[lit-ideas] Re: Laugh Tracks

RP:
On a more serious note, if people 'literally' can't be trusted (the deceitful buggers) to recognize humor without the prompting of a laugh track, why should they ever laugh at movies, plays, or books?
Excellent question, Professor Paul. Why indeed should they laugh? Ms Andy's assertion that people laugh only in response to laughter is not borne out by the recent research (soon to be published by Phoenix University Press) by my colleague, graduate assistant George-Ludovico Hoffnung and I which proves, definitively, we believe, that while, indeed no one ever laughs without provocation, that said provocation can vary greatly. So the question becomes then what prompts laughter? And how can we control it? Laughter itself does indeed prompt laughter as Ms Andy claims. Laughter seems to be an infectious behavior. Almost a disease, But there are very many other causes of laughter besides laughter. One is the misfortune of others. Seeing, hearing or reading about the misfortunes of others can bring on fits of guffaws. My colleague and I have yet to determine whether this kind of laughter is a sympathetic physiological response to the victim's plight -- an inverse way of crying perhaps-- or is just pure evil glee. Other provocations include surprise, quirky-smirky-ironyisms, and George Bush. But that doesn't answer Robert Paul's question: "why should they ever laugh at movies, plays, or books?" Well, they shouldn't ever unless they find them funny. 

Mike Geary
Memphis 
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