mjn@panda.UUCP (Mark J. Norton) (03/06/85)
> My disgust and anger at the Mathematical 'Humor' are not > easily put into words. Violent rape is not funny, no matter how it > is cloaked. Such a degrading and horrible thing does not belong in > this forum, as 'humor'. The people who posted this should do some > soul-searching, some thinking. And apologise to the rest of us. > > Tom Doehne > hplabs!hp-pcd!uoregon!tom I can certainly agree with you that rape is a serious subject and in one sense is no joking matter. On the other hand, there have been some intresting theories that jokes and humor serve as an educational mechanism in society. How many jokes have you heard about homosexuals? Crippling injury? Polical or Social disgrace? Crime? etc. People make jokes about the kinds of things which are difficult to talk about. Jokes often point out behaviour which is socially unacceptable. Rather than make a long tirade of this, I'll refer you to a paper by Marvin Minsky: Jokes and the Logic and the Logic of Cognitive Unconsious. MIT AIM-603, Nov. 1980. In it Minsky talks at length of the role of Jokes and humor in society and speaks of other work on the topic, especially Freud. Mark J. Norton decvax!genrad!{panda | teddy}!mjn