#ThinkfullyHabit: Beyond a joke
We may not watch a comedy show expecting to learn anything about the human brain, but comedians give us a unique window into how powerful our brains are at recognising and creating patterns. Outside of comedy, ah-ha moments can seem random and occasional. However, the job of comedians is to be funny, creative and to bring about ah-ha moments intentionally, as a joke falls into place and the punchline drops the penny.
“The ‘ha ha’ moment is very similar to the ah-ha.”
WHY?
That moment we ‘get' a joke is when we’re forced to make a new connection. A joke usually starts by setting us up to think in one direction, taking us along an existing pattern with all of the associated assumptions and expectations. Then there’s a twist. A sudden revelation that makes us realise that our starting assumptions were wrong. Our brain has to rapidly create a new pattern to make sense of the incongruity. The ah-ha moment is the reward for recognising the new pattern. Humour sits at the point of surprise.
Jokes work because they defy expectations. They reveal just how tightly bound we are to the patterns we expect to see. They act as a good reminder, not only of how good we are at pattern recognition, but also how good we are at quickly processing new information to create new patterns. It’s revealing that it’s difficult for machines to create good humour (there’s a few computer programmes that have tried, for example, JAPE, the Joke Analysis and Production Engine and LIBJOB, the light bulb joke generator). Getting beyond puns or other forms of wordplay is tricky because jokes created by humans are about breaking the rules, taking the slightly obscure or, in the case of observational comedy, revealing what is known unconsciously, more explicitly. They are not based on what’s obvious, fixed or predictable.
Comedians help reveal the human brain's unique ability to both recognise patterns and create new ones. Evolutionary theorist Alastair Clarke suggests that through humour, “there are few better ways to express human ingenuity and adaptability.” That’s no joke.
REFERENCES:
Jimmy Carr, Saturday Live, BBC Radio 4, 06 Nov 2021
Pyrrhic House. "What Makes Something Funny? Clarke Clarifies Pattern Recognition Theory." ScienceDaily, 26 March 2009