My Funny Valentine

A card I sent to my friends.

What is humor? Humor can be defined as anything that is funny, a process which results in amusement or perceiving something as amusing. In The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach (a book I will be repeatedly using as a source throughout these blogs), Rod A. Martin divides the process of humor into four main ingredients from a psychological standpoint: A social context, a cognitive-perceptual process, an emotional response, and the vocal-behavioral expression of laughter.

But why is humor funny? Arthur Koestler uses the term bisociation to describe the mental process involved in humor (it is also called synergy by Michael Apter). Bisociation is how something is simultaneously perceived from two different, contradictory, unrelated, or incompatible angles. For example, puns are perceived as having two different meanings that are understood at the same time (The use of ‘My FUNNY Valentine’ in the title of this blog can be viewed as a jazz song related to February and simultaneously viewed as relating to humor). Basically, humor hinges on the combination of something surprising, unexpected, or odd with something that causes the audience to know that it is meant to be lighthearted. For example, talking about murder could be funny in the right context, but would otherwise be a grave topic by itself.

I apologize for the brevity and lack of a conclusion for this post. Regardless, I hope you have a nice day, and stay tuned for next month!