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The Nature of Laughing at Ourselves

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:38 am
by Philosophy Now
Mordechai Gordon takes ideas about not taking ourselves too seriously seriously.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/111/Th ... _Ourselves

Re: The Nature of Laughing at Ourselves

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:43 am
by Ansiktsburk
Do you laugh at yourselves? I don't. I find myself pretty boring and predictable. Maybe I take myself too seriously too, but hey, I'm the one that's stuck with this eternity-anxious nerve wreck.

Re: The Nature of Laughing at Ourselves

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 10:41 am
by marjoram_blues
From the article:
It is important to emphasize that neither Nagel nor the other thinkers mentioned here believe that laughing at ourselves has to manifest in actual physical laughter. Rather, laughing at ourselves should be understood as a kind of metaphor for not taking oneself too seriously and being more self-critical. As John Ohliger notes in ‘Forum: You Shall Know the Truth and the Truth Shall Make you Laugh’, laughing at ourselves “can be seen as the mood where we’re conscious at the same time of our importance and of our insignificance” (Journal of Adult Education, 19, #1, p.32, 1990).
Isn't it just a case of getting in the right frame of mind... zooming in and out of self...appreciating the serious silliness...or silly seriousness...or summat like that...
Not sure it is about 'mood' as such. More of a certain attitude to life...