The Math of Humor: H = m x s. Is it Really This Simple?

Einstein's theory of matter and energy is simplicity itself.  So why shouldn't a mathematical expression of humor be equally as simple?  Or as a physicist would say, elegant?

As one writer explained humor some years, a + b = d - not the c we expect.  Take a normal situation, a, add in a logical event or stimulus, b,  but rather than getting the expected result, c, we get a surprising outcome, d, that causes us to laugh.

Simple stuff.  Until you try to apply it and find that it's difficult to pull off. Especially with a straight face, which helps explain why Einstein and Charlie Chaplin were fast friends.

Here's the story of this simple theory of humor:

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Describing humor with an equation

"The pleasure we get (h) is calculated by multiplying

the degree of misinformation perceived (m) by 

the extent to which we are  susceptible to taking it seriously (s)"

A new theory of humor addresses questions of human attraction to errors and our susceptibility to ideas we know are bad for us, and summarizes it with an equation. The new theory suggests an equation for identifying the cause and level of our responses to any humorous stimuli: h = m x s.

The theory argues that human beings are more reliant for their behavioural instruction on culturally inherited information than any other species, and that the accuracy of that information is therefore of unparalleled importance. Yet the individual is exposed to the continual threats of error and deception, which can seriously affect their chances of survival and success.

To compensate, humour rewards us for seeing through misinformation that has come close to taking us in. The pleasure we get (h) is calculated by multiplying the degree of misinformation perceived (m) by the extent to which the individual is susceptible to taking it seriously (s).

Humour therefore exists to encourage us to take information apart and to reject that which is unsound and could potentially harm our prospects. Every time we laugh, we have successfully achieved this, resolving inconsistencies in the fabric of our knowledge as we do so.

"I am not attempting to claim that we each engage in an algebraic equation before we find something funny," says the author, Alastair Clarke, "but that this schematic description reflects the instantaneous reactions of the brain to potentially dangerous misinformation."

Story Source:  Materials provided by Pyrrhic House.  "Describing humor with an equation." ScienceDaily. 15 March 2011.