Good. I probably don’t need to say this, then. But I will anyway, even at the risk of being a “meddling arrogant douchetard”. I have an impulse control problem.
One lesson learned from The Aristocrats is this: humour is completely subjective. It’s something we should all know instinctively by the time we’re adults. Yet, it never seems to sink in for some. You might find your hillbilly incest joke hilarious, but there are people who will just find it disgusting, and there are times and places where you shouldn’t share such a joke.
The Koreans have a concept in their culture called “nunchi”. Nunchi, in a nutshell, is the ability to gauge whether certain words or behaviours are appropriate or not in a particular situation. As an example, someone who lacks nunchi (nunchi eoptta) would be that guy who who responds to someone tweeting about the death of their mother with a “Your mom” joke.
Everyone has different taste in humour, just as they have different tastes in food, clothing, activities, mates, and almost everything else you can think of. What is beautiful and enjoyable to you probably isn’t to everyone else. I’m overstating the obvious, here, but my point is that life would be INCREDIBLY BORING if everyone enjoyed exactly the same things. The real beauty in the world is how different things appeal to different people, and that there is always something new to discover.
There is no “universal” funny. There are things that MOST people find funny, but often there are cultural misunderstandings (such as the recent Australian KFC/racism uproar) or sensitivities among particular people that may cause them to react with hostility toward the person making the joke. You will never find a joke that pleases 100% of the people 100% of the time. A depressive might have laughed at a joke about depression before they were depressed, but once they are in the situation they may find it completely inappropriate.
As an immediate real-twitter-life example, I can point out the conflict between two of my Twitter friends over rape jokes. Both have been victimized in one form or other by sexual assault. One chooses to cope with the experience by mocking rape. The other is deeply offended by the entire idea of joking about rape. The fact is, neither of them is wrong. They both have a right to their point of view. Both have a right to their feelings. I find myself conflicted about the whole issue. While I find most kinds of joke about rape to be offensive, there is a context where they can be amusing. Do I condemn one person for making a joke outside of that context that makes me comfortable? Should I chastise the other for infringing on someone else’s right of self-expression? Both? Or do I just ignore the situation altogether and say nothing when they press me about it?
When it comes to my own Twitter stream, I have pretty much an “anything goes” policy. I don’t tweet to a specific audience, and I don’t follow any formulas that I am consciously aware of. If I thought of it and found it amusing, I’m probably going to tweet it. It doesn’t matter to me if someone thinks it is “dirty” or “offensive”, because what matters is my tolerance for what I am willing to put out there - it’s my stream and no one else’s. There are people who are deeply offended by swearing - does that mean I should never swear? There are people who are remarkably uptight about sex - should I never tweet about that?
My sense of humour leans toward wit and subtlety, but it doesn’t have to be (for lack of a btter word) clean. I enjoy wordplay… and wordplay is much more fun if you are willing to play with any word, no matter the social taboos. I love double entendres. That doesn’t mean I don’t find other things funny, though.
What DON’T I really enjoy? Poop jokes. Jokes about violence or murder or <insertyourbiashere>ism. It isn’t that I am OFFENDED by these things; I’m not uptight about it. I just don’t actually laugh at them most of the time. Occasionally, when someone is really creative, I DO find those kinds of things funny… but it is completely situational. For the most part, though, if it is just crude, brute-force humour, I don’t laugh. I just move on.
That’s the beauty of Twitter. You design your own experience. If you love poop jokes, you can follow everyone who makes poop jokes. If you don’t, you can ignore those people - you can even block them if you find them offensive. If you don’t like people who lack nunchi, you don’t have to pay attention to them. If you enjoy tweets about coffee or memes there is always someone out there who will be able to fulfill your unholy craving. It doesn’t matter if I like what you like. It doesn’t matter if you like what I like.
I will always defend your right to say whatever the hell you want (no matter how repugnant it may be), and to enjoy whatever amuses you. That doesn’t mean I understand WHY you find it so funny, agree with it, or even that I care, it just means you’re entitled to your opinion.
However, I reserve the right to NOT laugh when I don’t find it funny, and to say when I don’t find something amusing. After all, that’s MY opinion, and I have every right to it.
I’d’ve thought this was obvious… I’m not even sure why I bothered to write it.
Thank you for your eloquent post. FWIW, I’d rather be a “meddling arrogant douchetard” than afraid to speak up for fear of losing stars or followers.
