I'm not having anyone stealing my crown as most obtuse person on the list, thank you!
The reason people can't always "just find something funny" usually depends on the subtext - is this joke denigrating some particular group or type of person by implication? That's why jokes about mothers in law have declined since the 1980s for example. On 19 March 2015 at 12:05, Telmo Menezes <te...@telmomenezes.com> wrote: > > > On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 5:20 PM, Platonist Guitar Cowboy < > multiplecit...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 11:47 AM, Telmo Menezes <te...@telmomenezes.com> >> wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Mar 16, 2015 at 12:34 AM, LizR <lizj...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Well of course laughing AT people you dislike is a classic bullying >>>> technique. And then you say "oh come on it was only a joke!" >>>> >>>> Yet bullies never make jokes about themselves, because they are often >>>> humourless sociopaths. >>>> >>> >>> I agree. I think people understand intuitively that making fun of >>> someone that is at a disadvantage in relation to you is just mean and >>> distasteful. It is sociopathic to find that sort of thing funny. It's very >>> common with teenagers, and I think that part of the reason is fear: if you >>> don't join in on the bullying, you could become the victim yourself. >>> Unfortunately, some people never develop past that stage. >>> >> >> Ok. >> >> >>> >>> I don't think that this joke is mean in any sense. On the contrary, I >>> think that environmentalists that can't laugh about it a bit should be >>> worried that they are becoming too religious. >>> >> >> But why can't somebody just not find it funny period? >> > > Of course they can! > > >> That was what I was addressing in part with my humor sectarian post. >> >> Of course, I enjoy sophisticated humor but not as much as I enjoy the >> really dumb, low kind because of general accessibility + laughing at the >> vanity of high standards itself, which terribly obvious jokes imply. >> > > I don't make this distinction. I think either it's funny or it's not (for > me). > Of course some people pretend to enjoy things that are deemed to be > sophisticated in an attempt to display higher status. But then there's also > humor that arises in some niche of interest, and will only work for people > in this niche. There can be a clicky side to this, but I think there can > also be a healthy side, as a bonding strategy. Live having drinks together. > > In the same way, there can be a dark side to "lowest common denominator" > humor, by killing serious discussion with oversimplification. You should > try following politics in the south of Europe. > > >> >> Because only at this "low point", is humor everywhere, and not just >> monopoly of some group poking fun at another. Kids can relate to this kind, >> strangers in some foreign land, non-specialists, as can old folks out of >> the "oh so sacred loop" of fashions. >> >> And yes, Nazi/harmful literalist can laugh too which most here have no >> problem with; but we do have to point out how Chris is not being cool. >> > > I have no problem with nazis laughing. I would much rather have them > laughing than doing other things. > > >> At least Chris spoke out against this tendency of the list; with history >> showing that conciliatory measures and tone with this type of "argument" >> might not always be good long term strategy for engagement. This I find >> rather funny in a sad/creepy. >> > > I don't understand what you mean here. > > >> >> Assuming I'm some environmentalist and I don't laugh at this joke "a >> bit"... that means I'm too religious?! >> > > No. What feels a bit religious to me is the attempt to paint those who do > find the joke funny as morally flawed in some way. > > >> Why not turn this around as in: What if you're too religious at >> demarcating who is too religious, with some bias towards a category of >> environmentalist? >> > > I don't deny that this is a possibility. Like you, I tend to remember > Gödel. > > >> Is this as funny as the original? >> > > Could be, it's all in the delivery... > > >> I still don't see it but I have a record here for being the obtuse guy ;-) >> > > No you don't. :) > > Telmo. > > >> PGC >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Everything List" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. 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