … if we remove the addition of spirit animals this theory seems reasonable, moving on to the last theory, it is closely related to relief theory and my theory (withholding the spirit animals part) the last theory defense mechanism was created by George Eman Valiant in 1977. He categorizes humor as a level 4 defense mechanism (you may want to look into his categorizations of defense mechanism I know I will… someday). In short according to Professor Valiant humor is a way to express openly something that is unpleasant or something terrible to talk about, we can see this in a lot of stand up comedy.
Now before I get into my theory here is a true story that happened to me and a friend. I had an ATV and he had a bicycle we figured it would be a good idea to tow the bicycle to save time on the trip, so we tied a rope to the back of the ATV and he held the other end in his hand while simultaneously holding the handle bars, we started going down hill and he started passing the ATV so I pushed the throttle down to move ahead but unfortunately when he started passing me he let go of the line but it got wrapped around the side of his handle bars, as you can imagine his front wheel made a sharp and violent 90 degree turn and he flew over his handle bars, when I looked back It appeared as thought he was sliding down the hill at a 45 degree angle with his face and shoulder making contact with the pavement, I could not help but laugh it was uncontrollable I tried my hardest to suppress it to no avail,I apologized and helped him back to his home to get patched up.
And now its time to unveil my theory but before I do I must talk about mirror neurons, as a basic understanding of these neurons is required to make sense of my theory. Mirror neurons are a special type of brain cells that fire not only when an individual performs an action, but also when the individual observes someone else make the same action.
My hypothesis is that the subconscious uses laughter as a defense mechanism re-routing the signals from the mirror neurons to avoid feeling the pain you have witnessed. Maybe my hypothesis is wrong and its just a defense mechanism to not make me feel bad about laughing at my friend’s pain, just a bit of humor in an essay about it. I hope you enjoyed reading this and learned something new.
sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_of_humor
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/humor/#RelThe
http://www.brainfacts.org/brain-basics/neuroanatomy/articles/2008/mirror-neurons/
And right below is the Retoned piece that I made the help of AI it saved some time and made it a more professional tone but I feel like the original is still pretty cool just maybe not the best for a LinkedIn article hence the retnoning.
When Laughter Hurts: A Theory of Schadenfreude
Have you ever found yourself laughing at someone who has just taken a painful fall or experienced an embarrassing moment? If so, you're not alone. Laughing at the misfortunes of others is a common phenomenon, but have you ever stopped to wonder why we do it?
There are many theories on the subject, including the superiority theory, which suggests that we laugh at the misfortune of others because it makes us feel superior. However, this theory doesn't account for all instances of laughter in response to the pain of others.
Another theory is the relief theory, which suggests that laughter is a homeostatic mechanism by which psychological tension is reduced. Laughter may serve to facilitate relief of the tension caused by one's fears or anxieties, allowing us to cope with difficult situations.
Before I get into my theory I must explains mirror neurons, they are a type of brain cell that fire not only when an individual performs an action, but also when the individual observes someone else make the same action. They were first discovered in the 1990s by researchers studying macaque monkeys, and are now believed to exist in humans as well. The discovery of mirror neurons has led to a growing understanding of the neurological basis of empathy and imitation, as well as their potential role in social behavior and language acquisition.
I propose an addition to the relief theory: Our subconscious employs laughter as a defense mechanism, redirecting the signals from mirror neurons, in an effort to mitigate the emotional impact of witnessing the pain experienced by others. By laughing, we're able to deflect the emotional impact of seeing someone else's pain and suffering and avoid the physiological distress that would come from empathizing with them in that circumstance.
Of course, this is just a theory, but I believe it offers a compelling explanation for why we sometimes laugh at the pain of others. It's worth noting that mirror neurons are still a relatively new area of research, and much remains to be learned about their role in human behavior.
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(1) AI generated image.
I have done this countless times and I have promised myself to stop doing it. It does not make sense to laugh at others for something that is really paining them...
I guess we do that because we are not in their situation and we don't know how bad they feel...
I laugh. And don't feel the least bit bad about it. I wasn't mad at the group of kids that laughed in my face when I crashed my Segway showing off..
That's a funny ass story.. we used to pull the sled behind the snowmobile until something similar happened.. except I was in the sled so it wasn't quite as funny..