Believe it or not, I actually read the link to this dobie. And I have to say, it made me giggle becuase it's a classic example of dry, humorless writing about humor. There is just something hilarious about the explanation of why that gruesome joke was not funny! OK, so I'm weird, but really, does this make anyone else laugh?:
quote: First, a person with a javelin through their head would hardly be concerned about their inability to turn around in doorways. The moral principle here is that people should be concerned with things that are important, and not bother about irrelevancies.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Yeap, totally made me laugh. Talk about missing the point of the joke! I'd write something like this with the intention for the text to be seen as funny! But to take it seriously?! Oh, come on!
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
Er, no. He was explaining why most people don't find the joke funny. This is a paper that describes a theory of humor, and that was just one of the jokes that was analyzed using the theory. It's an interesting paper, if you like reading scholarly works.
--Mel
Posted by calaban (Member # 2516) on :
"The Moral Principle" Ha. Not that I find the joke humorous, there are always bad jokes.
Perhaps "The Moral Principle" is not to be looking for "The Moral Principle". If you're looking for a moral principle in humor you're hopeless. Humor is an emotion, I love the feeling of an emotionally charged disencumbering laugh out loud.
Maybe theory is used to explain emotions that can't be felt by those trying to explain it. The guy who wrote that takes himself way to seriously.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Now, for a good example of writing about humor, OSC's current "Are Mormons Funny?" essay made me snort in several places--not "at" him but "with" him! And the thing that works about it is his understanding that you really can't write about what is funny and what isn't unless you are . . . well, funny. Which I'm not so I'll quit while I'm ahead! ;-)
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
All of you are missing the point.
Get it? point? Javelin?
Oh, please, spear me the morality. Lance this hurorless boil and just chuck the whole thing.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I was wondering when someone would just let fly in here.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Dan, I don't think people got your jokes, not by a long shot.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Let's not discuss this any further. Just makes me want to hurl.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
You won't go far with an attitude like that. Just chuck it out there, I say.
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
I thought Dan's observations were rather pointed and on target.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Bad Javelin Joke
A guy in a bar was telling a few jokes to his friends.
He asked them "In the Parolympics, which sport is this...", mimicking the throwing of a javelin, which was of course the answer.
Then he said "which sport is this...", mimicking throwing a shot put, which again was the somewhat obvious answer.
For his next sport, he simply hit his head with the flat of his hand repeatedy. The answer... Hurdles!
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Bad Javelin Joke
Q. How is playing a bagpipe like throwing a javelin blindfolded? A. You don't have to be very good to get people's attention.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:A person with such an injury certainly has more important things on her mind than this particular inability
Or perhaps in her mind.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Yeah, makes you wonder what's going through her head at that point.
Posted by lord trousers (Member # 8741) on :
Or rather, what point was going through her head.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
You can bet she was surprised. Such a thing had never entered her head before.
Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
Who would throw a javelin at a nun? That's not funny at all, that's just cruel. Unless she tripped and accidently impaled herself on the javelin, then it would be funny.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
<--- Proudly throws javelins at nuns.
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
I've never thrown a javelin at anyone, much less a nun, but I've been known to crosss words with a few.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Lawn darts at acolytes is about as far as I've ever gotten, but then, I'm trying to set a good example in the community.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
(Hi, Mel!)
This was a really great paper. Maybe I'll find some exception to the principle he has of what makes things funny, but I can't just now. The competing theories he lists, I can easily find exceptions to.
The other cool thing is that when I thought of things that matched his setup of what makes something funny . . . they were funny! Not wildly so, but I could see them being inherently funny situations.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
"Who would throw a javelin at a nun?"
Someone who would throw one at a senior citizen? Be careful of what you ask for, cuz ya reallydo not want to see this. And no, I'm not kidding about not wanting to see it. So you've been warned.
Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
What was the guy doing standing in the middle of a javelin range. I believe he deserves a Darwin award for that.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
He didn't die, so he doesn't qualify. Wouldn't have linked to it if he had. He's a field judge assigned the task of marking how far a toss had travelled, who misjudged the distance that particular javelin was going to fly from shorter throws earlier in the track&field meet.
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
And I have to say, it made me giggle becuase it's a classic example of dry, humorless writing about humor. There is just something hilarious about the explanation of why that gruesome joke was not funny! OK, so I'm weird, but really, does this make anyone else laugh?: