Philosopher Henri Bergson, Laughter and Personal Wellbeing

Santiago Iníguez de UnzunoAnd IE University

They say that the conference to be held by the French philosopher and Nobel laureate for literature in New York in 1927 Henry Bergson (1859-1941) aroused so much expectation among the public that it paralyzed traffic around Broadway. Bergson was known as a good orator and drew large audiences. This is not a frequent phenomenon, because philosophers are considered sane and intelligent, even boring. However, when they are entertained, their summoning ability is extraordinary.

Laughter and philosophy

maybe, Socrates It was fun too, as it is today Michael Sandelthat fill the great halls. As it happened to a law professor Ronald Dworkinmy professor at Oxford University, whose classes were always overcrowded.

One of Bergson’s most curious works is Laughter: an essay on the meaning of comedy, but he was not the first philosopher to talk about laughter. in that PolicyAnd Aristotle He points out: “Youth should not be educated to amuse them, but to accompany them in suffering.” for his part, Immanuel Kant “Laughter comes from an expectation that does not end suddenly,” he said.

On the border between philosophy and psychology, Sigmund Freud He devoted an entire book to humor. in Humor and its relationship to the subconsciousAnalyzes the essence of blessings, their seasons, and their relationship to dreams. Note: the examples you use are not very funny. As he explains: “The new joke is regarded almost as a public event and passes from mouth to mouth like the news of a very recent triumph.” Something similar to what is happening nowadays in social networks.

On the other hand, his consideration that dirty jokes are verbal sexual assaults, and that whoever laughs at these jokes acts as a spectator to this aggression makes us think.

Attempting to synthesize, Freud defines humor as: “jovial judgment, juxtaposition of the heterogeneous, contrast of representations, Feeling foolishand a succession of astonishment and enlightenment, and the discovery of what is hidden and especially brief.

at recent days, American academics They coined a more canonical and academic definition, though I don’t know if comedy professionals would subscribe: “Humor occurs when an epistemic assumption, accepted as a state of mind, turns out to be wrong.”

In general, serious books about humor beget a bit of humor. It’s something similar to what happened to a journalist when asked Chris Rock What is funny. The humorist’s response was: “You know what’s not funny? Think about it.” He said it before E.B. White: “Analysis of the meaning of humor is like anatomy of a frog: few people are interested, and meanwhile the frog dies.”

Laughter and personal knowledge

Bergson’s book is amusing and more than average in understanding how jokes work. The French philosopher does not give a specific definition of humor. His philosophy gives intuition to perception. Instead, it provides multiple examples and offers categories of what is funny. I think, however, that there are two statements Bergson got wrong.

The first, when he says: “There is no comedy outside of what is human.” Zoology shows that primates have a sense of humor and there is speculation about cynicism in other species. We also see humans laughing with their pets and seeming to go along with the joke.

The second mistake is to assert that they always laugh in a group, and that laughter needs resonance and socialization. Although laughter is contagious and emotional, as long as the jokes are good, it is also possible, I would even say desirable, to have fun alone.

Laughing with oneself allows us to get to know ourselves better and provides us with the resources to maintain good spirits. A good read with entertaining clips or watching a funny movie can generate moments of real fun. You will have to test which authors are most comfortable with.

There are two movie classics that never fail: A night at the operafollower Marx BrothersAnd My girl monsterl Howard Hawks.

However, as described Adam Smith“Society and conversation are the most powerful remedies for restoring tranquility to the mind (…) also the best protection for that uniform and happy humor so necessary for inner contentment and joy.”

Comedy, a social skill

There are two great types of comedy, according to Bergson. Verbal comedy, through the use of language, and situational comedy, through the creation of appropriate characters and circumstances.

Verbal comedy is the result of creativity, the ability to use language to elicit laughter, either by pretending to say what it doesn’t mean to say, playing with the meaning or pronunciation of words, or putting up with what are called “Freudian lapses”. “.

Intelligence is that ability to think quickly and easily or create the spark to see the funny side of things. This power is not innate but acquired through the exercise of two abilities: social intelligence and memory resources.

Social intelligence is related to the ease with which we relate to others and is a form of emotional intelligence that requires a proactive attitude, not simply allowing oneself to distance itself from social contact, if any.

You may have dated a comedian offstage, and were shocked by the fact that he isn’t joking at all times of your day. It makes sense that they would want to rest when they are not acting, and even adopt different attitudes. But this shows that joking is, to some extent, an aspect of behavior that you have to engage in, and even prepare for.

If you want to be cheerful at a meeting or conference, as well as improvise with recollections, jokes and jokes, it is always helpful to think ahead.

And two boiled eggs

Regarding situation comedy, Bergson identified three main sources.

1. Repetition supported by pleasure insistence or repetition. You will remember the famous scene in the cabin A night at the opera, which has even become an expression to denote the small places where a pin does not fit. In this case, when Groucho orders breakfast, Chico is heard adding to each plate “and two hard-boiled eggs,” a request Harpo returned with canoe and confirmed by Groucho himself, like this up to four times. This repetition is laughable, and you’ve probably seen yourself saying “and two hard-boiled eggs” when someone asked you for something.
2. Reversal, when a situation takes a sudden turn or roles are reversed unexpectedly. Impersonation is a very frequent form of investment, and once again the Marx Brothers film serves as a reference. While traveling by ship to New York, Harpo, Chico, and Ricardo impersonate three famous pilots and are only discovered when they have to give their speeches to the authorities. The long beards and uniforms used for disguises turned out to be the best comic contribution to Shut up.
3. Interferometric series, known as entanglement, is when a situation belongs to two different series of events that converge to generate the joke. At the beginning A night at the opera (The Marx brothers again!), the multi-millionaire played by the nondescript Marguerite Dumond, is waiting impatiently at her table in a fancy restaurant for Groucho, who is already late. When he asks to sing his name to locate him, it turns out that he has been having a spirited dinner with another young woman for an hour, at the table directly behind him.

Outside of the resource categories Bergson formulates for understanding jokes, and given that humor has diverse and evolving sources, ranging from the innocuous to the cruel, I think three pieces of advice are relevant:

• The first is taken from Freud: “Innocent jokes are more valuable than tendentious jokes, and those lacking in content more than deep jokes.”
• The second, taken from the words Shakespeare put into the mouth of the charlatan Polonius Hamlets: “Since brevity is the spirit of wit and elongation in her body and outward ornaments, I must be very brief.” In the same vein, there is Baltasar Gracian’s dictum: “The good, if brief, is twice as good.”
• The third, drawn from own experience: to be cheerful, to be kind to others. People who treat their friends or colleagues with tact and kindness are more likely to cause laughter when they intentionally seek it than others. If you have leadership responsibilities, don’t overuse humor, because the risk is that people will laugh and thank you for who you are.

brain activity

Laughter — exercising or watching it — activates multiple areas of the brain: the motor cortex, which controls muscles. the frontal lobe, which helps understand context; and the limbic system, which regulates positive emotions. Turning on all of these circuits strengthens neural connections and helps a healthy brain coordinate its activity.

These observations have led psychologists, counselors, and educators to recommend laughter as a regular daily exercise, for all of its benefits to the body and mind. Don’t let situations in which you can have fun or joke with others escape you: they are as healthy as exercise.

My profound gratitude to the Marx Brothers for the brightness of our existence.

a Issuance This article was posted on LinkedIn. Originally posted on Conversation. Read the creative.

Santiago Iníguez de UnzunoPresident of IE University, IE University

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