Think about all the posts and memes that you have seen that make you laugh. Why is it so funny?
Many people have wondered why things are funny and what types of things make people laugh. The philosophy of humor is broken down into 3 types: superiority theory, relief theory, and incongrutiy theory. Some people such as Freud believed that laughter helps us relieve tension and release "psychic energy". What he means by this is that the buildup of tension is inherent in all humourous scenarios and the perception of humor is directly related to the release of that tension. Each person has a particular sense of humor which is one of the reasons why humans are so unique. In order to figure out what things make people laugh, scientists have done studies that involve different types of stimuli so that they can see the wide range of humor that humans have.
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Example of what one video would be used in research: Try it out and see if you laugh!
The philosophy of humor is very intriguing. Since there are three types, maybe that's why some people find some posts/memes more funny than other people. Some people might find some things funnier than others for different reasons, hence the different theories.
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