Landman

Hello! Humor is a mental contrast between something that makes sense and something that does not. Three elements are needed: the nonsensical element, the corresponding "sensical" element, and the connection between the two. Example 1: Q. Why did the little boy throw the clock out the window? A. He wanted to see time fly. "Sensical" element: "Time fly" as a metaphor for the sense of time moving quickly. Nonsensical element: "Time fly" in a literal sense, with "time" meaning a clock. The connection between the two: two interpretations of the same phrase. Example 2: Q: Why did the farmer go to town? A: Fireplace. While the answer certainly is nonsensical, there is no corresponding "sensical" element, and therefore there is no perception of humor. Another way of looking at this: A typical sensical answer of "To buy groceries" has no connection to the given nonsensical element, and therefore the humor fails. If it indeed was such an attempt. I presented a paper and a workshop on this topic at the Texas Objectivist Societies Conference in 1993 (?). I'd always wanted to give the topic a more scholarly polish; perhaps it's getting to be that time. =)