Thursday, September 18, 2014

Big A's Big 5

Did you know …

That it was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who first codified the rankings of the most hilarious subject matter? It’s true!

According to Aristotle, the top five most rib-tickling subjects are (in descending order):
  1. Male genitalia
  2. Butts
  3. Feces
  4. Animals/ugly children
  5. Personal injury

You may have noticed that we stick pretty closely to that list here at the Daily Science Fact. This isn’t because we (DSF staff) are going for cheap laughs, it’s because the things we (humans in general) find humorous are also often the things that intrigue us the most (intellectually). Like a fat little baby bear falling out of an apple tree (#4), or a man who gets his bottom (#2) stuck in the turlet (#3), or a French gendarme slipping on vomit and falling into an electrified fence (#5), or boners (#1). These things are “funny” for a reason; they make us think about how the world around us works. Aristotle didn’t get to that until later.

A note: Why isn’t “female genitalia” on the list? I think that it probably is, but it just didn’t make the top five. Philosophers in recent times have toyed with rearranging the list to include female genetalia, but never got past the dilemma of misogyny through exclusion vs placing vaginas next to feces and personal injury on any list.

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