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The game of humor: a comprehensive theory of why we laugh
Abstract
Humor, wit, and laughter surround each person. From everyday quips to the carefully contrived comedy of literature, newspapers, and television we experience humor in many forms, yet the impetus for our laughter is far from innocuous. Misfortune, stupidity, and moral or cultural defects, however faintly revealed in others and ourselves, seem to make us laugh. Although discomforting, such negative terms as superiority, aggression, hostility, ridicule, or degradation can be applied to instances of humor. According to scholars, Thomas Hobbes's theory--that humor arises from mischances, infirmities, and indecencies, where there is no wit at all--applies to most humor. With the exception of play, Charles R. Gruner claims that humor is rarely as innocent as it first appears. Gruner's proposed superiority theory of humor is all-encompassing. In The Game of Humor, he expands the scope of Hobbes's theory to include and explore the contest aspect of good-natured play. As such, the author believes all instances of humor can be examined as games, in terms of competition and keeping score--winners and losers. Gruner draws on a broad spectrum of thought-provoking examples. Holocaust jokes, sexual humor, the racialist dialogue of such comic characters as Stepin Fetchit and Archie Bunker, simple puns, and many of the author's own encounters with everyday humor. Gruner challenges the reader to offer a single example of humor that cannot be de-humorized by its agonistic nature. The Game of Humo…
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“Despite these limitations, our research supports previous research indicating humor as a means to buffer against death anxiety [22, 70], thereby allowing individuals to reappraise their position as being over and above any challenge; taking back power and control over the given situation [71].”
From When the times get tough the toughs get funny: Means by which humor buffers against death anxiety emerged during COVID-19 outbreak (2022) · cites this paper as [71]
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Metadata
- Venue
- Choice Reviews Online
- Publisher
- American Library Association
- Published
- 1998-03-01
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 07
- Pages
- 35-4189-35-4189
- ISSN
- 0009-4978 (ISSN-L)
- 1523-8253
- OpenAlex
- W1833933305
- Cited by
- 375
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 16
- Type
- book review
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Choice Reviews Online (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Humor Studies and Applications
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › American Literature and Humor Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Comics and Graphic Narratives
- Keywords
- humor, laughter, Thomas Hobbes, play, competition, games, jokes, sexual humor, puns, motives
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