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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that there's nothing funnier than people falling over?

299 replies

PiddlePoo · 26/02/2015 17:11

Inspired by Madonna's fall at last nights Brits. I can't remember the last time I've laughed so much at a live TV event, it was hilarious. Even the reporter on Sky News was trying not laugh whilst talking about it later on in the evening, and myself and my colleagues have been laughing about it all day today.

A few years ago during the bad snowfall we had there was a clip shown on ITV news of a group of people slipping over on the same patch of ice on a pavement. That made me howl as well.

What is it about people falling over that makes it so amusing?

OP posts:
pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:10

I don't mind being ruthless and yes I may not be nice and lack empathy but I just can't help it

SnapeChat · 26/02/2015 22:13

This reply has been deleted

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pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:21

I think that's my problem I don't do sympathy well unless I can understand the illness or pain because I have had it too I just cannot do sympathy or put myself in others shoes. Mind you I have fallen several times and seriously injured myself but still find it funny

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:25

To those who take such delight in other's misfortunes does it extend to other areas too- watching flies struggle in a spider's web, torturing small animals etc. Or is it just watching people having accidents?

I find it all quite disturbing to find such delight in the misfortune of others.

LittleMilkNoSugar · 26/02/2015 22:25

I fell in spectacular fashion not that long ago; walking too fast and caught my toe on a uneven paving slab. Did one of those crazy stumbling/teetering/staggering manoeuvres for about a million miles before finally hitting the decks. In front of a row taxis plus drivers. A nice lady came to my assistance. A friend once ducked down to go under a rope cordon and just sort of overbalanced in slow motion and landed in a little heap and for some reason I couldn't stop laughing for ages. I had to go and sit down.Both of these instances were hilarious. Other people who I don't know falling over? Not so much.

Someone I know says (very wisely); there is a big difference between falling over and 'having a fall'.

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:28

I don't think you can compare torturing animals to people tripping or falling over that's a big leap. A fly stuck in a Web yes kinda funny not as funny as someone slipping on their ass though.

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:35

"A fly stuck in a Web yes kinda funny not as funny as someone slipping on their ass though."

Says it all- and answers my question.

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:36

What you mean says it all? Laughing at these things doesn't make you a bad or evil person. Everyone is different and we can't help it as a lot of it will be due to how our brains work and that is different for everyone

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:40

It does make you a person who lacks empathy and shows a disregard for others. The fact that you find a fly struggling in a spider's web "kinda funny" is disturbing.

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:41

We're signaling ourselves that whatever horrible thing we've just encountered isn't really as horrible as it appears, something we often desperately want to believe.

This may explain why some psychologists classify humor as one of the "mature" defense mechanisms we invoke to guard ourselves against overwhelming anxiety (as compared to the "psychotic," "immature," and "neurotic" defense mechanisms). Being able to laugh at traumatic events in our own lives doesn't cause us to ignore them, but instead seems to prepare us to endure them.

Taken from this page www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201101/why-we-laugh

See laughing isn't bad at all actually it is a good thing

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:42

Yes I lack empathy and yes I don't feel sorry for the fly as if it didn't die the spider couldn't live it is nature.

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:44

Pineapple= I don't buy that at all.

If that were true then we would laugh hysterically if we saw someone cut their hand off " to guard ourselves against overwhelming anxiety".

But we don't.

magoria · 26/02/2015 22:45

You are reading into this that those of us who laugh want to laugh.

Do you really think we are such nasty people?

It is a completely instinctive reaction. There is no want about it.

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:46

I don't disregard the spider's need for food and I know it is a natural situation- I just don't see it as "kinda funny"- to me that is sadistic.

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:47

But by laughing at it in the future it is a sign of being psychologically healed or healing. During milgrams famous electric shock experiment the vast majority of those who thought they were seriously harming or killing the other person laughed as a defence mechanism. It's not nice but it is healthy to do to distance yourself and prepare for other events. People do laugh at inappropriate times and during trauma.

Rollergirl1 · 26/02/2015 22:47

I think it's horrible. Laughing at someone falling over, whether it hurts or not, is basically ridiculing someone who is already bound to be feeling totally shit and embarrassed.

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:48

I personally find the stuck fly funny I usually release them though as I don't like spiders but I have a giggle first

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:51

My OH was around many casualties and witnesses during the London bombings pineapple- he assures me no- one was laughing.

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:52

I'm sure they weren't a nd generally in horrific instance like that if people laugh it isn't cause it's funny it is because they are in shock and it is an involuntary coping mechanism

ManOfSpiel · 26/02/2015 22:53

Can we not separate the serious tragic scenarios from the comical please as there is a difference. It seems like us people that find calamity humourous are being unfairly branded as nasty uncaring individuals.

I'm totally caring but just find some things funny. Are these two qualities so incompatible?

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:54

You when someone falls over you laugh because you are in shock then?

So you are so empathic that you giggle? Hmm

bigbluestars · 26/02/2015 22:55

I think laughing at someone else's distress is uncaring- yes.

JassyRadlett · 26/02/2015 22:57

Man, I'll admit that I find it really hard to understand - but people are different.

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:57

No they are two different scenarios. Somethings are purely funny to some people such as falling over. Like I said I don't do sympathy or empathy doesn't mean I'm not a nice or caring person as I know socially how to behave when someone is sick. However my brain does not allow sympathetic or empathetic feelings and it is not something I can change or control. I am not a bad person on the contrary I am caring person who enjoys helping and working with others

pineappleshortbread · 26/02/2015 22:59

Unfortunately bigblue the world is not black and white and people cannot be judged in a black and white manner

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