Thoughts about Humor

I recently read a post in MEDIUM in which some young person was complaining that her generation is subjected to a lot of bad humor from Boomers, who apparently think it amusing that they love their cell phones too much.

What follows was an off-the-cuff response. I omit some initial persiflage and begin where I get to my point.

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Humor in its essence involves the juxtaposition of the living and the mechanical, the organic and the inorganic. Two quick (and timeless) examples: first, the pun. Why are puns funny? Because they use the vital/organic instrument of language in the most mechanical possible way. The vital way of understanding a word — by its meaning. The mechanical way — by its sound. So even simple puns can be funny.

Another example: the ol’ slip on a banana peel. Comedian, or unwilling victim, slips on the peel and immediately begins trying to regain his equilibrium. Arms flail about. In desperation to avoid a fall, even a usually graceful person can become someone/something quite mechanical.

This is the reason that the latest technology is always a subject of humor. The latest technology, whatever it is, is always the zone where the juxtapositions of vital and mechanical are most jarring. What did the boomers find funny in the ‘60s? Duck and cover drills were always the subject of (a rather grim sort of) humor. The prospect of Armageddon soon to be produced by our own mechanisms, the product as they were of such geniuses as Fermi and Oppenheimer: THAT was funny in a vital-to-be-wiped-out-by-mechanical sort of way.

You mention steam engines in this context. Aren’t they “technically” technology, you ask, then move on in your restless way to something else. Well, let’s pause and answer that one. Of course they are technology! And I’m sure they produced some rib-tickling humor, too. The phrase the “iron horse” for locomotives might have seemed an amusing contradiction of terms back in the days of steam.

Knock knock. Who’s there. Canal. Canal who? Can Al come out and play?

Ahhh, canal building. THAT was a funny technology.

And don’t get me started on this new thing of sharpening your rock before hunting prey….

The latest technology and humor are naturally intertwined because they both address the same fact, the ever-changing human/machine interface.

So the next time someone of any age picks on the fact that people, usually younger ones, stare at their small glowing screens a lot, consider this. Staring at a glowing rectangle, from an exterior point of view, looks like a very mechanical, and even a very static, fact, which may contrast with a lot of hustle and bustle going on around the person staring.

Meanwhile, yes, something vital is also going on. The person staring is acquiring information. And perhaps sharing some. If I am right that humor is in the juxtaposition, then an acknowledgement of that vital aspect is implicit in the use of the image for purposes of humor.

Your article was certainly “successful” in setting off what now seems like a rather long lecture from me. Happy Holidays.

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