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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Did you see The Simpsons episode where Homer makes a toast to alcohol?:
“To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
There are a few reasons why we might find this funny. First there’s the inherently ridiculous contradiction—the recognition of absurdity1 is often funny.
Or it might be the surprise factor: Homer using alcohol to toast…alcohol!
But another possibility is that it’s funny because it’s true.
And those who find it particularly funny might be those who’ve actually experienced both claims (booze wreaks2 havoc3 in their lives, but they also drink to ease their pain).
In fact much of what we find humorous can reveal our beliefs. Since laughter is typically an unconscious, automatic response it is a useful measure for laying bare individual biases4.
This month in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior Robert Lynch of Rutgers University published the first scientific evidence for the conventional folk wisdom: it’s funny because it’s true. But Lynch is not referring to objective truth, rather what we think is true.
Nearly 60 students were tested for their personal gender5 and racial biases, of which they might be quite unaware6.
Then they watched comedian7 Bill Burr do a 30-minute stand up. Lynch measured the amount of laughter as well as more subtle—and automatic—facial expressions.
Those who found Burr’s racially charged jokes most funny (one about Burr, who is white, being afraid in black neighborhoods) also had shown a significant preference for whites. And those who laughed most at Burr’s gender based jokes (one about how men should make more money than women) also preferred more traditional gender stereotypes8.
But Lynch notes that his findings are not about, “sexists like sexist jokes, and racists like racist9 jokes,” but rather the conclusions show that laughter often acts as a hard-to-fake signal of the somewhat unconscious beliefs we all hold, whatever those beliefs are.
So remember, something may indeed be funny because it’s true—about the way you think.
—Christie Nicholson
1 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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2 wreaks | |
诉诸(武力),施行(暴力),发(脾气)( wreak的第三人称单数 ) | |
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3 havoc | |
n.大破坏,浩劫,大混乱,大杂乱 | |
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4 biases | |
偏见( bias的名词复数 ); 偏爱; 特殊能力; 斜纹 | |
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5 gender | |
n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性 | |
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6 unaware | |
a.不知道的,未意识到的 | |
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7 comedian | |
n.喜剧演员;滑稽演员 | |
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8 stereotypes | |
n.老套,模式化的见解,有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化,使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9 racist | |
n.种族主义者,种族主义分子 | |
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