Before I studied psychology,I used to think that people would laugh when funny things occurred. While I was right about that,I discovered there are lots of other psychological reasons that make people laugh other than the funny part of a joke. When someone laughs at a joke,there will usually be more than one reason that makes him laugh-and the more reasons there are,the more powerful the joke will be.
I was attending a stand-up comedy show in Egypt,and when the man started to make fun of pedestrians crossing streets,everyone laughed their head off. The main reason why those people strongly laughed was that almost all of them felt angry with pedestrians who crossed streets carelessly. The joke wasn't only funny,it also made the audience feel that they were right about being angry at those pedestrians. That is,people were laughing because of both the funny joke and the happiness experienced as a result of the psychological support they got.
The better a joke makes a person feel,the more it includes other psychological factors,and the more the person will like it. For example,if you envy one of your friends,and someone tells a joke that is funny and,at the same time,makes your friend seem stupid,then you will probably laugh at it louder than if you weren't jealous(嫉妒的)of him.
In short, we not only laugh when we hear something funny, but also laugh when we experience some kind of happiness that results from the other psychological factors involved in the joke. I strongly discourage making fun of anyone or belittling someone to make someone else laugh. All I want to explain is that if your joke supports a person's emotions, he will certainly like it a lot.
【小题1】What did the author find out after studying psychology?A.Only good jokes make people laugh. |
B.Many reasons lead to people laughing. |
C.Funny things can make people laugh. |
D.Laughter can make people healthy. |
A.Because they played a trick on the pedestrians. |
B.Because the pedestrians behaved in a funny way. |
C.Because they could feel the pedestrians' happiness. |
D.Because their emotions were approved of by the show. |
A.Speaking highly of. | B.Getting close to. |
C.Looking down on. | D.Feeling content with. |