Why Do People Find Pleasure in Other People's Misery?
- Thread starter earllogjam
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Most cartoons have that making someone a butt of a joke aspect to them. Maybe we were all conditioned as kids. Although Tom and Jerry and the Roadrunner weren't my favorite cartoons.
rawbone8
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In all slapstick that cathartic moment when the audience bursts the tension with a guffaw at the (literally painful) misfortune or embarassment of the subject speaks a primal message.
HAH! HAH! (Fuck! I'm glad it wasn't me!)
It gets worked into the theatrics of comedy so routinely we seldom acknowledge that aspect. Many jokes are about cruelty or injustice or suffering in some way, and there is a gasp of relief/horror when the punchline strikes. Comedy is largely based on dramatizing some horrible situation that we can all relate with – and it is generously applied to someone else (The Target or The Butt of The Joke) for a change. That allows us a shriek of recognition. Slapstick, with its physical pratfalls and collisions, is typical. Social pains like suffering ridicule, embarrassment, rejection, etc. can be less physical, but also draw similar responses.
Revenge based comedy where the villain is handed some poetic justice, or the victim (everyman) gets back at authority, often relies on physical slapstick or some form of vicious social ridicule toward the oppressors.
It's not so surprising that many of the most successful, popular comedians have a deep, dark personal life that formed them. They have a brilliance for dramatizing pain and suffering in safe ways that make us laugh. Without guilt! The most beloved in film comedy manage slapstick as part of the repertoire.
Maybe it goes back to the prehistoric days when the men (who survived the day's risks) returning from a hunt told or acted stories around the fire. Humour is a great relief valve.
I don't take pleasure in my friend's misfortunes but I do take pleasure in making the dirty buggers organise their kitchen cupboards.
In what sense you are talking about karma ? Based in the eye for eye and teeth for teeth saying ?:wink::wink:
MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK
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Evidence is my Asshole ASM, who derives nothing but sheer perverse delight in making my worktime nothing short of stressful & utterly pissed.
He does stupid shit like call me when I'm on register to find out where the papers are.
Or even give me retard jobs he could easily give his own dept., but gives 'em to me because he knows what I already have too much in my own dept & he knows what my reaction will be. Thusly, his jobs may very cost my strained rotator cuff to tear sooner or later. You can't tell him you're already busy, because all he respondes is,"Good, follow me."
He does stupid shit like call me when I'm on register to find out where the papers are.
Or even give me retard jobs he could easily give his own dept., but gives 'em to me because he knows what I already have too much in my own dept & he knows what my reaction will be. Thusly, his jobs may very cost my strained rotator cuff to tear sooner or later. You can't tell him you're already busy, because all he respondes is,"Good, follow me."
Yea he is referring to the eye for eye and teeth for teeth sating.
Osiris
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Not so much eye for an eye as much as be careful what you wish on others.
Here is an example:
Say I am overjoyed by someone I know being deathly ill for whatever reason. Fate, Karma, whatever you wish to refer to it as will pay you back with the same if not greater.
I do not revel in the pains of my friends. And yes Simcha, we all have a dark side, but how you relate to it and what you decide to act on with it are two different things. I do not go around wishing good things on criminals, pedophiles, rapists, etc., but by rejoicing in their torture when it happens makes me no better than they are.
The Sean Taylor thread kind of reflects this. Yes his past may have karmically caught up with him, and karmically he may have deserved what happened to him, that doesn't give me cause for joy. Rather I feel for him anhis family for the tragedy that has befallen them.
Does that make sense?
I agree with many of the posts - I only experience "selective schadenfreude"; even then, it's sometimes a stretch.
I don't like to see tragedy befall anyone. I only enjoy another person's suffering if they have caused other people to suffer.
The three examples that come to mind are: seeing a "family-values" neo-con politician or preacher caught up in a scandal (like senator Craig or Ted Haggard), or a ruthless profit-at-anyone-else's-expense businessman losing everything, or a bully of any sort getting the shit beat out of him.
Otherwise, I really do not like to see people suffer.
I don't like to see tragedy befall anyone. I only enjoy another person's suffering if they have caused other people to suffer.
The three examples that come to mind are: seeing a "family-values" neo-con politician or preacher caught up in a scandal (like senator Craig or Ted Haggard), or a ruthless profit-at-anyone-else's-expense businessman losing everything, or a bully of any sort getting the shit beat out of him.
Otherwise, I really do not like to see people suffer.
I asked that because Karma is a Hindu and Buddhist concept that means action . Positive causes will produce positive effects and negative causes will produce negative effects.
The effect of those actions could be experience in this life and or in future lifes. The karma concept is really related to the concept of rebirth. Is know that many people that don't believe in rebirth believe in karma but iam not sure if they really understand the concept.
From the point of view of only one life i dont think that the karma idea really apply all the time. Basically the karma idea means that life is fair .
If we only live once i dont see how life is fair.
Osiris
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Since we are going to be literal and not acknowledge the hippie definition of karma and go with the Hindu one. I'll change the remark to fate instead of karma.
Is it just me or is everything now going to be held up to religiously proper scrutiny? I'm the religious one, I'm not scrutinizing on religion, yet the person who doesn't believe in God is and I'm feeling like I can't say anything anymore without getting called to the carpet in some way. This is really becoming unenjoyable.
I not commented of that because of you . It just that you bring this up and many people that dont believe in rebirth use that word basically confusing it with the concept of eye for eye and tooth for tooth.or the booberang concept
what goes around comes around. Since this types of replies really bothers you , i will not discuss anything with you that can be interpreted as religion bashing.
Osiris
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You miss the point tallbig. The issue isn't discussing it but you really need to look at all the threads you participate in at some point you always derail it and throw in religion in some way shape or form. I have tried to politely point out that you need to curtail your constant faith issue posting. I think faith has been mentioned more since you arrived than it has been in the last year or two on this forum.
Yes people like to discuss lot's of things, but if everything we say is going to be religiously scrutinized, people are going to get irritated. You mentioned that people think you are an idiot. I do not think that. I think you have a big chip on your shoulder about faith in general and on one hand you want to tell everyone how much you don't belive in God, yet if we tongue in cheek mention something like karma, we can count on a Hindu faith lesson. I am aware of what true karma is, I have done my homework on that, but am I allowed to have fun or make a joke?
The members of this site like to post, have a bit of fun, learn, and above all, respect each other. That is all anyone is asking.
I'm sure most of the straight guys, regardless of their spirituality, really enjoy participating the the booberang concept!:biggrin1:
:biggrin1::biggrin1::biggrin1: Yes that booberang is really attractive to straight guys instead of the other boomerang.
