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TRACING THE ORIGIN OF HUMOUR

TRACING THE ORIGIN OF HUMOUR. Daniel D. Perlmutter. Marina Fattor 23.11.2009. What is this article about?. Key problem : why do we laugh at a joke? Main theme : the meaning of humour and its mechanisms . HUMOUR. “TRACE”. JOKE. What is this article about?. Some theories about humour…

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TRACING THE ORIGIN OF HUMOUR

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  1. TRACING THE ORIGIN OF HUMOUR Daniel D. Perlmutter Marina Fattor 23.11.2009

  2. What is this article about? • Key problem: why do we laugh at a joke? • Main theme: the meaning of humour and its mechanisms HUMOUR “TRACE” JOKE

  3. What is this article about? • Some theories about humour… • What is a “TRACE”? • What is a “JOKE”?

  4. Some theories about humour… • The early theories about humour cover the last three centuries: Thomas Hobbes (1651), Sigmund Freud (1905), Arthur Koestler (1964), Jacques Lacan (1991) • These theories were essentially descriptive and sought to establish primary categories

  5. Some theories about humour… • The established primary categories and characteristics cover a wide range of alternatives: • Surprise • Contradictions • Incongruity • Inconsistency • Disparagement • Superiority • Sex • …

  6. Some theories about humour… • Anthropological theory (ethnic put-downs) Joke = aggression = superiority = laugh = recognition of the victory • Psychological theory (Freud, unawareness) Unexpected punchline = allows repressed thoughts to surface • Semantic Theory of Humour (Raskin, scripts) Joke = two different scripts (opposite in meaning) • Evolutionary genetics theory (last few decades) Linguistics + neurophysiology

  7. What is a “TRACE”? • The concept of “linguistic trace” was inspired by Chomsky (1965, 1971) and then elaborated by post-Chomskyan linguists • By examining the development of speech in each person, they discovered a particular inborn ability in humans: the process of forming and resolving a trace, which is commonly attributed to evolution via Darwinian natural selection

  8. What is a “TRACE”? • A trace is a word or phrase that has been moved out of its grammatically-appropriate position in a sentence Example • The policeman saw the boy that the crowd at the party accused of the crime. …what’s wrong with this sentence?

  9. What is a “TRACE”? • …there is a moved phrasal element, the boy, that needs a home: • The policeman saw the boythat the crowd at the party accused of the crime. • The policeman saw that the crowd at the party accused the boyof the crime.

  10. What is a “TRACE”? • The process of forming and resolving a trace is what Gould and Lewontin (1979) call a “spandrel” • From an architectural point of view, a “spandrel” is the space within two arches • From Gould and Lewontin’s point of view, a “spandrel” is a sort of by-product of other evolutionary processes, i.e. an incidental event or change which is not linked with survival benefits

  11. What is a “TRACE”? • How do we carry out the process of forming and resolving a trace? • We recognize that the normal word order has been disrupted • We pick up the displaced element (the boy) • We keep it in mind until we find an appropriate structure in the sentence (to accuse someone of something)

  12. What is a “TRACE”? • We literally “store” the displaced element in our short-term memory: the trace has now been formed! • We are therefore able to deal with long distance dependencies, i.e. the ability of holding provisional information in storage until it is released by a signal later in the sentence Example • How Ann Salisbury can claim that Pam Dwaber’s anger at not receiving her fair share of acclaim for Mork and Mindy’s success from a fragile ego escapes me.

  13. N.B. The same “process of storage” can be applied to other domains (problem solving activities): MATHEMATICS GAMES

  14. What is a “TRACE”? • We restore the correct word order: the trace is now resolved! • We are therefore able to deal with complex linguistic structures • …yet, what pleasure can we derive from this large investment of energy?

  15. What is a “TRACE”? • Some recent studies have demonstrated that humans enjoy the intellectual pleasure of speaking and listening • Suppose that we have to do with a complex auditory/verbalstimulus…what happens within our brain?

  16. STIMULUS OPIATE RELEASE S O REACTION CHEMICAL CHANGES R C EMOTION E

  17. What is a “TRACE”? • We like to talk and listen to someone since it gives us a great pleasure (release of opiate-like neurochemicals) • We like to deal with complex linguistic structures since our initial investment of energy (brain electrical potential) as well as our long-distance dependencies are to be ultimately resolved • That is why when we are able to solve a problem we always feel satisfied(pleasure)!

  18. What is a “JOKE”? • The same logic applies to jokes, which usually rely on unexpected turns in speech (complex linguistic abilities) • Yet there is a different outcome: when a joke has been delivered, we do not only feel satisfied, but we burst into laughter! N.B. Our reaction obviously depends on how well the teller builds up the tension, i.e. presents the trace to follow

  19. What is a “JOKE”? • A joke is based on two conflicting logics within one story line: LOGIC 1 LOGIC 2 PUNCHLINE “BISOCIATION” (Koestler) apparent logic  hidden logic ! ! SHOCK OF RECOGNITION

  20. What is a “JOKE”? • Now compare the two processes: • The first is the process of forming and resolving a trace • The second is the process of listening and reacting to a joke • TRACE • Tension • Interpretation • Release • JOKE • Tension • Interpretation (reversal) • Release …the pattern is approximately the same!

  21. What is a “JOKE”? • The joke pattern in more detail: • JOKE • Tension = self-imposed  delayed gratification (usually, in order to put the listener on notice we use an introductory phrase) • “Did you hear the one about…” • “I have a joke for you.” • Reversal = the apparent logic is stored until we understand the hidden logic • Release = laughter

  22. What is a “JOKE”? The joke pattern: graphical representation First step Tension What do you call a hippie's wife? Second step Reversal Mississippi. (River - Mrs hippie) Third step Release AH AH AH PUNCH LINE Reversal LOGIC 1 Tension LOGIC 2 Release

  23. Conclusions • The linguistic process of understanding a trace is approximately based on the same pattern as the process of finding humour in a joke • Both processes are “spandrels” (you do not need these abilities to survive) • Both processes reflect the human capacity of dealing with “long distance dependences”

  24. Conclusions • Both processes are derived from our reaction to a verbal/auditory stimulus and require a high investment of energy • Yet the outcome is different: satisfaction / laughter. • Perlmutter’s definition of joke is necessarily linked with laughter as a response, i.e. with a conventional idea of “joke” (humour = what makes us laugh)  !here we are talking about jokes from a rather abstract and scientific perspective LOGIC 1 + LOGIC 2 + PUNCH LINE = LAUGHTER

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