While working graveyard, I, et al, observed that when people get tired and are “running on fumes”, there is much amusement to be found in the mundane. Things that we might not particularly notice at other times lead to bouts of laughter. Why is that?
I don’t know, but I confirm your observation. Fatigue is like a sort of intoxication, I guess.
I don’t have an explanation for it either, but my personal observation is that this phenomenon is even more pronounced in children than it is in adults. Again though, I don’t know why.
Perhaps fatigue causes a loss of inhibitions?
It’s also true that if you’re drunk, everything is funny. What were you doing on the graveyard shift? If it was something where you had to be constantly alert because you and the others on the graveyard shift were the only ones awake to watch for emergencies, I think there are problems.
I think this must be it. I notice I write more fluently (if not less coherently) when I’m very, very tired.
The mythbusters showed that, for driving at least, sleep deprivation is as bad as being ‘tipsy’ (~.01 - .02 under the legal B.A.C).
So the effect is fairly well documented, but what is the mechanism?
And using a cell phone (even a ‘hands free’ conversation) is as bad (or worse) than being a little ‘tipsy’.
‘Texting while driving’ should be made a criminal offense with penalties equivalent to DWI/DUI, IMHO.
I think it must differ from person to person. When I get really tired, nothing is funny. Not even actual comedy, much less the mundane.
I’ve worked nights for around 14 years altogether, and this phenomenon was well known to all of us. We called it “lampshading”, from the observation that just saying the word “lampshade” would cause a person to crack up laughing by the end of shift.
Don’t know if it’s a lack of inhibition, but I agree with those upthread who suggested that sleepy people act as if they are drunk. I suspect that naturally good-natured people become more good-natured (and therefore might laugh more easily), people who are easily annoyed become more snappish, etc. A college friend of mine once suggested that people become more “themselves” when drunk, because the socialization modes are blunted. Maybe so.
Another idea: Isaac Asimov said that humor depends on a sudden change of point of view, when something unexpected happens. Maybe when we are very sleepy, our analytical thought processes are slowed, and even the mundane seems surprising. Just a thought.
At one point where I work we were involuntarily subjected to three solid months of 68 hour work weeks (12 hour days, plus 8 hours on Saturday.)
It should all go without saying that many dark thoughts were shared by all, but many days ended with many of us laughing over ridiculous things. This became not more common, but more pronounced as the week wore on.
I liken it to the idea of one being “punch drunk”. One’s faculties become more degraded as fatigue and exhaustion kick in, similar to the effects of alcohol. I even have memories of feeling outright impaired driving to and from work, which terrified me. In other words, I’m agreeing with what others have said.
Yep, the other day I was dead tired reading the Dope.
Somebody started a thread: What’s your sexual fetish? (or something like that)
People were chiming in saying “I like this” “I like that” etc…
I was going to leave a single post saying “I’m judging all of you.”
I laughed myself silly at the mere thought of it. I never did post it though because I didn’t think people would get the joke.
But yeah, that’s a sure sign I’m getting tired, when I crack myself up. (Which happens a lot.)
This happened to me when I was filling in on the night shift. The first couple nights weren’t bad, but I was really getting rather punchy on the second night. Equal parts impairment and trying to convince myself I wasn’t miserable, on my part. I am not cut out for the night shift, and sleep deprivation hit me hard. By the end of my week, I was really incoherent, nauseous to the point of vomiting, seeing things, and unable to drive straight at over 25 miles an hour. If I was a cop who had pulled me over, you can bet I’d have given me a Breathalyzer!
My sister and I have a saying: “Eveything’s funny after 3 AM.”
Why then, are people cranky when they are waking up?