Philosophy in the Den

[beejazz]

I've got some one-panel comics (though that label is debatable) that shake that by not quite starting with an expected pattern.

[Túrin]

Humor is a light-hearted, unexpected twist in an otherwise expected pattern.

I think that's pretty much what Wittgenstein said: humour is when someone unexpectedly (not necessarily deliberately) switches language games.

Not sure that fits all cases, though. What if humour is provided out of context (as beejazz points at) or doesn't require language at all?

Túrin

[SDragon]

Humor is a light-hearted, unexpected twist in an otherwise expected pattern.

I think that's pretty much what Wittgenstein said: humour is when someone unexpectedly (not necessarily deliberately) switches language games.

Not sure that fits all cases, though. What if humour is provided out of context (as beejazz points at) or doesn't require language at all?

Túrin

Well see, my version makes no comment about language, or it's use. Actually, it doesn't mention intent, either, as there's lots of unintentional humor, too.

Beejazz's case shakes it up a bit, but I imagine the "pattern", or context, is provided by the viewer. It's a bit of a stretch, so I'll have to see the comics before I pass that, though.


As an off-topic sidenote, I think I've read too much Scott McCloud to think of single-panel things as "comics". Comic-style, sure, but I feel it'd take at least a second panel before it's a comic.

[SA]

What about when you watch a kid fall over while ice skating, then he gets up, falls over again, gets up, falls over, gets up, falls over...

I find that freakin' hilarious (at least, I did at the time), explicitly because I knew he would just fall over again.  And again.

[beejazz]

Ah, in this case the continuation (and not the breaking) of the pattern is a big part of the humor; it's totally expected. I can think of other examples where you see something disastrous and hilarious coming... tension builds and is released when the forseen event occurs... like a parachuter drifting towards a tower.

[Túrin]

I'd say the twist is in your mind in such a case: at one point you start recognizing the pattern (in SA's case) or foresee the event (in beejazz' case), which is the twist, and then when actual events live up to the idea in your mind, it's funny.

Or something.

Túrin

[beejazz]

Anyway, I probably shouldn'y post these pictures here, as they are upcoming updates to my webcomic (finally) but to illustrate the earlier point:

[SDragon]

I don't really get the "possum" one, but I saw right away the expected pattern that was broken in the first one (by the way, I did/i] find that funny).

The pattern, of course, is that you'd expect minions to be as helpful as possible; Their very purpose in life is to serve. "yes men", in cases like this, reject helpfulness in faovr of agreeability.

SA's case, it's funny because you wouldn't expect somebody that bad at skating to be anywhere near ice. But yet...

The parachuter case is a bit trickier, but I think turin covered it fairly well.

[Tangential]

So...

Do the inhabitants of the Den believe in unsolvable philosophically quandaries?

[beejazz]

Unsolvable? Or insoluble.

I've got solutions, but I pray to whatever gods are listening every night that those solutions are wrong.

[Tangential]

This is the part where I don't panic, right?

[beejazz]

In big, friendly yellow letters, yes.

[Túrin]

Even if the thesis of scientific convergence were true (which I will not get into for now) I'd argue that we still wouldn't know everything. Ultimate certainty will never be achieved in all areas, though some problems that might seem unsolvable now might be solved (or dissolved) in the future. So yes, at least IMHO.

Túrin