purpose Archives - Lisa Colón DeLay

We did a children’s book!

It’s awesome. :) High-quality hardcover and available on Amazon.
 FAIR WARNING. This is a high-priced book. For that reason alone it won’t appeal to many. But, for the few that don’t put a price on this type of treasure, it will be in that case priceless. :) Journey with Rex as he travels to different worlds, and meets characters to help him understand love, belonging, friendship, and ultimately help him find his purpose and his way home. <div style="text-align: left; width: 450px;" data-bindattr-66="66"><object class="myWidget" data="http://www.blurb.com/assets/embed.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="300" data-bindattr-67="67"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.blurb.com/assets/embed.swf" data-bindattr-68="68" /><param name="FlashVars" value="book_id=6091884&locale=en_US&token_id=5502538&token=f3521e170dc39b9c970b7affb4ca520863ef2372" data-bindattr-69="69" /><a data-bindattr-70="70" target="_new"><img decoding="async" src="http://www.blurb.com/images/uploads2/catalog/006/493/774/6556360-4c505e0b6d4aa731428ba01e85379175.jpg" data-bindattr-71="71" /></a></object> <script id="metamorph-240-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script> <div><a style="margin: 12px 3px;" href="http://blur.by/1HRr08O" target="_blank" data-bindattr-72="72"><script id="metamorph-241-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>Rex the Boy King<script id="metamorph-241-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>by<script id="metamorph-242-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>Lisa DeLay<script id="metamorph-242-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script></a> | <a style="margin: 12px 3px;" href="http://www.blurb.com/landing_pages/bookshow" target="_blank" data-bindattr-73="73"><script id="metamorph-243-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>Make Your Own Book<script id="metamorph-243-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script></a></div> <script id="metamorph-240-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script> </div> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> Posted on <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/rex/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2014-12-24T11:13:49-04:00">24 December, 2014</time><time class="updated" datetime="2015-03-28T09:19:44-04:00">28 March, 2015</time></a>Author <a class="url fn n" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/author/admin/">Spark My Muse</a>Categories <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/authors/" rel="category tag">Authors</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/books/" rel="category tag">Books</a>Tags <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/alone/" rel="tag">alone</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/amazon/" rel="tag">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/awesome/" rel="tag">awesome</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/backers/" rel="tag">backers</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/be/" rel="tag">be</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/believers/" rel="tag">believers</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/belonging/" rel="tag">belonging</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/book/" rel="tag">book</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/characters/" rel="tag">characters</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/children/" rel="tag">children</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/childrens-book/" rel="tag">children's book</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/classic/" rel="tag">classic</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/classic-childrens-book/" rel="tag">classic children's book</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/daughter/" rel="tag">daughter</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/delay/" rel="tag">DeLay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/faith/" rel="tag">faith</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/friendship/" rel="tag">friendship</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/generosity/" rel="tag">generosity</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/good/" rel="tag">Good</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/help/" rel="tag">help</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/home/" rel="tag">home</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/hope/" rel="tag">hope</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/husband/" rel="tag">husband</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/if/" rel="tag">if</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/in/" rel="tag">in</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/invitation/" rel="tag">invitation</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/invite/" rel="tag">invite</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/journey/" rel="tag">journey</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/joy/" rel="tag">joy</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/kickstarter/" rel="tag">kickstarter</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/king/" rel="tag">King</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/life/" rel="tag">life</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa/" rel="tag">Lisa</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa-colon-delay/" rel="tag">Lisa Colón DeLay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa-delay/" rel="tag">lisa delay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/love/" rel="tag">love</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/max/" rel="tag">Max</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/photography/" rel="tag">Photography</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/printing/" rel="tag">printing</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/project/" rel="tag">project</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/purpose/" rel="tag">purpose</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/reason/" rel="tag">reason</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/rex/" rel="tag">rex</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/rex-the-boy-king-2/" rel="tag">rex the boy king</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/season/" rel="tag">season</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/special/" rel="tag">special</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/story/" rel="tag">story</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/support/" rel="tag">support</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/the-little-prince/" rel="tag">the little prince</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/time/" rel="tag">time</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/treasure/" rel="tag">treasure</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/watch/" rel="tag">watch</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/where-the-wild-things-are/" rel="tag">Where the Wild Things Are</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/will/" rel="tag">will</a> </footer> </article> <article id="post-15201" class="post-15201 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-spark-my-muse tag-be tag-belief tag-brain tag-children tag-comedy tag-common-ground tag-crowd tag-dawkins tag-deep tag-do tag-doubt tag-edgy tag-experiment tag-funny tag-gender tag-good tag-habits tag-help tag-home tag-honest tag-hope tag-humor tag-if tag-in tag-joke tag-jokes tag-just tag-kind tag-laugh tag-laughs tag-laughter tag-likes tag-man tag-men tag-mistake tag-needs tag-new-york tag-new-york-city tag-not tag-people tag-play tag-post tag-presence tag-projects tag-purpose tag-reason tag-rest tag-richard-dawkins tag-share tag-source tag-sports tag-surprise tag-team tag-temperament tag-test tag-theory tag-things tag-thinking tag-tickle tag-top tag-true tag-unconscious tag-variety tag-video tag-watch tag-will tag-women tag-wonder tag-work tag-writing tag-york"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/laughter-the-mini-brain-scan/" rel="bookmark">Laughter: The Mini BRAIN SCAN</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">It’s another installment in the HUMOR SERIES.</h3> If you’re new here or late to the series, get started on these previous articles: <a style="color: #3366ff;" title="Upcoming SERIES: The Science & Spirituality of HUMOR" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/21/upcoming-series-the-science-spirituality-of-humor/">1 Intro</a>: Laughing from birth 2. Step 1: <a title="The Science and Spirituality of Humor [SERIES]: Is Humor a HUMAN thing?" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/26/the-science-and-spirituality-of-humor-series-is-humor-a-human-thing/" target="_blank">Tickle Rats</a> <a style="color: #3366ff;" title="Humor Series: Funny to Whom?" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/28/humor-series-funny-to-whom/">3. What makes something funny may surprise you</a> <a style="color: #3366ff;" title="HUMOR SERIES: On Subversive Laughter-Jokers are Wild" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/10/01/humor-series-on-subversive-laughter-jokers-are-wild/">4. Jokers ARE wild: Subversive Humor</a> <a href="http://goodnews.ws/blog/2012/05/02/dartmouth-research-shows-brain-scans-can-predict-weight-gain-and-sexual-activity/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15202" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM-243x300.png" alt="Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 7.32.26 AM" width="243" height="300" srcset="https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM-243x300.png 243w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM-121x150.png 121w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM.png 252w" sizes="(max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px" /></a>   <h3>How humor works like a mini BRAIN SCAN</h3> (Secular) Biologist Robert Lynch, who also performs as a comedian, sees humor as an adaptive, learned trait; and one that helps us connect with others who share our values. His theory about humor? “You laugh because you believe it is true,” says Lynch, and his experiments seem back up his theory, at least partially. <blockquote>A joke, in other words, is like a little brain scan: When we laugh, we reveal what’s inside us. -Robert Lynch</blockquote> In an <a href="http://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138%2809%2900068-3/abstract" target="_blank">experiment</a> Lynch conducted, a variety of people were video-recorded while watching an edgy comic who joked about gender inequality. The volunteers were then given a psychological test that measured their unconscious gender attitudes. Those with mid-20th century gender views of women being responsible for home and children and men bread-winning laughed harder at that joke than those with more progressive views.   In another experiment, people Lynch terms “self-deceivers” found much less humor in an entire joke reel, in general. I’m guessing that because Lynch used this “self-deceivers” language to identify reluctant laughers, he probably laughs at just about everything. Naturally, if scientists are self-deceiving they are doing something wrong. Something unreasonable? I’m betting that to Lynch “self-deceivers” are “other people”. Otherwise, he would term them “discerning” or “wise” or “judicious” or “pensive” or “still thinking about it” or maybe just “unsure”. So, I wonder if he’s just a bit off the mark. Could the phenomenon of less laughs be a combination of a few things he hasn’t accounted for? • Could less laughter be a result of natural personality or temperament traits? • Fewer habits of deep introspection? • Previous experiences that predispose infrequent laughers to think quietly instead of giggle aloud? • Or a mismatch in values? (What sorts of jokes were told? We don’t know because he doesn’t say.) The subjectivity of laughter producing humor seems to be at play a bit more than his experiments can account for. And that’s no joke.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15206" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-300x270.png" alt="Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 2.51.54 PM" width="300" height="270" srcset="https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-300x270.png 300w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-350x315.png 350w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-150x135.png 150w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM.png 403w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> <blockquote>I do agree with Lynch on this point: We can conceal our true opinions, but in the moment of unguarded laughter, we reveal our true preferences.</blockquote> Lynch says that the trait of a sense of humor is desirable and its presence or lack thereof helps us select a mate: A sense of humor is always listed in the top five traits people look for when mate-hunting. Plus, humor helps us bond with those in our group, or determine who’s outside our group. This does seem clear. <hr />   <h4>And lest we forget, (the non self-deceived?) Lynch likes to work the crowd at open mic comedy nights. Does this scientist have a formula?</h4> Yes. Sort of. Basically. Here’s how he does it: He finds common ground and builds on it. First he works at locating something held in common. Then, he points out a shared opinion or value, and underscores something that rings true to listeners. It might start with some simple commonality like the geographical location of the place, a sports team preference, or the clientele in attendance. He’s also snarky. If you like that style you might be amused. “It’s great to be in New York City again. The coral reef created by sinking subway cars off Manhattan has a 58% higher rate of stabbings than a natural reef.” (or something like that. blah blah blah…you can watch the video on his theory <a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2319346134/" target="_blank">here</a>.) <div class="bucket"> <blockquote>If I’m writing a joke, often what I do is I look at things that I think are true, that people tend not to admit to, or maybe reluctant to admit to, including myself. -Lynch</blockquote> </div> <hr /> Of course, I don’t hold the similar belief that the reason for laughter happened ad hoc and by chance, as Robert Lynch contends. That idea seems more like a punchline to me. <blockquote>“Why did the cave man laugh? I’ll tell you in ten million years…”</blockquote> (yes that was mine) Sure, we adapt using humor, and we always well, but I doubt the source of humor was landed on by sheer mistake or mutation + time. HA-but that’s a good one. You almost had me, Lynch! <hr />   What may be the case is something that isn’t so stupefyingly accidental or self-deceiving. Something reasonable. Namely, that One beyond our comprehension designed and equipped us purposefully with a sense of humor and in a way that we can better socially bond in positive ways…because we inherently need each other. In a future post, I will go a bit further and pose a kind of theory for the purpose of humor and the reason for laughter based on some work from different researchers and my own educational background.   <h3>The takeaway: If you want to know what someone is really like and what they really think, pay attention to what and whom they laugh at. Laughter is a kind of brain scan.</h3> And examine what makes you laugh. Dig deeper and find out more about yourself and what needs improving.   I hope you’ve liked this series. Tell me which has been your favorite post so far. Come back for “funny friday” and the rest of the series! xo -Lisa For the latest info on my humor related projects sign up <a href="http://eepurl.com/4lZt1" target="_blank">here</a>. </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> Posted on <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/laughter-the-mini-brain-scan/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2014-10-08T13:52:32-04:00">8 October, 2014</time><time class="updated" datetime="2014-10-10T07:32:24-04:00">10 October, 2014</time></a>Author <a class="url fn n" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/author/admin/">Spark My Muse</a>Categories <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/spark-my-muse/" rel="category tag">Podcast</a>Tags <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/be/" rel="tag">be</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/belief/" rel="tag">belief</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/brain/" rel="tag">brain</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/children/" rel="tag">children</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/comedy/" rel="tag">comedy</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/common-ground/" rel="tag">common ground</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/crowd/" rel="tag">crowd</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/dawkins/" rel="tag">Dawkins</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/deep/" rel="tag">deep</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/do/" rel="tag">do</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/doubt/" rel="tag">doubt</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/edgy/" rel="tag">edgy</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/experiment/" rel="tag">Experiment</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/funny/" rel="tag">funny</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/gender/" rel="tag">gender</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/good/" rel="tag">Good</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/habits/" rel="tag">habits</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/help/" rel="tag">help</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/home/" rel="tag">home</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/honest/" rel="tag">honest</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/hope/" rel="tag">hope</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/humor/" rel="tag">Humor</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/if/" rel="tag">if</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/in/" rel="tag">in</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/joke/" rel="tag">joke</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/jokes/" rel="tag">jokes</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/just/" rel="tag">just</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/kind/" rel="tag">kind</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/laugh/" rel="tag">laugh</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/laughs/" rel="tag">laughs</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/laughter/" rel="tag">laughter</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/likes/" rel="tag">likes</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/man/" rel="tag">man</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/men/" rel="tag">men</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/mistake/" rel="tag">mistake</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/needs/" rel="tag">needs</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/new-york/" rel="tag">New York</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/new-york-city/" rel="tag">New York City</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/not/" rel="tag">NOT</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/people/" rel="tag">people</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/play/" rel="tag">play</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/post/" rel="tag">post</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/presence/" rel="tag">presence</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/projects/" rel="tag">projects</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/purpose/" rel="tag">purpose</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/reason/" rel="tag">reason</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/rest/" rel="tag">Rest</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/richard-dawkins/" rel="tag">Richard Dawkins</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/share/" rel="tag">share</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/source/" rel="tag">Source</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/sports/" rel="tag">sports</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/surprise/" rel="tag">surprise</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/team/" rel="tag">team</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/temperament/" rel="tag">temperament</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/test/" rel="tag">test</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/theory/" rel="tag">Theory</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/things/" rel="tag">things</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/thinking/" rel="tag">thinking</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/tickle/" rel="tag">tickle</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/top/" rel="tag">top</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/true/" rel="tag">true</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/unconscious/" rel="tag">unconscious</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/variety/" rel="tag">variety</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/video/" rel="tag">video</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/watch/" rel="tag">watch</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/will/" rel="tag">will</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/women/" rel="tag">women</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/wonder/" rel="tag">wonder</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/work/" rel="tag">Work</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/writing/" rel="tag">writing</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/york/" rel="tag">York</a> </footer> </article> <article id="post-15150" class="post-15150 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-spark-my-muse tag-3878 tag-activities tag-articles tag-bad tag-bar tag-be tag-beating tag-bill tag-bill-cosby tag-bonding tag-child tag-coffee tag-comedy tag-comics tag-community tag-contest tag-dangerous tag-death tag-distance tag-do tag-emotional tag-fall tag-fans tag-following tag-friend tag-fun tag-funny tag-future tag-gig tag-giving tag-good tag-gross tag-happy tag-hat tag-hate tag-having-fun tag-heard tag-help tag-home tag-hope tag-humor tag-identity tag-if tag-in tag-joke tag-jokes tag-kind tag-laugh tag-laughs tag-laughter tag-learn tag-life tag-lisa tag-man tag-nature tag-normal tag-not tag-old tag-old-people tag-pain tag-panic tag-pants tag-patience tag-people tag-photo tag-picked tag-popularity tag-prison tag-project tag-projects tag-public tag-publicly-speaking tag-purpose tag-question tag-questions tag-quiet tag-quote tag-radio tag-reason tag-research tag-right tag-scary tag-science-2 tag-seinfeld tag-show tag-smell tag-speaking tag-spirituality tag-start tag-story tag-studies tag-stuff tag-success tag-surprise tag-terror tag-theory tag-things tag-tickle tag-time tag-topics tag-true tag-tv tag-ugly tag-understanding tag-values tag-videos tag-vulgar tag-wait tag-walk tag-walking tag-why tag-will tag-women tag-work"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/humor-series-funny-to-whom/" rel="bookmark">Humor Series: Funny to Whom?</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15152" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-227x300.jpg" alt="funny-old-lady-smoking" width="227" height="300" srcset="https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-227x300.jpg 227w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-300x396.jpg 300w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-113x150.jpg 113w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking.jpg 303w" sizes="(max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px" /> <h3>Have you heard this one?</h3> <blockquote>Three Humor Science researchers walk into a bar. ….um. Wait. That won’t work. Let me start over.</blockquote> <h3>Get a scientist to talk about humor studies and you get a quick reminder of how science can squeeze the life out of anything.</h3> <h3>Dissection is destructive. But no more!</h3> It’s time to find out in a better way: 1. What do people find funny and why? 2. How can YOU become more humorously winsome? 3. How can science and an understanding of human nature and spirituality help us find out? That’s what this series will be about, and I promise that it won’t be as dull as it’s been when scientists have the mic. If it’s successful, a long form project will go a lot further and get a lot funnier. That’s up to you. <hr />   Here’s the story of how it all started: A friend of mine asked me to speak at a senior residential home on the topic of community. No problem. I speak at plenty of places on plenty of topics. I wrote my bullet points and picked out an outfit…and then things went bad. The problem? I didn’t know she was billing me as “hilarious”. I found that part out only a few days beforehand. I went into a quiet panic. The kind where your hands get clammy and your sweat smells like bad coffee. You run out of TUMS at times like this. I’d planned on being friendly and informative, not uproarious. I was going to present material and involve them in cute bonding activities, not split their sides in gales of laughter. My friend had been walking around assuring residents that I was the funniest thing going. Now what? Maybe, I could stick a joke in there somewhere: <blockquote>“Have you ever peed your pants laughing? What a silly question–you’re old people. You peed your pants getting out of bed today. Is bladder incontinence a laughing matter? …Depends.”</blockquote> Depends is right. This wasn’t going to work. What if they hated me? Some of them are in chronic pain. Some are grouchy. Some have little patience for sassy youngsters. These people carry canes and some smell like pee. I could get the beating of my life! And I would deserve it. <hr />   The terror of bombing at the place drove me to research the topic of humor scientifically. My purpose was to help these folks have a good time, not offend them. What resulted was a quest and many discoveries. I had to find out if funniness can be learned, if public speaking can be improved with a formula, if laughter can be predicted, and if old people laugh at jokes about physical deterioration and, if so, under what conditions. Well, it turns out the last bit is sort of tricky. More on that in future material.   On getting funnier My research dug up a very good find and it might help you too: One of the ways almost anyone can get funnier to more people is to appear harmless more broadly. Does that seem counter-intuitive? Yes, there are foul-mouthed, raunchy comics aplenty and seem to get lots of laughs, but they are not typically funny to the greatest numbers of people compared to plenty of other things (pies in the face, mistaken identity antics, prat falls, kittens jumping in surprise), and there is a scientific reason why. What more people (on average) actually find funny hinges on giving them something that is funny at a further comedic distance. This explains why Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, and Bill Cosby (before all that drugging women stuff was found out) have huge followings and continued success, and Roseanne Barr gets more annoying as time goes by.   What is Comedic Distance? <blockquote>Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die. -Mel Brooks </blockquote> In this quote, Mel Brooks underscores what humor researchers are finding empirically true. Distance matters a lot. If your child falls off the playground slide and bangs himself up, it’s scary. If some man in a cowboy hat suddenly gets kicked in the crotch by an aggressive llama, it’s laughable. The Kitten vs. Stern Proof This is why videos of kittens doing silly things trump in spades the popularity of Howard Stern and his radio show antics. The hoards of memes, shares, and overall fans of funny kitten videos means that invariably, kittens kick Howard’s butt. Big time. Kittens won’t squash your dearly held values. Kittens won’t say something gross about bodily fluids. (Kittens are not funny to everyone, but they are funnier on the whole than a raunchy DJ or vulgar comedian. No contest.) <blockquote> The difference between kittens and Howard Stern is this: Something “dangerous” isn’t personally threatening when kittens are involved. </blockquote> Comedic distance (whether physical, chronological, or emotional) creates an amusing incident. The surprise pays off and people are thusly amused. If not, that you can get booed. For me, I played off that my normal Thursday afternoons are spend with prison inmates and that I was REALLY happy for the upgrade. I was then heckled by a woman who said, “Don’t be so sure.” (She has it in for a few of her neighbors. It’s been ugly.) To which I replied, “Well, you are all much better dressed.” Resounding laughter. A win! <hr /> <h4 style="text-align: center;">So, see if you can figure out why the photo above is funny (to most people)?</h4> Answer: The woman has made it to 100 years old and she’s done it her way. Sure, smoking is dangerous, but apparently not much, in her case. Having fun? I hope you are enjoying this series. Do you have questions about humor theory or getting funnier? Let me know. xo -Lisa Here are the previous articles in this series: <a title="Upcoming SERIES: The Science & Spirituality of HUMOR" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/21/upcoming-series-the-science-spirituality-of-humor/" target="_blank">1. Finding things funny…from birth</a> <a title="The Science and Spirituality of Humor [SERIES]: Is Humor a HUMAN thing?" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/26/the-science-and-spirituality-of-humor-series-is-humor-a-human-thing/" target="_blank">2. Humor Studies: Step 1 – Tickle Rats</a> For the latest info on my humor related projects sign up <a href="http://eepurl.com/4lZt1" target="_blank">here</a>. </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> Posted on <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/humor-series-funny-to-whom/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2014-09-28T08:52:26-04:00">28 September, 2014</time><time class="updated" datetime="2015-07-12T12:20:14-04:00">12 July, 2015</time></a>Author <a class="url fn n" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/author/admin/">Spark My Muse</a>Categories <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/spark-my-muse/" rel="category tag">Podcast</a>Tags <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/100/" rel="tag">100</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/activities/" rel="tag">activities</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/articles/" rel="tag">articles</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/bad/" rel="tag">bad</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/bar/" 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Tag: purpose

Eps 221 Seasons of restlessness; Casey Tygrett

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A classic children’s book for adults too.

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1. A lot is going on behind the scenes to produce a podcast.

3. There are only a few more days for you to get in on the children’s book we’ve done. It’s a fantastic project and I’m excited to share it with you. Check it out here.

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