I'd like to see a reply that focuses on "arbitrary" instead of "irrational" (from the phrase, "Attraction, humor, joy and love are very often irrational and arbitrary"), or maybe there is a better word still, considering the standup example.
Comedy seems like a fruitful domain to explore this frame, since there is no apparent criteria to optimize for that isn't "arbitrary" fundamentally: jokes age poorly, and don't translate to other cultures or contexts well. They rely on surprise to be funny, but als... (read more)
I'd like to see a reply that focuses on "arbitrary" instead of "irrational" (from the phrase, "Attraction, humor, joy and love are very often irrational and arbitrary"), or maybe there is a better word still, considering the standup example.
Comedy seems like a fruitful domain to explore this frame, since there is no apparent criteria to optimize for that isn't "arbitrary" fundamentally: jokes age poorly, and don't translate to other cultures or contexts well. They rely on surprise to be funny, but als... (read more)