# I don't know why I laugh at... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808 "2015-03-12T05:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Umbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Umbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/1 "2015-03-12T05:10:15Z")
I have seen videos of people who have Broca’s aphasia or Wernicke’s aphasia or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Without watching the videos, I usually have a solemn face, because I recognize the gravity of the matter, but when I watch the videos, I can’t help myself but do a mild chuckle (really an active attempt to suppress laughter). I know it’s not okay to laugh at people who are disabled, and I usually feel ashamed afterwards, because it seems as if my subconscious is heartless and cruel or something. So, I post my thoughts on this subforum, because it’s a mundane pointless stuff that I must share, hoping that someone may have dealt with this sort of situation and how they manage to keep a straight face. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/2 "2015-03-12T05:57:24Z")
You laugh at people with disabilities? Is that what I’m reading? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/3 "2015-03-12T06:06:50Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > You laugh at people with disabilities? Is that what I’m reading? Yeah. She’s like the worst human being to ever have been born. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/4 "2015-03-12T06:21:02Z")
Let’s see dat purdy lil face there, darling? Hey, maybe _you’ll_ even get some folks coming to tell you they _totally_ know what it’s like for people to treat you like you’re brain dead, just because you _happen_ to speak out of a trach in your neck. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/5 "2015-03-12T07:10:44Z")
> [@Umbridge](#): > > I have seen videos of people who have Broca’s aphasia or Wernicke’s aphasia or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Without watching the videos, I usually have a solemn face, because I recognize the gravity of the matter, but when I watch the videos, I can’t help myself but do a mild chuckle (really an active attempt to suppress laughter). I know it’s not okay to laugh at people who are disabled, and I usually feel ashamed afterwards, because it seems as if my subconscious is heartless and cruel or something. So, I post my thoughts on this subforum, because it’s a mundane pointless stuff that I must share, hoping that someone may have dealt with this sort of situation and how they manage to keep a straight face. But really tho, at the end of the day, you felt bad. You knew it wasnt cool. And either way, it aint the end of the world. 🙂 Work on empathy, putting yourself in their shoes. Knowing that while it may be a momentary source of amusement for you, it’s someone else’s _life_, 24/7, 365. These are people more inner strength and physical work ethic, in order to conquer a devastating, life changing injury and take control of their bodies and move ahead and succeed. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/6 "2015-03-12T08:57:58Z")
Human beings seem to like laughing at the misfortune of others. Just think of slapstick comedy: banana peel + falling down = lol. On YouTube there’s a plethora of “fail” videos, some of which show people who are obviously injured rather than just suffering from indignity. Maybe what you’re experiencing is an extension of that. On the other hand, I have to wonder how is it that you are regularly watching these videos. Is it for education / enlightenment, or entertainment? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/7 "2015-03-12T10:59:41Z")
The fact that you (apparently) seek out these videos is what I find most disturbing. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/8 "2015-03-12T11:05:18Z")
Try putting yourself in their place. I don’t know about the first two disorders. Try washing your hands six times or locking and unlocking the door six times before you go out. Seriously, try it. Maybe actually doing it will show what its like and it wont be funny anymore. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/9 "2015-03-12T11:16:11Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The fact that you (apparently) seek out these videos is what I find most disturbing. > mmm This. I was unaware of the existence of these videos. Now that I’m aware, I have no desire to hunt them down. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/10 "2015-03-12T11:18:51Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Try putting yourself in their place. Over and over. (Sorry. Drawing fire away from the OP so he can get behind cover) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/11 "2015-03-12T12:22:49Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > This. I was unaware of the existence of these videos. Now that I’m aware, I have no desire to hunt them down. I did, and didn’t find anything funny. And I laughed at (with?) Handyman from _In Living Color,_ and that YouTube of the armless, legless badass in Toronto’s Chinatown. ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/12 "2015-03-12T12:38:14Z")
It’s not really a complicated issue; you laugh because it’s funny. Oh, not that these people are struggling, and often failing, to do what you achieve effortlessly; that’s more evoking of sympathy than laughter- and that’s why you feel bad about laughing. The bad part isn’t in finding humor in a difficult situation, it’s in the humiliation and embarrassment the other person feels (or would feel). ---
**Author:** ![Umbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Umbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/13 "2015-03-12T13:38:56Z")
> [@Blue\_Mood](#): > > Human beings seem to like laughing at the misfortune of others. Just think of slapstick comedy: banana peel + falling down = lol. On YouTube there’s a plethora of “fail” videos, some of which show people who are obviously injured rather than just suffering from indignity. > > Maybe what you’re experiencing is an extension of that. On the other hand, I have to wonder how is it that you are regularly watching these videos. Is it for education / enlightenment, or entertainment? I watched them for a psychology class. The instructor made us watch them. He showed to us in class. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The fact that you (apparently) seek out these videos is what I find most disturbing. > mmm You insult me with your false assumption. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/14 "2015-03-12T13:58:42Z")
You take umbridge at it. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/15 "2015-03-12T14:48:58Z")
Join date. Chain yanking, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/16 "2015-03-13T02:36:49Z")
Perhaps it is fear based. It is difficult to watch on some level for you and that discomfort makes you laugh. It’s a cover, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/17 "2015-03-13T03:56:59Z")
> [@Umbridge](#): > > Without watching the videos, I usually have a solemn face, because I recognize the gravity of the matter, but when I watch the videos, I can’t help myself but do a mild chuckle (really an active attempt to suppress laughter). Having intrusive thoughts or behaviors about socially unacceptable things it’s a symptom of OCD. Just saying. Wernicke’s is 100x more hilarious than Broca’s though. The latter are more aware and their frustration is palpable. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/18 "2015-03-13T08:11:45Z")
> [@Umbridge](#): > > …but when I watch the videos, I can’t help myself but do a mild chuckle (really an active attempt to suppress laughter). [“Where does he get this obsessive behavior?”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eWeK7MFxiU&t=102) ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-why-i-laugh-at/714808/19 "2015-03-14T14:58:28Z")
There’s a video floating around Facebook of an overweight woman swinging from a rope off an overhang toward a body of water. Well, she loses her grip on the rope and falls hard to the ground face first. Before the video ends, you hear her scream, “I can’t feel my legs!” The number of comments I’ve read from people who find this hilarious is crazy. Yuk! Yuk! Fat girl hurts herself. ☹