The Anatomy of a Joke by Dr. Saniya Kamal (guest blogger)
Have you ever been in a situation where you have a final exam coming up and the syllabus is too extensive, the subject too confusing, and the time not enough? You and your friends make jokes about how you guys haven’t studied anything and have a good laugh. After the exam, you make jokes about how you were all going to fail. The result comes out and you’re relieved to know that you guys passed. Great! You find out that one of you has the highest marks in class. You’re happy for your friend but you make fun of him for participating in the “I’m going to fail” banter because he clearly knew a lot more than the rest of you. But you also find out that one of your friends actually did fail. Would you make fun of him? Objectively speaking, failure is great fodder for comedy but something doesn’t feel right in kicking someone who is already down. It feels unethical. It is also possible that there are bullies in your class who do make fun of your friend for failing the exam. I...