• Question: What creates humour or sense of humour

    Asked by whgraceandaim to Anil, Blanka, Cees, Emma, Mike on 3 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Emma Trantham

      Emma Trantham answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      I don’t think anyone really knows what creates a sense of humour. There are some theories about how laughing with each other is a way to communicate that we are friends. It’s a really difficult thing to study.

      Perhaps one of the other scientists will know more?

      In the meantime I will leave you with a quote from an author (EB White) “Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.”!

    • Photo: Michael Cook

      Michael Cook answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      I’m afraid I don’t know much about humour either. As you can tell by the jokes on our profiles, it’s not necessarily related to being scientific!

      Lots of linguistic humour is cultural, and based on the experiences we have had in the past. But many other kinds of humour seem completely universal (like slapstick comedy).

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