What's in the News?
What I would like you to do is to start applying what we are learning in class to real world matters. Some might ask, "What good is learning psychology if we can't apply it to real world matters?" So that is what we are going to do with this divergence assignment.
What I would like you to do is to either go to NPR (http://www.npr.org/ ), the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ ) or any news site listed at the bottom of this page (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ listed in their news sources) and read, watch, or listen to something that is interesting to you and relates to what we have been learning in the class.
Please respond the blog by BRIEFLY telling us what the piece you chose was and why you picked it (what made it interesting for you)? What did you expect to see? What did you find most interesting about the piece?
Next discuss IN DETAIL how it relates to the class using terms, terminology, and concepts that we have learned so far in class.
Include the URL in your post.
Make a list of key terms and concepts you used in your post.
Let me know if you have any questions,
--Dr. M
The article I chose this week is actually from The Onion rather than one of the provided websites entitled “‘NFL On Fox’ Host Blasted For Failing To Razz Terry Bradshaw.” I chose this article because I think it is kind of ridiculous that somebody may be in jeopardy of losing their job because they fail to make fun of people. I didn’t really expect to find this man’s job in limbo because of this, but after learning about the psychology of humor, I guess it is plausible considering Fox’s business may thrive on this type of humor.
Apparently Curt Menefee (the sports reporter) failed to make fun of Terry Bradshaw (a sports analyst) 6 times during the Sunday pregame festivities resulting in him receiving a warning. The way it sounds, making fun of Bradshaw is basically a job requirement which resulted in a previous host being fired because of his failure to reach his make-fun-of-Terry-Bradshaw quota.
My dad and brother are sports fanatics so I am somewhat familiar with Terry Bradshaw and have noticed that a lot of people really do make fun of him. I know my dad and brother crack up about what sports announcers say when Terry Bradshaw is the butt of the joke, so I am assuming that the ratings (and apparently jobs) are somewhat dependent on the inclusion of these jokes during broadcasting. After all, according to the CEO of Fox Sports, their “award-winning NFL coverage is founded upon three central tenets: covering every angle, breaking every story, and really giving it to Terry and his bald head or dopey accent.”
Going back to the beginning of the semester, this situation all boils down to aspects of the superiority theory. It may be the case that many sports fanatics enjoy Bradshaw-disparaging humor because they don’t agree with his outlook on the sport and feel theirs is superior, or apparently because they have a bushy head of hair and Bradshaw does not. Although I do at times find this type of humor funny, I think it is weird and somewhat rude to require sports broadcasters to make fun of others to remain employed. But, as the CEO stated “Curt needs to shape up a little and remember that he’s a journalist with a job to do.”
Have no fear though, Curt has apologized for his lack of Bradshaw-disparaging jokes this past Sunday and made up for it by making fun of Michael Strahan instead.
I thought it was kind of interesting that some companies really do rely on humor to strive. I guess this was mostly surprising because I have been researching the detrimental aspects of humor in the workplace. I realize now though that comedians work on the same principle – making fun of people improves business. I was watching Jeff Dunham’s Christmas special this weekend with my family and realized that he uses a lot of racial slurs, etc. in his act yet everybody laughs regardless if they have the same racial attitudes. This reminds me of a part of the text that states that you don’t have to believe in the stereotypical jokes to find them funny, you just have to be aware that the stereotypes exist!
Terms: disparaging humor, superiority theory
http://www.theonion.com/articles/nfl-on-fox-host-blasted-for-failing-to-razz-terry,18529/
The article I found came from the Huffington Post website titled, “Republicans Slam Chilean Miners: "They should have climbed Up on Their Own.” This article is about the republicans taking a break on their campaigns and instead focusing on the Chilean miners, the rescuers, and the Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, and Rick Santelli (CNBC) are just a few of the ranters. Beck ranted that the government should have spent their time rescuing the middle class in our society who are struggling rather than putting time and money into rescuing miners. More of the humorous remarks came from Palin and Santelli. Palin believed the entire situation was a hoax. She also made the intelligent comment, “How could it possibly be hot in a mine in a country called Chile?” Santelli was very blunt about his opinion stating, “"Do you people really want to rescue a bunch of losers?" "Are you listening, Presidents Obama and Pinera?" Some congressional leaders even make remarks that the miners sat on their “rear-ends” once they knew the government was going to rescue them. In addition, John Boehner, a congressional leader, stated that had they had proper tax incentives they would have started the rescue on day one and had them men out within 17 days. This would not have cost the Chilean taxpayers. However, they had no incentive to climb out if they were going to be taxed on their incomes. Overall, this article discusses the frustration and arguments that these republicans and congressional leaders share in terms of the Chilean miner rescue. Their remarks and comments are very blunt and not something, you would expect to read from a leader.
I picked this article because the title caught my eye. “They should have climbed up on their own,” is a very blunt statement in regards to the miner’s situation. I wanted to read more about what the article had to say about the Chilean miners. I found the remarks of Sarah Palin and Rick Santelli most interesting. Palin’s comments about Chile’s environment not being hot simply because its country’s name is Chile was not something I expected to read. Also, Santelli referred to the miners as ‘losers’ which was also interesting to read. The Chile miner situation was broadcasting all over the news and newspapers so it seemed to be a very serious matter however, Santelli ignored the media’s portrayal and felt that the miners are simply just ‘losers.’
Overall, I think this piece relates mostly to the incongruent theory. As I have said before the comments coming from these leaders are not something we would expect to read about especially in the serious matter life or death in which these miners faced. It was humorous to read their remarks because the comments are so blunt and straightforward. For example, Palin is currently campaigning so we would expect an intelligent and professional opinion from her. Instead, she makes the remark, “How could it possibly be hot in a mine in a country called Chile?” This is incongruent to what we would expect. We also see some sarcasm in Santelli’s statement. For example, “Do you people really want to rescue a bunch of losers?" "Are you listening, Presidents Obama and Pinera?" Santelli is trying to direct his comment to Obama and Pinera as if they were really listening to his opinion. Satire is a concept that is shown throughout this article. All of the republicans and congressional leaders are using satire when they use aggressive humor to make fun of the Chilean government and their policies. An example of satire we see in the article is, “Dr. Paul rushed to assure the miners, however, that he would treat them for their eye problems -- if the Chilean government would pay him for it.”
Terms: incongruity theory, satire, sarcasm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/republicans-slam-chilean_b_774263.html
I found a funny clip from Saturday Night Live. In the skit they are mocking Kate Middleton, Price William, the Queen and Prince Philip in light of Kate and William’s recent engagement. For months attention has speculated that the couple would be getting engaged and now that the official announcement has come, the press was all over finding out all the details. It was only fitting that SNL would decide to mock the Royals last week when Anne Hathaway was hosting. In the clip Kate is left alone with Prince Philip and the Queen and they start speaking in a very thick accent and begin to mock Kate. I honestly thought the clip would be funnier than it was but with that being said I did laugh partly because I like Anne Hathaway.
This clip can be related to topics we have discussed in the psychology of humor because it uses satire and sarcasm. Satire is aggressive humor that pokes fun at social institutions or social policy and sarcasm is aggressive humor that targets an individual rather than an institution. That satire that was represented in this skit was mocking the accents of the royals and the people of England. It also poked fun at the proper behavior of the Queen and Prince Philip when they were with Prince William and Kate, but the moment William left the room they immediately became less proper and rather rude towards Kate. The clip also mocks the movie Princess Diaries as it doesn’t relate to Kate and what it will be like to be a princess.
Incongruity theories suggest that the perception of incongruity is the crucial determinant of whether or not something is humorous: things that are funny are incongruous, surprising, peculiar, arousal, or different from what we normally expect. The incongruity in this clip is that we think of the Royals as being prim and proper and never really letting loose, but this clip hypothesizes what it could actually be the case. We don’t expect to see the Queen acting like this therefore it is funny to imagine her acting that way. We also don’t know very much about Kate and her relationship with William’s family so people are trying to get an idea of what it is like.
Terms: satire, sarcasm, incongruity theories
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/21/snl-kate-middleton-queen_n_786543.html
The clip I found was from MSNBC.com and was about how today, a plane from New Jersey had to have an emergency landing because a dog escaped from its carrier (which was under the seat) and bit another passenger and also a flight attendant. This ferocious animal looked something similar to this: http://www.dogster.com/dog-breeds/Manchester_Terrier_Toy . The bites that these two individual’s received from the dog weren’t very bad, but the pilot still landed the plane as a precautionary measure.
For the past couple blogs that I have done I have talked about British humor, and I think this story fits in with what I have learned about while researching that. This is absurd and doesn’t really have an ending, so it just ends. What was going to be done about the dog after it had landed, that couldn’t really be done while the plane was in the air? Was a twelve pound dog that huge of a threat that someone couldn’t just take one for the team and put it back in it’s carrier. I think this story also is ironic, because people are always complaining about delays and stuff while traveling and I’m sure this caused all 122 people on board that plane to arrive much later to their destination, as well as other travelers who might have been waiting on the plane, or family members waiting at the airport etc.
At first when I read that it was a really small dog I thought maybe it was some younger woman who had this dog in their purse or something, which makes it easy to understand how it could escape, but the dog belonged to a 89 year old woman. She was probably just flustered about her dog somehow getting out and then just from reading this short article, it sounds like everyone kind of panicked, and the plane landed. That poor lady, that probably made the situation a lot worse for her, and now since her dog bit people I’m assuming they might have to put it down.
This story reminded me of a story that was in the news a couple summers ago in my hometown, Sioux City. There was one city councilman who was really pushing to ban pit bulls in Sioux City because they were ‘vicious’. While he was trying to get this passed, his own lab, Jake, bit a neighbor and was deemed vicious. The councilman tried to get this label appealed but failed. While on doggie death row at Animal Control, someone broke in and kidnapped Jake and he was never seen again. People in Sioux City went crazy about this story. There was something on the news or in the newspaper about it every day and people were out selling T-shirts that said “Run Jake, Run” or “Team Jake” and Jake the dog got the most write-in votes for city council member in the next election.
I think in cases with animals, it’s easier for people to be more sympathetic than towards people. I think especially in the case of the first dog on the airplane that bit people, if there’s a decision that the dog has to be euthanized, there would be a similar public outcry for the dog to be forgiven. Especially given the dog’s size and owner, it’s kind of sad to think that a little animal would have to be put down just because it was scared and bit a couple people. I think the reaction by the crew of the plane was unnecessary and absurd. I just got the sense that there was kind of a panic on the plane and it made me think what if there were a real crisis on the plane, like someone having a heart attack or a terrorist or something. I definitely don’t think that the crew would even be able to handle a situation like that.
Terms: Absurd humor, British humor, irony
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40532237/ns/travel-news/?ocid=twitter
There were two articles I read about the same topic “Jim Inhofe Is Latest Casualty in ‘War On Christmas’” and “Jim Inhofe On Parade Slight: ‘Why Do They Always Pick On The Christians?”. These articles are about a senator in Oklahoma who is extremely disappointed that the word “Christmas” was taken out of the title of annual holiday parade title for Tulsa Oklahoma. As the article points out, and why this is headlining news to many people, is that his campaign and grievances are a bit ridiculously and ironic.
The chairman of the parade is quoted in the article as calling the senator’s reaction “silly”, similarly the article points out that after all the Christmas music and decorations we see and experience from Thanksgiving to Dec.25, it is ridiculously that would be upset by a little change towards equality. Christianity has also been the majority within our country. We founded on Christian values and principles; it is engrained within our government. For example, most everyone gets days off from school and work for Christian holidays, and “Under God” is inscribed on our coinage and even said in our pledge of allegiance. However Inhofe does not see it that way.
Inhofe stated about the issue “They're the ones to get the hit. ... I think there are a lot people of other faiths who wonder also, why do they always pick on the Christians?”. I think it is amusing to hear people complain about discrimination against Christianity in our country. It is ironic, because it is pretty incongruent to reality. Most every other religion is really discriminated against or second to Christianity. I Furthermore, other irony elements in this situation are; Congressman are supposed to be representative to the interests of many different people. However this senator makes this about him more than anyone else. Also the holidays should be able being thankful for the life that we have and appreciating all people, not being upset that all your interest are not being met.
I believe the reason why people like Inhofe get upset by these changes to the norm, is because they have more conservative views. In chapter 7, we learned that according to “Ruch’s 3WD (Witz-dimensionen) humor test, people with more conservative views and authoritarian attitudes are more likely to enjoy INC-RES humor where the individual is able to “make sense” of the joke or situations”. In other word, the situation come to a logical conclusion in their mind. A small change or step in a different direction, this senator sees as completely unenjoyably and disruptive.
I think this article also uses aggressive humor. It is pretty clear that the author thinks the senator is being absurd and ironic in his actions. Like I agree with the author, I think that they are creating an in group with this article of people who agree. This is like the in-group discussed in the swarm theory, one flies and the group flies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/jim-inhofe-parade-christians-video-_n_792633.html
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/06/inhofe-pick-on-christians/
I found an article on npr.org which caught my eye immediately. It talks about a study on aspirin and the possibility that it has to cut down deaths from a variety of cancers. I choose this article because in the past month my boyfriend’s mom had a stroke in the early morning hours and he gave her an aspirin which helped slow down the process of the stroke from paralyzing her whole left side. Furthermore, in the article it talks about how aspirin 325mg is the best dosage and people on average should start taking aspirin daily with consent from their doctor by at least 46 years of age. The variety of cancers range from pancreatic cancer to the type of lung cancer that strikes nonsmokers. Also, esophageal cancer, adenomatous lung cancer and many more. There are some downsides to aspirin which is internal bleeding but it only effect 2 in 1000 people, so it is better off to take it to reduce your risk of cancer, especially if you have a family history of early onset cancer. This study also talks about how it can help with strokes which is awesome for my boyfriend’s mom, and I still wonder how he knew to give her one. I personally didn’t know the signs of a stroke until he explained them to me, but the paramedics said he did the right thing, else it could’ve been worse. Turns out once she was discharged from the hospital that’s all they told her to take was an aspirin a day.
In order to relate this article to our textbook I thought it most related to the concept of schemas. For, one we all has some knowledge of what medicines are good and not so good for us, I personally have never tried aspirin since my father is allergic to it, so I therefore have a negative schemas associated with taking aspiring, but now my schemas is somewhat changing and I have thought about actually getting checked out to see if I am allergic to it as well so I can reduce my chances of a stroke or cancer later on in life. I also think this article can somewhat related to incongruity, because like I said earlier I didn’t know the signs of a stroke and I would have misperceived his mom as having signs of a heart attack since her left side went numb, therefore I showed incongruity by not knowing. In addition, I also think this relates to one having a good cognitive ability or perspective on the situation since one needs to be able to understand what is going on in order to take action. I am sure there are many more concepts that can relate to this article and what happened to my boyfriend’s mom, but now when it comes to the humor component.
Key Terms: Schemas, incongruity, cognitive ability/perspective
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/12/07/131873139/study-aspirin-cuts-deaths-from-wide-variety-of-cancers
The article I have chosen to read is a short, but sweet article about Christmas toys that are definitely not useful in any way, and suck. The article is accompanied by a slideshow of the toys and a brief paragraph following them. The article, especially the pictures are humorous because of the incongruity involved. I really didn’t expect little comments to be made about the pictures, or even the toys that were chosen. A Barbie doll is a pretty popular gift, so that was surprising to see on there. What I found to be the most interesting about this piece is that it was making fun of our social culture by using aggression.
These toys are obviously targeted to children and the parents who decide to buy these useless toys for them. Maybe some parents decide to buy these toys because they feel as though they would be violating a social norm of buying the most popular toys for Christmas. But really, who in their right mind would want to buy a doll that produces its own waste?! According to the text, if one is poking fun at another person, then one is communicating a refusal to accept the identity projected by that person. This would work with the gorilla that sings Kesha songs. This is called an “unmasking tactic” because it belittles his or her motives. I know that a lot of people don’t like her music, so exploitation, or a product like a gorilla singing her songs is humorous.
The Barbie doll with the 40 tattoos also rebels against social norms in a way because tattoos are seen as rebellious, especially for young children. So having a Barbie doll with 40 tattoos goes against the social norms, which makes me wonder how and why people think of these toys. The whole article is a satire because it is aggressive humor that pokes fun at social institutions such as toy companies.
URL:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julianna-w-miner/christmas-toys-from-hell_b_793021.html#s200546
Terms used: incongruity, social norms, satire, aggression
Terms used: incongruity, social norms, satire, aggression
I chose a story from NPR radio called “Things to Do If You’re Stuck in the Airport.” They interviewed writer Jeff Michaels author of the book Please Hug Me, I’ve Been Delayed. I clicked on the title because I was expecting to read about some funny things that people have done while waiting in airports or some of the entertaining things you can do yourself, but they didn’t give too much away in the interview. The book probably has all of the interesting stuff in it. The author said that in his book he broke down some things to do into three different categories of people: productive and practical, creative, and athletic. An example for creative would be to untie your shoe and then try to retie it using only one hand. An example for an athletic person would be to try and set the world record for most push-ups done in an hour. He also had practical information to share, like what to do if you’re sitting behind a chronic seat kicker. I thought all the information he shared was pretty interesting because I’ve never flown before, I’ve never even been in an airport before, so it’s hard for me to imagine just how boring it can get.
What I thought was funny about the article was when he talked about someone trying to break a world record (like push-ups) because there’s a lot of witnesses there. If I saw someone doing push-ups in a public place I would probably laugh because of the incongruity of the situation. Another funny thing about the article was when he talked about the seat-kickers on the airplane. He said if it’s an adult doing the kicking, he would stand up, get everyone’s attention and say that anyone is welcome to sit in his seat because it comes with a massage. Which I thought was disparaging and a little aggressive type of humor. I would laugh if I heard someone say that on an airplane. I would say that’s ironic and sarcastic type of humor as well.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131644617
Terms: Incongruity, aggressive and disparaging humor, sarcasm and irony
For this assignment I read the article “Rush Limbaugh, “Proof that Fear Makes you Stupid.” I will admit that I chose this article because I assumed it made fun of Rush Limbaugh, of whom I am not a big fan. I was not disappointed. The article begins by talking about a comparison that Rush made, of the murder of native Americans by Europeans, to Europeans who learned about tobacco from natives. It goes on to talk about what an idiotic comparison this is. It goes on to talk about how Rush inadvertently pulled the old “you people” remark. By talking about how white people have been killed by Native American peoples cigarettes.
On one level I think that this article is funny simply because of what Rush has said. Did he honestly think, especially since everything is all about political correctness these days, that separating Americans from Native Americans was a good idea? Not even that because I think it was more of a European American separation from Native Americans. This is mildy funny to me simply because it seems so obvious what is wrong with it. The incongruity was that he made a very serious thing- the fight against cigarettes and tobacco, of which I am an avid supporter, about race. These two things don’t, in my mind, have anything to do with each other. So the idea that they would come together and that someone seriously thinks that the root of our cigarette problem is Native Americans is funny to me.
On another level, I think this article was funny because of the commentary. The writer clearly shares my view of Rush Limbaugh and so it was amusing to me to see what someone had to say about him, especially because he shared my sentiments.
This kind of humor was absolutely aggressive. So Grunner’s Superiority/Disparagement theory is the one that most relates to the kind of humor I found in this article. It was a way for me to laugh at someone else’s idiocracy. The semantic distance between “race” and “Cigarette problem” for me is quite large. I suppose it could be different for other people, but in talking about the problem with cigarettes I would start with the level of nicotine, the ingredients, the issue of smoking in public, many many other things and an issue of race wouldn’t even be on my list.
Terms used : Superiority/disparagement theory, semantic distance, incongruity.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-ropeik/fear-makes-us-tribal-and-_b_793418.html
I found a video and short explanation of a story about a woman who found a squirrel in her toilet. During the 911 call, the woman said there was a grey animal in her toilet. Police of the town actually responded and when they got to the house, it took two officers several minutes to catch the squirrel with snake tongs. After they caught it, they set if free in the park across the street.
The first thing I found funny about this story is that the woman called 911. In my mind, that in arises an incongruity. She could have called animal control or something. 911 is an emergency number and I do not think an animal in the toilet is a valid reason to call 911. The second thing I found funny is something the officer said when he arrived. He said something like, “As soon as I got there I knew I needed backup.” That also provoked an incongruity because cops aren’t supposed to be scared of a little squirrel. I laughed at this guy because I thought he sounded like an idiot. This could be seen as a part of superiority theory where someone always has to have the upper hand in a humor situation. It also could be seen as aggressive humor because I’m laughing at someone. The main reason this entire story is funny is because of the incongruities in the social situation. That poor squirrel was scared to death and those cops were talking about it like it was a two man job to catch it. The other officer didn’t even appear to be doing anything but recording the incident on his camera phone. Another funny part of this video is towards the end when they were talking about how the squirrel could have gotten in. They said it could have crawled through the sewer drain. That evoked a humorous imagery in my mind of the squirrel crawling up into the toilet bowl. That was funny because of incongruity also. It’s not every day that you see this happening.
Completely unrelated, I found pictures on the same website that I found completely hilarious. One set of photos was titled “20 oddly sexual product names.” There were things like candy called Flaming Blue Balls and Hand Job branded gloves. These pictures are funny because they are relatable. So many people think sexual double meanings are funny. I think that’s because of the social view that many sexual things are still taboo to talk about or be public. It’s kind of like a cognitive surprise. It’s the realization of something not being quite right (incongruity) and then realizing why it’s not right (resolution). The mind gets pleasure out of this and then there’s the added humor from the taboo aspect. That humor comes from the surprise and maybe from feeling uncomfortable, also. For example, when I ride a rollercoaster, I laugh. It’s a release of some kind of energy. It could be nervous energy or fear or embarrassment. In either situation, the laughter serves the purpose of releasing that energy in a socially acceptable way. I think there’s also an aspect of expectation. The title of the group of pictures tells me that the pictures are supposed to be funny. That puts me in a paratelic mood and ready to laugh. Also, I think personality has a lot to do with if you find these pictures funny or not. If you are uptight or more conservative then you may not find the pictures funny. You may just think they are inappropriate or stupid. The type of people who find this funny are probably more open minded about such topics.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/squirrel-toilet-911_n_795069.html
http://www.collegehumor.com/pictures/gallery:funny_product_names#1605281
Disclaimer: I've never been so excited to do a project than I am for this guy right here.
I actually listened to a roughly 1 hour peice on NPR today covering this topic, however I was unable to track it down so my link is just to a quick news story outlining the controversy and the upcoming movie. Here's a quick synopsis:
A part-time Santa Claus impersonator starts up his own business selling costumes, touring the states giving lectures and teaching workshops on how to be a good Santa. Within three years he's created an organization (A.O.R.B.S.- the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santa's...yeah, go ahead and re-read that just for yourself) and the members keep pouring in. The rest of the story is quite normal however the new Santa context changes everything. Corruption, greed, impeachment, Orwellian (1984 Orwell that is) or Stalin-like dictatorships, and the story keeps going and going. It's much like any John Grisham white-collar crime novel you may pick up but everybodies a tall, overweight, white guy pretending to be Santa. NPR and other news organizations get ahold of it and now it's going to be made into a film.
So where's the humor (besides everywhere...)? When we think of Santa Claus and christmas any one of a number of schemas are activated. Goodness, morality, christmas, family, love, worship, God, Jesus, etc. etc. Any controversy involving Santa (and therefore any of these schemas) creates cognitive incongruity that can potentially lead to humor. In this case there has, as of yet, been no serious harm done, no deaths, suicide, murder, violent assault or anything else that may cause us to experience pity, shame, or guilt rather than mirth, so I think this is why our bodies go ahead and experience mirth instead.
Another thing that is funny when you think about it, is that there is really nothing that SHOULD stop these problems from occurring in any organization, in fact, they are probably ubiquitous to all organizations. However, this shows the power schemas and expectations. It's the fact that our initial reactions are incongruent that causes the humor, not that we don't recognize that in reality there is no need to see this as incongruent.
Several years back Billy Bob Thornton was in a movie called "Bad Santa" that capitalized on our strong expectations about Santa and Un-Santa like behaviors. We see that almost anything, when paired with a type of person we have numerous expectations about can be made funny. "Bad Santa" did this with taboo behaviors for Santa like sex, bad language, and drinking. However, with this story it's 'corporate America-style' bad behaviors, and behaviors that the average person might not even see as all that bad since we don't take the 'business' of being a mall-Santa that serious.
For example, the leader of A.O.R.B.S. got paid money in advance for providing details that will eventually be put into this movie. This was the start of the controversy because some of the other Santa's thought this was unethical or counter to the "Santa Cause"...couldn't resist.
One of the important things we've learned about humor is that although it does have many very beneficial componants it's not a cure all or fool proof. With business, education, or health care, there are clear benefits but it must still be used appropriately. This is why we should not be surprised when we see an unhealthy comedian, a humor based work convention that doesn't help, or hillarious textbooks that doesn't increase performance. Similarly here with Santa's, although it would seem that acting like Santa all the time should have various benefits they are not immune to all the troubles that other people experience.
My groups Z-theory was Equilibrium theory which emphasized humor's ability to bring balance to situations. As a communicative tool humor allows us to 'play with' the various abstract symbols inherent in our language. For this reason it is ideal for dealing with situations involving serious or important topics such as aggression, sex, and morality.
We all experience the problems these Santa's are experiencing every day and we know how difficult and irritating it can be. However, the fact that they are a specialized group that we all have clear expectations about, when we see this situation we can laugh at their problems in a way that may ordinarily seem offensive, or to laugh when we may not usually be able to laugh at all due to the strong emotions involved. Thus through humor and the recognition of this incongruity we maintain equilibrium.
Freud would say our Superego is temporarily allowing our Id the control it needs to release the built up tension we have about the failure of our parents to ever give us a truly special Christmas, and for lying to us about Santa (bastards...) so we laugh at this story and these people. Personality psychologists would probably say that percieving this story as funny more than likely indicates an overall 'mirthful' outlook on life or perhaps a strong trait for humor appreciation. It's possible that these Santa Claus' used too much humor and mirth in their day to day activities, and relied too heavily on the power of positive thinking and good intentions, and didn't spend enough time working on other areas of effective communication and leadership that may have helped prevent some of these events. Either way... I can't wait for the movie.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2282051/Santas-plunged-into-civil-war.html
The article I chose was titled, “Attacking Websites Is Surprisingly Easy Social Protest.” This article discusses how companies such as Amazon, Paypal, and MasterCard were the subject of civil protests this week. The article states that these “protests” were by people acting in support of the organization WikiLeaks by attacking the companies’ websites, a specific type of cyber-attack known as denial-of-service attack. When everyone is trying to access one website at the same time, it prevents other people from outside of the group to access the website. The author of the article predicts that there will be more of these attacks in the future, just because they are so easy to carry out and relatively difficult to defend against. I picked this article because it has nothing at all to do with humor directly, but shows how people can form together to create an idea of what the social norm is of a group. Before reading this article I expected there to be a more logical reason for people wanting to protest against an internet company website. I assumed that there would be a more humorous reason for the social protests. What I found the most interesting about this piece is the fact that people are joining together for the same cause to protest against a big internet company website. This shows how a lot of little people can still make a difference against a big corporation.
This article does not deal specifically with humor; however, this story does show how humor is used in a social situation to join a group of people together. In the same way that these people protesting all have the same beliefs about why going against these internet corporations is necessary, people use humor to explain the social norms of their own groups. In the same way that passion behind these cyber activists binds these people together, humor has the same effect by binding people together who share the same interests by creating a social norm of what is deemed as acceptable behavior within a group. On a different news website, I found an article that discusses how Amazon was hit by the web service failure. These cyber-protests are attempting to bully these larger website corporations in the same way that humor has been used to bully other people, further enforcing group identity and perceived social norms. Similarly, it can be assumed that once these websites become over loaded and crash, the cyber-activists must find some type of humorous enjoyment from it. Aggressive humor stems from the Superiority/Disparagement Theory. In this theory, Gruner believes that all humor stems from some aggressive component. By finding these internet crashes to be funny, cyber-activists are demonstrating how humor may start to become aggressive. Similarly, the second article mentions that Wikileaks has angered the US government by publishing large caches of secret documents online, including US diplomatic cables. By performing illegal actions against the government, these cyber-activists are demonstrating how they are in control. Similar to this example, humor may also be used to demonstrate control by being used as a cohesive function, intimidating group members into conforming to the implied norms out of fear of being left out.
Although the discussed news article does not deal specifically with humor, it does help to demonstrate how aggressive humor may indirectly be used as a way to create negative social interactions. If cyber-activists did not get some type of humorous enjoyment from causing these websites to crash then there would not be as much motivation to continue this type of protest. Furthermore, by demonstrating their control over these corporate websites, these cyber-activists are able to enhance their own group identity in the same way that humor is used as a way to develop social norms and group identity.
Terms: Social norm, group identity, bully, aggressive humor, Superiority/Disparagement Theory, Gruner
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/12/132013474/social-protest-in-the-cyber-age-is-surprisingly-easy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11980125
For this assignment I chose an article from NPR entitled, "It's All About Me: But is Narcissism a Disorder?" There was a picture of a well-known reality tv star "Snooki" from the Jersey Shore on MTV on the cover of this piece, and being familiar with this person and the show I decided to read about the topic of debate. I expected to read possible comments about what Snooki had to say about narcissim and about herself in relation to the topic. The most interesting part of the piece that I read was the discussion of narcissism as a personality disorder, and due to the fact that the traits of narcissism have become a norm of today's self-orientated culture, the psychological manual referred to as Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)is in the process of deciding whether or not to drop the classification of a narcissistic personality disorder from the manual. (In the event of this personality disorder not classified as an actual "disorder" and just as a collection of traits).
After reading about Snooki and a recent interview she had with Barbara Walters in which she stated, "I think I'm fascinating" and having watched this show (and other reality shows on tv) it's becoming clear there is a trend with these reality stars and their self-obsorbed obsessions with themselves. The reason I find the topic humorous is based on the incongruity of the matter. What I began to wonder is if this reality tv illusion of narcissism is a true reflection of how these people think of themselves or if they are just doing it for the attention and ratings. The incongruity lies with the situation at hand (the narcissistic behavior displayed) and the fact that this may not be how these people think of themselves in the real world (this is "acting" rather than actual reality, in order for the show to be successful). I also find humorous the fact that the reality stars have become famous on the basis of doing nothing really (Snooki and the other stars on the Jersey Shore are famous because of drunken bar fights and ... well, being drunk in general and causing scenes with the other members of the Jersey Shore house). A lot of what goes on between the cast members of this show (and quite a few of the other reality shows on tv) involves aggressive humor (making fun of the way the other cast members dress, talk, really anything that involves putting down the other person). Usually this type of humor results in some sort of conflict, which is the fuel behind these reality shows (it reminds me of a hockey game-people go to see the actual game, but really want to see a good show, meaning a fight!)
I related the concept of narcissism in this article to a schema which helped me to understand it better. I remembered a Greek myth in which the character was so caught up in his physical appearance and was infatuated with himself to such a great extent that he eventually drowns in the event of admiring his reflection in a pool of water and falling in overboard. Remembering this story and the schema which links the concept together helped in understanding the simple base of narcissism. It made me build on this schema and relate to how today's society has become increasingly narcissistic (just read a magazine, look at a billboard, or turn on the tv in order to see what products are available for "me" and why I need these products so I can be "better than other people" and be beautiful in the eyes of society). The concept is humorous to me because it seems so petty to be self-consumed with the "me" image when there are so many other important things to be concerned with on a daily basis-not to mention, we should think of others, not just ourselves! Overall, I enjoyed reading this article because it shows just how reality tv has emphasized the concept of narcissism in today's society.
Oops! I forgot to include my link.
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/11/131991083/it-s-all-about-me-but-is-narcissism-a-disorder
Terms used: Incongruities, aggression, schemas
I chose to write about an article/video found on Huffington Post. This article is entitled, “Miley Cyrus Bong Video –The failed Cover Up.” My six year old niece was just viewing a Miley Cirus music video on youtube so when I seen this headline it caught my eye. After viewing this video I wondered how my niece would react if she came across this video on youtube.
The video is home video that was taken what may be in a college dorm room of Miley smoking out of a bong. Miley is receiving help from a guy to light the bong and isbeing coached by someone in the background on how to inhale the smoke. After her hit she sits back and then claims that she is having a bad trip but one second later she is laughing and claiming that a guy at this party is a Liam look alike (Liam is her boyfriend). Miley repeatedly says that a guy who is not shown in the video looks exactly like her boyfriend Liam. When no one agrees with Miley that this guy looks like her boyfriend she asks if it’s because she is tripping. The majority of this video is of Miley laughing hysterically.
I found this video humorous because I thought how stupid or naïve can a person be? Why would a celebrity of Miley’s caliber allow someone to take a video of her smoking out of a bong? The girl even video recording even says “Im going to document the shit outta this.” Finding this aspect of the video humorous is related to the superiority theory suggesting we laugh at what is ridiculous in other people. I also found it funny that the song in the background is Come Down by Bush. The lyrics of this song include “I don’t want to come back down from this cloud it took me all this time to find out what I need.” This song I believe is referring to heroin/drug use. I thought this song was a perfect backdrop for the video. There is also a person in the background that is eating frosted flakes right out of the box this just puts the icing on the cake. The schema for smoking pot out of a bong was complete, munchies, music, and laughter.
This video is also funny because of the incongruity that is present. When I think of Miley I think of Hannah Montana. My schema of Hannah Montana does not include her smoking out of a bong. What also makes this video funny is that you can’t help but laugh when Miley begins to laugh hysterically. Let’s just say her laugh isn’t anything like her singing. As we have learned laughter can be contagious so when Miley begins to laugh hysterically I found myself laughing right along with her. Miley also starts to ramble something toward the end of the video which is hard to decipher but I think she says “say hello to Anna Nicole Smith.”
The article that is present with this video discusses how Miley’s people attempted to avoid this video leaking by collecting two college students Mac Books that contained the video. It was said that a college student contacted Miley’s rep. and asked if they wanted his copy of the video. It’s said money was discussed but at the actual pick up of the computer money was not exchange only that the kid received a new mac book. This article is funny because of course the kid received money for handing his copy of the video over but it’s not like they are going to show up with a suit case of hundred and fifty dollar bills. This aspect also relates to the superiority theory.
Terms: schema, superiority theory, incongruity theory
http://www.tmz.com/2010/12/13/miley-cyrus-bong-video-salvia-apple-macbook-pro-college-student-campus-reps/
Humor has been applied in the past years to several professional areas in an attempt to collect some practical evidence on its effect. A therapy called strength through laughter offers humor therapy to patients with cancer or other chronic diseases. This program is one of many hospital sponsored programs that attempt to induce laughter for reasons of boosting health. The common explanation for laughters effect on health is that it reduces stress in the patients. This alone seems to make a significant difference. Some programs have taken to putting their patients who just recieved a lung transplant into humor therapy. It is thought that laughter is a complex breathing process and may help to adapt the new lungs to the needs of the patients' body. Therapists at the cancer center say they are there to help the patients focus on living and not on dying. The book proposes that positive emotion itself may be the key to physical benefits from humor. Perhaps the effects on the limbic system and autonomic nervous system stimulate the heart, lungs, muscles or other structures to simulate excessive. Humor and positive emotion have been correlated with lowering levels of stress hormones such as cortisol in the long term. Cortisol and other stress hormones have been linked to heart disease and are thought to suppress the immune system. Also cortisol is thought to negatively affect the hippocampus by breaking down meyelin around dendrites of neurons in the structure. Perhaps lowering these hormones could prevent damage to the hippocampus which is highly associated with short term memory.
Another way humor is applied is in the workplace. We all have images of a human resources department, constantly trying to please every employee in an office, while keeping productivity up. Some businesses have taken to hiring humor consultants to boost moral in their employees during the hard economic times. But the message isn't necessarily humor, it is that employees should try to make their job fun and be light hearted and that will get them through hard times. For example southwest airlines has a volleyball court in their headquarters. Humor consultants promote openness and light heartedness. One researcher claims that anger and frustration create tunnel vision, they obscure our perception of reality by putting too much emphasis on a particular aspect of our reality. By promoting employees to not take themselves so seriously humor consultants hope to make employees more open and ambitious. An experimental psychologist claims that humor will always be a coping mechanism for people. What companies can do is harness humor as a constructive process for the company rather than a subversive process against "the daily grind."
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1603265/humor_therapy_offers_benefits_for_cancer_patients
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/10/01/Humor-in-the-Workplace/