Why is flat humor considered a primitive form of joke?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Is it genetically transmitted or does a good sense of humor develop over the course of life? This question remains open until now. Experts tend to believe that the craving for humor is transmitted to us from birth, like temperament. If we consider humor from an intellectual point of view, it turns out that there is no direct connection between education and the desire to joke. Many smart people either don't know how to laugh or don't understand jokes, while people with secondary education instantly react to an ironic combination of words.

Let's take a closer look at what humor is. The unit of humor is a joke, at the head of which is a paradox - the main generator of funny. A sense of humor is the ability to perceive a paradox. All people have this ability, but its peculiarity is due to the fact that the paradox can be simple and complex.

What is flat humor?

A person with a subtle sense of humor easily absorbs complex paradoxes. With the development of personality, the skill of wit and self-irony moves forward. He ends up marryingsimple paradoxes, calling them obvious, stupid and undeveloped. Attempts to joke rudely or inappropriately are called flat humor.

In general, they joke in order to entertain others, to please the opposite sex. Sometimes the ability to joke becomes a way to earn money. Often, the performances of famous comedians gain huge audiences.

If at times an attempt to make you laugh doesn't elicit laughter in return, and many people feel embarrassed by it, then they say that it failed. A flat joke coming from the interlocutor (as a rule) does not arouse sympathy for him, rather, characterizing him as a close-minded and ill-mannered person.

What is funny?

Why do some jokes get laughed at while others don't? Much depends on the environment, belonging to a particular nation, age, and so on.

Children's jokes do not seem funny to adults, although the guys themselves laugh at them for a long time and contagiously. Everyone knows such a phenomenon as English humor. It differs from others in that it is built on a linguistic game, a subtle combination of words, multiplied by the effect of surprise. Without a good knowledge of English and British traditions, it is impossible to comprehend their humor. From the outside it may look flat.

The humor of the Soviet times may also seem incomprehensible to the modern generation. People who grew up in the notorious zero years will not be able to appreciate the subtle intellectual humor of Eldar Ryazanov's comedy heroes. For many, Zhenya Lukashin (everyone remembers the film "The Irony of Fate, or With a Lightferry!") is a loser who cannot deal with two women, and the heroes of the comedy "Garage" in the eyes of the modern generation look ridiculous in their struggle for "a piece of scrap metal". For a worthy assessment of the plot, elementary knowledge of the life and customs of the Soviet era is necessary.

But today it is not surprising that today's free attempts at joking seem to the older generation to be flat or below the belt humor. Sometimes even a rude joke can be funny, with the only difference being that you want to renounce it and forget it as soon as possible.

Research scientists

Recent research by scientists has led to the relationship between humor and pain. As it turned out, the areas responsible for pain in the human brain instantly respond to jokes.

Any joke is a product of the reaction of the nervous system to a paradox, a surprise. If something does not fit into the scheme of one's own perception, then the person begins to laugh or joke, protecting himself from difficulties.

The concept that the best comedians and clowns are people who are prone to depression and suicide did not arise from scratch. But in most cases, a sense of humor helps to adjust to reality. A good joke in a new team will make it easier for people to get closer and adapt.

Army jokes

A primitive form of humor, such as a cake in the face, a mockery of a person's appearance or character, is aimed at suppressing the personality. This form is found in an isolated society: the army, prison, even in the school community.

Consider examples of flat humor,especially the army one: “This is not a prison for you. He blew his trumpet for two years and is free!”, “Eat soup, otherwise your stomach will hurt. Then you won’t even need the army”, “Corporal Sidorov, leave your flat jokes for a fool without shoulder straps!”, “The fence has fallen for two days, it still stands”, “If you don’t know, then you need to sit, think, or stand, listen”, “If you want to say something, stand and be silent.”

There are many such stories. It is interesting that narrow-minded people who love to hurt another person with a joke, rather, characterize themselves in this way. It's no secret that subtle humor makes a person more mysterious and interesting.