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Why We Laugh Together and Can't Get Enough of TV
By adriaan, Section News
Posted on Fri Jul 11, 2008 at 11:51:57 PM PST
Cognitive Science Why is laughing out loud, cheering and booing such a group activity? And why do we spend hours watching almost the same stories on TV again and again? Maybe it is our social brain that makes us do it..

It could be that it is our brain that makes us listen to these stories and react out loud, to calibrate our sensitivities with those of our group.

It isn't the story that really matters, but the vocal reactions of approval and disapproval of the people around us. They tell us how we should think to function well in the group.

Having automated the tribal storyteller with a TV set, we are still attracted to the same stories. But without the group around us, it has become a bit of a waste of time. And the canned laughter in the Seinfeld episodes is only a poor substitute..

For more on this, go to
http://adriaanb.blogspot.com/

Why We Laugh Together and Can't Get Enough of TV | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)

Personally speaking (none / 0) (#1)
by Teknowizard on Sat Jul 12, 2008 at 02:42:17 PM PST
I find television very boring now that I can't afford cable.  I used to watch things like the news and science shows more than entertainment.

I think a lot of people are glued to their sets because of some form of subconscious evasion of the negative in life.  Their escape from reality.



  • Escapism by sciencebase, 07/17/2008 02:01:17 AM PST (none / 0)
Why We Laugh Together and Can't Get Enough of TV | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)

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· http://adr iaanb.blogspot.com/
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