211:, the sacred clown rides sitting backwards on his horse, "washes" himself with dirt and "dries" himself with water. Heyókȟa are thought of as being incongruously backwards-forwards, upside-down, or contrary in nature. This spirit is often manifest by doing things backwards or unconventionally—riding a horse backwards, wearing clothes inside-out, or speaking backwards. For example, if food were scarce, a Heyókȟa would sit around and complain about how full he was; during a baking hot heat wave, a Heyókȟa would shiver with cold and put on gloves and cover himself with a thick blanket. Similarly, when it is 40 degrees below freezing he will wander around naked for hours complaining that it is too hot.
280:(representing Leibniz) finds cause to consider his undignified position to be the best of all possible worlds, noting his own particular current happiness, which he argues could not have been attained without experiencing the atrocities in the previous narrative; his optimistic attitude is extremely incongruous with his experiences and extremely inferior undignified ultimate condition.
126:
431:
Reduction to the ridiculous (Latin: "reductio ad ridiculum", also called "Appeal to ridicule", "appeal to mockery", or "the Horse Laugh") is a logical fallacy which presents the opponent's argument in a way that grossly misrepresents it and appears ridiculous next to it, often so misrepresentative as
324:
uses both incongruity and deformity to create ridiculous dance performance and lifestyle; extreme movement methods that are highly incongruous with natural body movement in its dance and everyday lifestyle, as well as in its clothing, actions, costume and set design that is highly incongruous with
133:
The ridiculous often has extreme incongruity (things that are not thought to belong next to each other) or inferiority, e.g., "when something that was dignified is reduced to a ridiculous position (here noting the element of the incongruous), so that laughter is most intense when we escape from a
154:
was considered by some to be essential to the ridiculous. Psychological theories of humor include the "incongruity theory" and the "superiority theory", the latter of which the philosopher Thomas Hobbes was an early proponent. Hobbes claimed that laughter was either caused spontaneously, or by
38:
is to be something highly incongruous or inferior, sometimes deliberately so to make people laugh or get their attention, and sometimes unintendedly so as to be considered laughable and earn or provoke ridicule and derision. It comes from the 1540s Latin "ridiculosus" meaning "laughable", from
101:
for its effects on memory, attention, and attitude in social hierarchies. These studies have been applied to the theory of advertisement regarding attention, memory, and alleviation of preexisting negative attitudes toward products. The ridiculous is often contrasted with the
155:
seeing a deformed thing to which one compares themselves and laugh as a form of self applause; "a sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison of the infirmities of others." The Right
Reverend
668:
Investigating the humor of gelotophobes: Does feeling ridiculous equal being humorless?, Humor - International
Journal of Humor Research. Volume 22, Issue 1-2, Pages 111–143, ISSN (Online) 1613-3722, ISSN (Print) 0933-1719,
709:
The
Mythology of Evil Among North American Indian Yuroks and Its Implications for Western Spirituality, Anthropology of Consciousness, Volume 7, Issue 3, pages 15–29, September 1996, Royal Alsup, Stanley Krippne,
397:
The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime, makes the ridiculous; and one step above the ridiculous, makes the sublime
170:
Although common usage now considers "absurdity" to be synonymous with "ridiculousness", Hobbes discussed the two concepts as different, in that absurdity is viewed as having to do with invalid reasoning, as in
700:
Ambigere: The Euro-American Picaro and the Native
American Trickster, Melus, The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States Vol. 17, No. 1, Spring 1991, F Ballinger
406:
383:
The ridiculous is sometimes contrasted to the sublime where something with one quality is thought of as approaching, or likely to change to, the other.
650:
Humor as a Double‐Edged Sword: Four
Functions of Humor in Communication, JC Meyer, Communication Theory, Volume 10, Issue 3, pages 310–331, August 2000
39:"ridiculus" meaning "that which excites laughter", and from "ridere" meaning "to laugh". "Ridiculous" is an adjective describing "the ridiculous".
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societal norms, which often shock the audience or visitor, and are sometimes considered not only ridiculous, but incongruently "bizarre and
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said in the early 18th century that, "Nothing is ridiculous but what is deformed". Using the ridiculous is a method in the theory of humor.
933:
641:
How Many
Feminists Does It Take To Make A Joke? Sexist Humor and What's Wrong With It, Memo Bergmann, Hypatia, Vol.1, Issue 1, March 1986
293:, apelike humans and their behavior are juxtaposed next to streamlined advanced technology with a highly avant garde score by composer
198:
351:
The
Theatre of the Ridiculous is a genre of performance that uses highly incongruous stage settings and incongruous costumes such as
106:, one of extreme inferiority, the other of extreme superiority, and often one can suddenly move from one extreme state to the other.
740:. Teaching Candide-A Debate, The French Review, Vol 61, No. 5, 1988, Theodore E. D. Braun, Felicia Sturzer, Martine Darmon Meyer,
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572:
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405:, reflecting on the state of his existence following his retreat from Moscow in 1812, famously remarked to Polish ambassador
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Arguments are often simply dismissed by calling them "ridiculous" as invective, without further argumentation. Philosopher
297:; Ligeti also used ridiculous juxtaposition in his scores to create parody, and this tool was frequently used by composer
172:
50:. From a historical and technical viewpoint, "absurdity" is associated with argumentation and reasoning, "nonsense" with
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28:
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Historically, the ridiculous was central to initial theories of humor and laughter as first put forth by philosopher
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Blending the
Sublime and the Ridiculous: A Study of Parody in György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, Sewell, Amanda J,
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346:
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The
Ancient Art of Memory: Usefulness in Treatment, Bernard M. Patten, Archives of Neurology, 1972;26(1):25-31,
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The ridiculous can use uses both physical and conceptual inferiority and incongruity of juxtaposition to create
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declaration of ridiculous is invalid, while arguments involving declarations of nonsense may summarize a
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20:
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The
Perception of Humor, Willibald Ruch, Emotions, qualia, and consciousness, Biocybernetics, VOl. 10
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often dismissed philosophical positions by calling them "ridiculous" without further argument given.
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Psychologists have studied human response to the ridiculous and its effects on attention and memory.
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205:. Native American clowns are ridiculous in their contrary and rule breaking antics. In the film
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to trigger laughter, shock, parody, or satire. Reactions to the ridiculous have been studied in
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Music for advertising effects, Psychology and Marketing, Volume 1, Issue 3-4, 1984, S Hecker
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A history of English Laughter: Laughter from Beowulf to Beckett and Beyond, Manfred Pfister
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culture uses the painfully ridiculous, and is believed to become closer to the gods by its
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Conquest of the Ridiculous:Ronald Tavel, John Vaccaro and Charles Ludlam, WarholStars,
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argument, rather than addressing the argument itself. For example, in arguing against
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to disturb or create shock in the audience. It began in New York City in the 1960s.
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British Journal of Aesthetics, Aesthetics (1964) 4 (3), Harold Osborne, p. 284-5,
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262:. Leibniz claimed that God is constrained by logic, and created the best of all
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as saying that the ridiculous was characterized by a display of self-ignorance.
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Deformity and incongruity in performance as social commentary, and lifestyle
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History: Incongruity, the superiority theory of humor, and deformity
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A clown wearing a hat of a ridiculously small and incongruous size
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individuals, because we feel a joy at being superior to them.
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The divine legation of Moses demonstrated, William Warburton
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In common usage, "ridiculousness" is used as a synonym for
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There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous
421:
Reduction to the ridiculous, or "reductio ad ridiculum"
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The Psychology of Advertising, Walter Dill Scott, 1910
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The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Robert Andrews
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Wishful Thinking and Other Philosophical Reflections
677:, /February/2009, Willibald Ruch, Ursula Beermann,
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Laughter as a Test of Truth in Enlightenment Satire
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451:Contrasting ridiculousness with absurdity in
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561:, Journal of Human Values, 2006, S Acharya,
359:Psychology: attention, memory, and attitudes
411:Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas
375:attention and attitudes toward products.
371:The ridiculous is used in advertising to
82:semantic problem with lack or meaning or
459:is an invalid method of argument, while
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215:Parody and satire in social commentary
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738:"ridiculous rationalizations of evil"
721:Jennifer L. McMahon, B. Steve Csaki,
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260:"ridiculous rationalizations of evil"
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521:
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842:The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
863:Available online to subscribers
559:Humour, Jokes and the Statement
379:Juxtaposition with the sublime
268:. After being reduced from a "
93:. It is currently used in the
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775:The Bizarre and the Beautiful
723:The Philosophy of the Western
272:" state to its opposite, the
16:Deserving of ridicule, absurd
179:Native American Ritual Clown
934:Pejorative terms for people
844:. Oxford University Press.
29:Ridiculous (disambiguation)
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763:The Bizarre World of Butoh
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173:Hobbes' Table of Absurdity
138:, we laugh at inferior or
134:'coerced solemnity'." For
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777:, Los Angeles Times, 1989
448:famously kicked a stone.
347:Theatre of the Ridiculous
341:Theatre of the Ridiculous
258:under a benign God using
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74:is invalid. Argument by
610:, Werner von Koppenfels
765:, San Francisco Weekly
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675:10.1515/HUMR.2009.006
457:Reductio ad ridiculum
345:Further information:
314:Further information:
290:2001: A Space Odyssey
219:Further information:
183:Further information:
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114:Further information:
71:reductio ad ridiculum
64:is a valid method of
500:Non sequitur (logic)
461:reductio ad absurdum
310:Japanese Butoh dance
299:Peter Maxwell Davies
254:'s argument for the
61:Reductio ad absurdum
19:For other uses, see
473:Friedrich Nietzsche
463:is a valid method.
691:, E Duran, B Duran
586:, 1449a, p. 34-35.
427:Appeal to ridicule
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851:978-0-19-953953-6
392:The Age of Reason
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274:optimistic
197:) in some
165:Gloucester
99:psychology
36:ridiculous
838:"sublime"
490:Illogical
467:Invective
453:reasoning
434:straw man
335:grotesque
327:beautiful
320:Japanese
270:dignified
250:parodies
152:Deformity
136:Aristotle
84:ambiguity
76:invective
52:semantics
44:absurdity
924:Emotions
597:Philebus
479:See also
438:idealism
403:Napoleon
278:Pangloss
248:Voltaire
144:Socrates
68:, while
66:argument
48:nonsense
599:49b ff.
595:Plato,
584:Poetics
331:elegant
252:Leibniz
243:Candide
195:Heyókȟa
104:sublime
56:meaning
25:Mockery
929:Humour
848:
495:Kitsch
398:again.
329:" or "
235:satire
231:parody
225:Satire
221:Parody
80:cogent
34:To be
27:, and
505:Silly
322:Butoh
316:Butoh
148:Plato
110:Humor
846:ISBN
442:mind
333:and
276:Dr.
233:and
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189:The
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