Humor is one of the great puzzles of evolutionary psychology. Co-host David Pinsof (UCLA) presents the coordinating “mix-up” hypothesis of humor, in which….well, you’ll have to listen to find out. By Dave’s account, it is one of the best accounts of the psychology of humor out there (but what do we know?) Content warning: this episode does contain humor (or at least attempts at it).
More about David Pinsof:
https://www.everythingisbullshit.blog/
https://www.kremslab.com/people
More about Dave Pietraszewski:
Version: 20241125
6 months ago
Apropos David’s theory, was at a school presentation today (Thursday, September 04, 2025) and the presenter was sitting and talking to the audience and the slides were projected onto the screen. She was not looking at the slides - her back was to the screen - but because of the way she was sitting she was casting a shadow on the screen. When one of her colleagues pointed this out to her, she jumped up and got out of the way. Everyone laughed the laugh: ”no harm done.” Seems like a coordination failute - her attempt to communicate with us was not complementary to the audience’s communication-relevant affordances. Looking forward to more interviews. Would love to hear more about both of your researches: difference detection, alliance theory, ... Thanks for the content.