SSS 2009-10-13
时间：2019-01-08 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(十)月
Did you see The Simpsons episode where Homer makes a toast to alcohol?:
“To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
There are a few reasons why we might find this funny. First there’s the inherently ridiculous contradiction—the recognition of absurdity 1 is often funny.
Or it might be the surprise factor: Homer using alcohol to toast…alcohol!
But another possibility is that it’s funny because it’s true.
And those who find it particularly funny might be those who’ve actually experienced both claims (booze wreaks 2 havoc 3 in their lives, but they also drink to ease their pain).
In fact much of what we find humorous can reveal our beliefs. Since laughter is typically an unconscious, automatic response it is a useful measure for laying bare individual biases 4.
This month in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior Robert Lynch of Rutgers University published the first scientific evidence for the conventional folk wisdom: it’s funny because it’s true. But Lynch is not referring to objective truth, rather what we think is true.
Nearly 60 students were tested for their personal gender 5 and racial biases, of which they might be quite unaware 6.
Then they watched comedian 7 Bill Burr do a 30-minute stand up. Lynch measured the amount of laughter as well as more subtle—and automatic—facial expressions.
Those who found Burr’s racially charged jokes most funny (one about Burr, who is white, being afraid in black neighborhoods) also had shown a significant preference for whites. And those who laughed most at Burr’s gender based jokes (one about how men should make more money than women) also preferred more traditional gender stereotypes 8.
But Lynch notes that his findings are not about, “sexists like sexist jokes, and racists like racist 9 jokes,” but rather the conclusions show that laughter often acts as a hard-to-fake signal of the somewhat unconscious beliefs we all hold, whatever those beliefs are.
So remember, something may indeed be funny because it’s true—about the way you think.
—Christie Nicholson
- The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
- The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。
- Worshipping the sun wreaks havoc on skin. So does smoking. 过度晒太阳会毁掉好皮肤，吸烟也是如此。
- His hard work wreaks havoc in his personal life. 他拼命工作破坏了他的私人生活。
- The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
- This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。
- Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
- The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。
- French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
- Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。
- They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
- I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
- The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
- The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。
- Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
- It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》