Blog 2

     The second chapter of Comic Relief was very interesting. I was fascinated when he discussed humor in relation to psychology, emotions, disengagement, and play. I reacted with awe and wondered how these philosophers came up with what humor is or is not. Now, I wonder how much more we will discover about laughter and humor in the future. Also, since I was more familiar with his writing style, the chapter was easier to understand. His writing style is still formal, but he used words that I was more familiar with. It was also easier to understand because he was writing about humor in more modern times, so his examples were relevant to this day and age. Overall, I was able to understand what he was trying to say. I was relieved because I was able to have a better reading experience.

     I was intrigued when the author wrote how humor should not be classified as an emotion. I had never thought about humor and emotion before, so I had a hard time believing that some scholars did consider it as an emotion. This sparked my curiosity about the subject, and I carefully read to learn more. Humor is not the same as emotion because emotions are caused by “beliefs and desires” which lead to action, and humor does not necessarily have to be caused by these factors (Morreall 28). For example, in order to find an eggplant that looks like Richard Nixon humorous, he does not have to believe that the eggplant was Nixon’s head, or have any desires about it for the eggplant to amuse him. After reading this section and applying this theory to examples from my own life, I was surprised when I realized that he was right. In order to find something to be amusing, you do not have to believe anything about it or have desires for it, you just have to find it funny (Morreall 29).

            I was extremely puzzled after reading the section on locutionary acts. I definitely had to reread this section a few times, and I am still not sure if I understood it. I understood what a locutionary act is. I know we say many locutionary statements each day. For example, I have told my roommate “the trash is almost full.” This statement both conveys meaning/information and gives a command. We cannot just say “gkbfj jiheit,” because there is no meaning in that statement. It is not a command, just gibberish (Morreall 34). I was slightly more puzzled reading about the illocutionary act. I eventually understood that this is performed in performing a locutionary act. For example, I advise my roommate to take out the trash when I say the trash is almost full. But the definition that really frustrated me was the perlocutionary act. I did not enjoy reading this paragraph because it was poorly explained. He said that it “is an act performed by means of performing an illocutionary act.” I got a headache just thinking about it. In the example he provides in the book, does it mean that it is performing an illocutionary act? So is it the same thing as an illocutionary act? If so, it seems like a counterproductive term (Morreall 35).

            I found Provine’s research on laughter interesting. He found that when most laughter during conversations “is not a response to jokes or other formal attempts of humor.” In other words, we laugh after saying phrases such as “how are you,” “are you sure,” and “I hope we all do well.” At first, I did not agree with this statement, and I was surprised that Provine got to this conclusion. But I then remembered a conversation I had earlier with a friend of mine before a quiz. We were nervous, and she said how she hoped she did well, and then both she and I chuckled nervously. I was intrigued by this information, because normally you associate laughter with a joke or funny story. I never even realized that laughter could come after a statement or conversation that is not normally “funny” or “witty” (Morreall 39).

            The second chapter of Comic Relief forced me to think differently about how I view humor and emotions. Although some parts were confusing, I actually found some parts enlightening. This book helped me find examples of humor and laughter in my everyday life, and helped me to appreciate the value of humor.