Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Does humor always spring from surprise?

Some believe humor springs from Benign Violations. Basically, that something defies my expectations but I consider it harmless. This is more specific than surprise in that the social context is als...

posted 6mo ago by Eric Isaac‭  ·  edited 6mo ago by Eric Isaac‭

Answer
#2: Post edited by user avatar Eric Isaac‭ · 2023-11-12T11:57:33Z (6 months ago)
grammar correction
  • Some believe humor springs from [Benign Violations](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20587696/). Basically, that _something defies my expectations but I consider it harmless_. This is more specific than surprise in that the social context is also considered to be equally important.
  • To your examples, wordplay communicates a number is socially desirable conditions.
  • 1. I speak your language well enough to engage in wordplay.
  • 2. I share (at least some) of your expectations and social norms.
  • 3. I have enough goodwill towards you to see violations of my expectations as benign.
  • Viewed from this same social lens, _The Spirit in the Staircase_ and _certain groups who take a long time to get jokes_ could also hint at people who are slower to generate the assumed shared expectations, or may be embedded in different norms.
  • A proponent of this theory would assert that humour (such as wordplay) does require a violated expectation.
  • Some believe humor springs from [Benign Violations](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20587696/). Basically, that _something defies my expectations but I consider it harmless_. This is more specific than surprise in that the social context is also considered to be equally important.
  • To your examples, wordplay communicates a number is socially desirable conditions.
  • 1. I speak your language well enough to engage in wordplay.
  • 2. I share (at least some of) your expectations and social norms.
  • 3. I have enough goodwill towards you to see violations of my expectations as benign.
  • Viewed from this same social lens, _The Spirit in the Staircase_ and _certain groups who take a long time to get jokes_ could also hint at people who are slower to generate the assumed shared expectations, or may be embedded in different norms.
  • A proponent of this theory would assert that humour (such as wordplay) does require a violated expectation.
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Eric Isaac‭ · 2023-11-11T17:10:46Z (6 months ago)
Some believe humor springs from [Benign Violations](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20587696/). Basically, that _something defies my expectations but I consider it harmless_. This is more specific than surprise in that the social context is also considered to be equally important.

To your examples, wordplay communicates a number is socially desirable conditions.

1. I speak your language well enough to engage in wordplay.
2. I share (at least some) of your expectations and social norms.
3. I have enough goodwill towards you to see violations of my expectations as benign.

Viewed from this same social lens, _The Spirit in the Staircase_ and _certain groups who take a long time to get jokes_ could also hint at people who are slower to generate the assumed shared expectations, or may be embedded in different norms.

A proponent of this theory would assert that humour (such as wordplay) does require a violated expectation.