Exploring the Depths of Thought: Problem Solving and Humor

On the face of it, there is a certain similarity between insightful problem solution and humor.

A joke does not strike us as funny unless we "get the point."

Source

Conversely, insights sometimes have a comic aspect, especially when one recognizes how absurdly simple the solution really is.

Several researchers suggest that the essential similarity lies in the fact that both insight and humor involve a dramatic shift from one cognitive organization to another

The joke teller creates one expectation during the early stage of the narrative, and then betrays it when he comes to the punch line. There is surprise followed by the realization that the unexpected ending makes some sense after all.

A Famous Example:

Let's consider the story about three men, a doctor, a lawyer, and an engineer, all of whom are to be executed on a, guillotine.

As they step up to the scafold, each is given a choice of lying face up or face down. The doctor is the first and decides that one should confront one's fate directly, so he opts to lie face up.

The blade drops, but then stops with a loud squeak just one foot above the doctor's body. There is much amazement, and then the prisoner is released.

Next is the lawyer. He is sure that legal precedent would lead to his own release if the
blade were to stop for him as it had for the doctor, so he too lies face up. Again the
blade stops short, and again the prisoner is released.

It's now the engineer's turn.
He decides his best bet is to go with whatever worked before. As he lies face up, he
too can see the blade overhead. But then, just before the blade descends, he turns
to the executioner and says.

"Say, wait, I think I see what your problem is up there."

The story is set up to lead to the expectation of another ending, perhaps a third failure. The actual ending is unexpected and incongruous, but it makes sense:

the engineer can't resist solving an engineering problem, even if it kills him.

But incongruity as such is not enough, for without a viable cognitive alternative into which the ending fits, there will be no humor.

If the engineer had asked the executioner to lend him a handkerchief, there would have been no joke at all, only puzzlement.

In other cases, the cognitive structure of the joke is more subtle.

Consider the story about a mountain climber who slıpped over a precipice and barely hung on to a long rope with a thousand-foot drop gaping underneath.

There was no one with him and he knew he couldn't hold on much longer. In his fear and despair, he looked up to the heavens and shouted:

Is there anyone up there who can help me?

There was a long pause and then a deep voice was heard from above:

*You will be saved if you show your faith by letting go of the rope."

The mountoin climber looked down at the deep abyss beneath him, and then looked up again and cried:

"Is there anyone else up there who can help me?"

Here, the joke sets up a puzzle: what will the mountain climber do now? His response is unexpected.

He both has faith and he doesn't. Not content with hear from one deity, he wants to hear from yet another, trying to get a better bargain.

A similar relation between humor and puzzles is apparent in many cartoons.

For example, when a viewer first sees the famous skiing cartoon of Charles Addams, he tries to figure out what is going on. The solution is incongruous, but it fits, and is therefore funny.

Well, surprise and reinterpretation are probably not the only cognitive factors required for humor to occur. Another ingredient is the comparison of the two cognitive structures that are juxtaposed.

The critical element can be seen in both
contexts. This simultaneous membership of an item in two radically different cognitive contexts seems to be a crucial aspect of humor.

One of Oscar Wilde's dowagers, on interviewing a potential son-in-law, asks:

LADY BRACKNELL: Now to minor matters. Are your parents living?

JACK: I have lost both my parents.

LADY BRACKNELL: To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose both looks like carelessness.

(Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 1)

The humor derives from the sudden jolt caused by the second meaning of "lost",
which is then contrasted with the first.

While cognitive restructuring is an important and perhaps a necessary condition for the production of humor, it is clearly not a sufficient one.

A whole variety of emotional and motivational factors are also involved. Thus humor can serve as a relatively harmless outlet for aggressive or sexual wishes that can't be indulged directly, as in sarcastic wit and "dirty jokes."

A further condition is that the new and unexpected meaning (the point of the joke) has to be emotionally acceptable to the listener.

Jokes about Hitler's extermination camps are not funny to anyone. This point holds even for "sick jokes." We can (barely) accept.

The Bus Stops Here for today:

Thank you, friends, for staying with me through these blogisodes. Your thoughts and opinions are always welcome and appreciated. I'd be happy to hear them. Until then, stay safe, friends.♥️

References and Links:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886921004840

https://www.psychologs.com/the-psychology-behind-humor/?amp=1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2223159/

https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/offices/provost/health/topics/stress-management/cognitive-restructuring-examples.html#:~:text=Cognitive%20restructuring%20is%20a%20technique,that%20do%20not%20produce%20stress.

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