[abe]

People who have endured more stuff find more things humorous. True or false?

[Peter]

True

[gradient]

When you're talking about human emotions there is no true or false. Some people may have the ability to find humour in more situations after enduring x number of events while others may lose their sense of humour entirely.

[Chuckit]

Not categorically true.

[abe]

Originally Posted by gradient

When you're talking about human emotions there is no true or false. Some people may have the ability to find humour in more situations after enduring x number of events while others may lose their sense of humour entirely.

While I can think of at least one example of each, I wonder if one or the other would represent a very small minority if there were a census of these populations.

[Chuckit]

People who have more experience in life are more likely to find things funny, I guess. I'm not sure it's necessary for the experience to be overwhelmingly negative.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by abe

While I can think of at least one example of each, I wonder if one or the other would represent a very small minority if there were a census of these populations.

Granted I picked a somewhat extreme example as far as losing your sense of humour entirely but my point is that the question was an absolute one - true or false - which is just not valid given the varying nature of human emotions.

[abe]

Originally Posted by gradient

Granted I picked a somewhat extreme example as far as losing your sense of humour entirely but my point is that the question was an absolute one - true or false - which is just not valid given the varying nature of human emotions.

No. Just because the varying nature of human responses might make it difficult to guess accurately and because the statistical evidence may not exist or be readily available to us, here, that is not to say that an absolute majority doesn't exist.

There's no way to know for certain and you just have no feel for it, one way or the other. And so that makes you unwilling to guess.

I think the more difficult times a person goes through it makes them better appreciate the humor in this life.

I think there are people who are broken by their experience but that, given time, many of them will recover from their pain and as they think about life they will find more things funny and fewer things about themselves (at least) to be serious about.

I think it's TRUE.

[turtle777]

I hate generalizations, all of them

-t

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

I hate generalizations, all of them

-t

You should never use generalization and absolutes because they are always wrong.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by Railroader

You should never use generalization and absolutes because they are always wrong.

Exactly.

[BRussell]

I don't know, but I guess it makes sense. If you've been through tough times, you'll appreciate the little funny things in life more.

However, my guess is that sense of humor is largely unchangeable, and a fundamental part of your personality that is less affected by experience and more by genetics.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by abe

No. Just because the varying nature of human responses might make it difficult to guess accurately and because the statistical evidence may not exist or be readily available to us, here, that is not to say that an absolute majority doesn't exist.

There's no way to know for certain and you just have no feel for it, one way or the other. And so that makes you unwilling to guess.

We're not talking about absolute majorities, we're talking about absolutes - two very different things. If the question had been "People who have endured more stuff are more likely to find more things humorous. True or False?" I would without have to answer 'true' even though my personal experiences are to the contrary. But that was not the question and my personal experiences (and my own sense of humour as a result of them) make me 100% certain that there is no correct answer to the posed question.

Saying that I have no 'feel' for the question isn't accurate at all.

Let's see how many threads we can disagree in today!!

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Railroader

You should never use generalization and absolutes because they are always wrong.

Yes, ALL generalizations and ALL absolutes are ALWAYS wrong, no exception. Evar.

[/irony]

-t

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by gradient

We're not talking about absolute majorities, we're talking about absolutes

Actually, we're talking about a generality. He did not say "all people." He just said "people." It could mean all people, or it could mean people in general.

[FeLiZeCaT]

Originally Posted by abe

People who have endured more stuff find more things humorous. True or false?

It's so funny to put things in white and black. Real life doesn't work that way however.

People find things funny for their own reasons, and that may have nothing to do with what they endured, or the quantity of things they had to endure.

You can endured a lot, but unless you have resolved how they affected you, there is no way to tell if that person is still traumatized/depressed by those.

Most people who find things humorous, from my experience, are people who lead simple lives, with not much complications, and most and foremost, because they don't want to make it more complicated.

There is probably a inverse correlation between IQ and sense of humour. The higher the IQ, the less less they find things funny. Age is also a factor, but how determinant it can be I am not so sure.

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by FeLiZeCaT

There is probably a inverse correlation between IQ and sense of humour. The higher the IQ, the less less they find things funny. Age is also a factor, but how determinant it can be I am not so sure.

Hmm, that's depressing, not least because I find lots of things very, very funny.

[Chuckit]

Does having an offbeat sense of humor mean you have a strange IQ?

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Yes, ALL generalizations and ALL absolutes are ALWAYS wrong, no exception. Evar.

[/irony]

-t

Do I have to add /SARCASM] tags to my post so you understand it?

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Railroader

You should never use generalization and absolutes because they are always wrong.

|1 + 1| = 2

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Do I have to add /SARCASM] tags to my post so you understand it?

With some people here, I'm not sure...

-t

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by FeLiZeCaT

There is probably a inverse correlation between IQ and sense of humour. The higher the IQ, the less less they find things funny.

I haven't found this to be the case at all. My IQ is higher than 60 and I find almost everything funny. My guitarist's IQ is lower than 50 and he shares pretty much the same sense of humour (albeit with a greater proportion of toilet jokes).

I have, however, noticed a correlation between political opinion and humour. That is, the left tends to be more humourless than the right. Note that this is simply personal observation, not absolute fact... ...basically, every leftie I know is a humourless moron. Of course, some right-leaning folks I know are also humourless morons, but the frequency of occurrence is nowhere near that of the left. Note also that this is probably limited to the UK and doesn't apply to the US, as your Democrat party is still to the right of our furthest right party.

(Note: This is not intended to take the thread into political territory. Simply an observation about humour).

[himself]

people are not monolithic, binary machinations. Our behaviour and the reasonings behind it (conscious or unconscious) are influenced by an unlimited number of factors. It is extremely complex and well beyond our ability to fully understand. In my opinion, these binary perspectives on human behaviour only seem to be an attempt to simplify it, because real analysis of complex phenomena takes too much effort.

[ghporter]

People with more life experience, good and bad, who manage to adapt and adjust to that experience tend to see more humor in life than those who do not adapt and adjust.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by olePigeon

|1 + 1| = 2

Do people not understand jokes around here anymore?

[abe]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Do people not understand jokes around here anymore?

I think you are maybe starting to see signs of some folks' fuzziness. But, they really can't help themselves.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Do people not understand jokes around here anymore?

Read my post a few up from this for the answer to that one.

[Railroader]

Abe, Doofy. I understand.

[JoshuaZ]

Maybe.

[FeLiZeCaT]

Originally Posted by BRussell

Hmm, that's depressing, not least because I find lots of things very, very funny.

You must have, like, the weirdest IQ.

[FeLiZeCaT]

Originally Posted by Doofy

I haven't found this to be the case at all. My IQ is higher than 60 and I find almost everything funny. My guitarist's IQ is lower than 50 and he shares pretty much the same sense of humour (albeit with a greater proportion of toilet jokes).

Well, I did say "the less less" didn't I?

I have, however, noticed a correlation between political opinion and humour. That is, the left tends to be more humourless than the right. Note that this is simply personal observation, not absolute fact... ...basically, every leftie I know is a humourless moron. Of course, some right-leaning folks I know are also humourless morons, but the frequency of occurrence is nowhere near that of the left. Note also that this is probably limited to the UK and doesn't apply to the US, as your Democrat party is still to the right of our furthest right party.

(Note: This is not intended to take the thread into political territory. Simply an observation about humour).

You, know, what do I know? To each his experience, and whatever they do about it, right? Having a sense of humour is not a monopoly owned by anyone, even if some seem to be slower to either get it, or much quicker, or sensitive than ourselves to get it.

And there's the fact that not everyone laugh at the same thing. I know there are things I find funny that others find boring (the Jack Bauer thread I find funny, but I get bored watching a chaplin movie, even though I can appreciate it. Sometimes, and maybe I confused IQ and the fact that people who are blasé and cynical are not as happy, and therefore, not so inclined to find things humourous.

[abe]

With all due respect to any and all who addressed the issue of sense of humor and IQ, that wasn't the initial proposition.

[rickey939]

Yes.