With Joel Warner (Cross posted on The Humor Code’s Psychology Today blog) Some of civilization’s great thinkers pondered the meaning of humor long and hard. Thomas Hobbes put forth the idea that humor emerges from superiority or “sudden glory” over an enemy. Immanuel Kant believed humor arose from a process
Power (or a lack thereof) has pervasive effects on human behavior and thought. We know, for example, that in contrast to the powerless, the powerful are more likely to take action, less likely to empathize with others, and more likely to be goal-directed in their behavior. But power is often
I was recently in New York as part of my Humor Code travels, and I met Paul Noth, a cartoonist whose work appears in The New Yorker. We talked about the types of cartoons that might have broad (even universal) appeal. He kindly agreed to a video interview: Comedy often
My old friend and former roommate, Tony Hermann, is doing research on self-esteem. Recently, I asked him: Why are people with low self-esteem doormats? His answer is consistent with recent research in psychology that positives and negatives should be treated as distinct constructs and not as opposites along a single
With Joel Warner. Adapted from our Wired.com post. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has a problem: Seven out of 10 pregnancies among unmarried 18-to-29-year-olds in this country are unplanned. The organization also has an unusual potential solution: comedy. Unlike the organization’s work with teens, the goal
Funny sells Tomorrow, we leave Colorado to get a glimpse of the big business of humor. Although comedy can be found almost anywhere (as we discovered during our trip to Palestine) it’s most apparent where people have substantial resources to commit to creating – and enjoying – comedic entertainment. New York City
Why bother studying humor? Because it may be one of the most important topics of all. With Joel Warner (originally posted at Psychology Today; based on one of my earliest posts ) Humor has been around for as long as there has been humanity — and considering that chimps and
I recently spent a day in the West Bank city of Hebron. Simply put, Hebron is a wacky place. To put it’s wackiness into perspective, I mentioned to Jacob Gough, the new director of the Freedom Theater (which is in the refugee camp of Jenin – the location of a
This episode seeks to explore the singles advocacy movement with Gordon Morris, who is aiming to breathe new life into Unmarried Equality, a nonprofit
Welcome to the final episode of I’M NOT JOKING. Comedian JD Lopez returns from Episode 1 to debrief and reflect on Peter’s experience building
