Ming the Mechanic:
You live longer if you have a sense of humor
The NewsLog of Flemming Funch
 You live longer if you have a sense of humor2007-03-15 14:46
4 comments
by Flemming Funch

YahooNews:
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Even better, you might live longer, a Norwegian researcher reports.

Adults who have a sense of humor outlive those who don't find life funny, and the survival edge is particularly large for people with cancer, says Sven Svebak of the medical school at Norwegian University of Science and Technology...

In a subgroup of 2,015 who had a cancer diagnosis at the start, a great sense of humor cut someone's chances of death by about 70% compared with adults with a poor sense of humor, Svebak says.
And, in case you didn't live longer, you'd have had a better time of course.


[< Back] [Ming the Mechanic]

Category:  

4 comments

24 Mar 2007 @ 13:11 by gravitonring : A Theory of Humor by Tom Veatch
in some research the idea is stated that nothing is actually funny, ONLY IRONIC
so that there is an actual formula:

1. the real, but sort of boring situation; [may require left brain logic]

2. the bizarre, unreal, impossible scene; [may require right brain imagination]

3. both scenes 1 and 2 are held in mind;

results: scene 2 is seen as REAL by about half the people [right brain state?], so they are offended!

results: about half will laugh [left brain state?] because they see scene 2 as UNREAL which is the intended and actual case, so it can be laughed at...

timing is also important, scene 2 should probably be the punch line, told last?

in my opinion, most people switch left and right brain states often;

some people [humorless?] may be stuck in right or left?

note: i am NOT tom veatch :)
/////////////////////////////////
http://www.tomveatch.com/else/humor/paper/
A Theory of Humor
Thomas C. Veatch
Department of Linguistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2150,
Currently with Sprex, Inc., 1210 NE 124th St., Seattle WA 98125
email: tv@sprex.com
(This is an HTML version of the paper published in Humor, the International Journal of Humor Research, May, 1998, copyright Walter de Gruyter. Please acknowledge that publication in any references to this work.)
///////////////////////////////


http://www.tomveatch.com/else/humor/paper/  

24 Mar 2007 @ 17:34 by ming : Ironic
That's a good way of putting it. A contrast between the normal reality and the bizarre fantasy. And some people who can only think literally will get offended by the unreal fantasy part, either taking it seriously and finding it unacceptable, or plainly rejecting it as impossible, and either way, not finding it funny at all.

That skill, of being able to hold several versions of reality in one's mind, would be a pre-requisite for having a sense of humor, I suppose. And I would maybe go further and say that it is a component of mental health in general. A person who can not entertain several versions of reality at the same time, real or not, is a bit dangerous for himself and his environment.  

21 Apr 2016 @ 04:55 by Sunshine @188.143.232.32 : gaRnTSnspvRINJYpLMt
You really saved my skin with this initamrofon. Thanks!  

21 Apr 2016 @ 11:38 by Becky @188.143.232.32 : tSHCWaLhJZMNxqWje
At last! Someone with real exriptese gives us the answer. Thanks!  

Other stories in
2012-01-24 00:50: Intellectual Property
2011-11-03 16:51: Seeing the world through the Internet
2009-06-11 18:53: Blogging/Microblogging and work
2008-02-23 17:19: Web 1, 2, 3 and 4
2008-02-22 11:07: Illusion
2008-01-09 22:45: A Communication Model
2007-12-02 20:41: Give One Get One
2007-10-25 21:47: Static or dynamic web metaphors
2007-09-18 22:54: Rethinking blogs
2007-07-04 23:59: Scrutiny of Information


[< Back] [Ming the Mechanic] [PermaLink]? 


Link to this article as: http://ming.tv/flemming2.php/__show_article/_a000010-001811.htm
Main Page: ming.tv