[ExI] Pattern Recognition Theory of Humour

[Damien Broderick]

At 12:08 AM 6/21/2008 -0400, Dan wrote:

>Sounds a bit like Arthur Koestler's views on humor.

Very much so.

I found Koestler's model pretty persuasive when I read it in THE ACT 
OF CREATION in 1964; the strange part was that the examples of humor 
that he presented to display his theory in action were *terrible*. 
I've just been discussing humor/wit with Lee Corbin, as it happens; 
he cited something here on the list I found instantly funny, even 
though I'm not a regular viewer of *24*:

 >When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother eat his vegetables!

A good fit for the template theory. Another I mentioned offlist to Lee:

Where I lived in Melbourne, in a light industrial/ethnic-mix area, I 
came across a Greek mattress factory one day and burst out laughing 
uncontrollably at their sign: SPARTAN BEDDING.

These are not *outrageously* funny, but they're better exemplars than 
anything Koestler came up with and they both involve apophenia.

Damien Broderick