[gruseom]

I've noticed that audiences laugh a lot and that most of what they laugh at is actually not very funny. Most people wouldn't normally laugh at the same things, unless they were really nervous. No doubt social proof is a big part of this: people laugh because others are laughing, as the essay says. Audiences are their own laugh track. But something has to start the ball rolling. I wonder if it's related to authority. The speaker is in an authoritative position, the audience is subordinate. One thing I learned from hypnosis is that most of us are a lot more ready to submit to authority than we seem - far more than we believe we are. If the speaker is known to be famous or powerful, the audience will automatically project this on to them; but even if they aren't, all they have to do is just assume a manner of authority and the audience will automatically project it onto them anyway. Then just about anything they say that is jovial will seem funny and the audience will laugh. And I bet if an audience laughs a few times, they go away saying "that was a good talk".

[bokonist]

I've noticed that audiences laugh a lot and that most of what they laugh at is actually not very funny.

Isn't the very definition of funny is that it makes people laugh? Laughter is inherently a social, group bonding phenomena. Inherently, a social, group gathering will have more laughter. There is no such thing as something being objectively funny, funny only exists inside a group and social context, which provides the opportunity for the group to bond at someone's expense (possibly someone inside the group, possibly someone or something outside the group).

[gruseom]

Yes. The next sentence was intended to explain what I meant.

[carguy1983]

I've noticed this too - when speaking in front of my employees, they laugh at the strangest things - things that would not be funny if I said them at, for example, lunch.

[ahoyhere]

Laughter is social lubricant. There is lots of research on this: people laugh more in groups; inferiors laugh more than superiors; nervous people laugh at themselves, and laughing at yourself is also kind of way to efface yourself and show that you are part of a group.

If only HNers would read basic Intro to Psychology books, there would not be so many chimes of "I noticed this too" and, hopefully, more discussion of what actually goes on in the world and how things actually work.

[gruseom]

What's wrong with noticing things?

[ahoyhere]

Nothing at all.

It's just that when you see comments like these -- "I noticed that" or "me too" -- you so rarely see "and then I wondered why, and here's what I found…" as a follow-up.

The conversation is poorer because "I noticed" is where it ends.