2/9 TED LEARNS HOW TO TALK WOW!

Ok so I watched this TEDx video that talked about why things are funny lol. The dude in the video's name is Peter Macgraw and he works for HURL (The Humor Research Lab). He basically states that humor is created by “benign violations”. What did he mean by that? Well he stated that everything that is humorous is a violation of some kind, and by “violation” I’m pretty sure he means a violation of what is expected.

He also stated that these violations must be benign. If the humor is too extreme, it might not be seen as humorous. The opposite is also true. If there seems to be no violation then everything seems to be in order, and the joke falls flat.

Lastly, the dude concludes his argument by stating that everybody is funny under the correct circumstances. What you see as an extreme violation, I might laugh at because I see it at a benign violation, while someone else might see it as simply benign.

I actually agree a lot with this TED talk. I’ve never thought of humor this way before, but when I think of every time I’ve made someone laugh, I was always violating an expectation in an endearing way. I also like how the fact that humor is subjective was included in the TED talk. Different people laugh at different things so audience is important. This explains why I present myself the way I do on Facebook. It explains why 90 percent of my profile pictures are deliberately unflattering. It explains why I prefer typing “HEEERBERT BRUTHDYYYY!!!” instead of “Happy Birthday!” on the walls of my friends. Interesting stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysSgG5V-R3U There's a link fer ya.

*Unit 1*