Genuine Laughter

[AndOhh]

I'm curious as to whether this may be something I share with other INTPs.

I have noticed quite consistently that I do not have Genuine Laughter very often (few and far between). I'm able to make other people laugh historically but don't run across things that make me really laugh very often. I find things humorous; however, not enough to bolster a real good laugh.

I have laughed historically before and I long for that. I like some comedians "Mitch Hedberg" is on that comes to mind. I also enjoy other comedy.

I will usually enjoy comedy with a smile and a couple half-hearted chuckles.

I suspect it's because a lot of the irony seems to predictable. I know I've felt the punchline before it's came more than a few times.

I guess this probably isn't that unusual or even MBTI type-specific.

Any thoughts?

 

[aahzombies]

I feel similarly. I can make myself laugh at other people's jokes etc. when I find them funny and make it sound genuine, and very few can tell when I "fake it". However, I forget exactly what it was we were watching, but something in a movie my father and I were watching really set me off and I genuinely laughed without having to remind myself to do it or feel like it was fake. When he heard me he stopped laughing and turned to me and said "It's good to hear you laughing for real. I don't hear that often." I didn't know he could tell.

 

[dbtng_thomas]

Sounds corny, but it will pass. You have to give yourself permission to express that side of yourself, and it will happen. I couldn't cry for years. Strangest thing. You'd think it would be nice to not cry, but it was this horrible twisted feeling. Long story short, I got more in touch with myself and got over it.

 

[didyouknow]

Let's just put it this way, my friend one said, and I quote "You know it's funny if Sarah laughs."

Mainly because it takes a lot for me to laugh genuinely, I mostly laugh for the benefit of others.

 

[Chimera]

Long story short, I got more in touch with myself and got over it.

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That is so INTP. . . ^^

back on topic;
I know what you mean, AndOhh. A purely exterior laugh for the benefit of others. (We do so much for these people, hu? It's exhausting...)
I have to consciously laugh at school sometimes, because my friends try so hard to be funny, and I want to encourage them. . .it's not really a bad thing, as long as you know the difference between your real laugh and a fake one. That would be terrible, to forget what it's like to really laugh, and just think that laughter is just a forced noise. . .
Anyway. My sister knows how to really make me laugh, and so do a few other people. I hate to rely on others for anything, but in the case of laughter, I think it's okay. And personally, I think laughter is one of the best things a human is capable of.
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​

 

[loveofreason]

Well said Chime.

I'd forgotten what it was like to genuinely laugh until that recent dance thread here... I couldn't stop myself laughing at the exchange between Noddy and EditorOne.

It surprised me.

Before that I don't know how long ago it was that I laughed for real, not just show or an (albeit real) smirk.

Why is it that fake laughing or a timid chuckle hurt so much, but real laughter feels so good?

I'm scared to laugh for real around people. Injury mask laughs are all that creep out in company.

Self expression is the scariest thing ever. Maybe that will change.

 

[Sugarpop]

I laugh quite frequently, though often at things others don't seem to appreciate. People find me eccentric.

Crying is an entirely different line of pastries though.

 

[Wisp]

It seems INTPs come in 3 kinds...

a) Rare Laughing
b) Rare Crying
c) Both

I hang out with other NTs, so I'm a b... My friends can be hilarious...

I once had a conversation about price effective methods of captial punishment by firing people out of cannons... with cameras attached to their feet for public entertainment... =P

 

[severus]

I too am a "b."
Well, the rest of you can comfort yourselves by knowing that fake laughs have the same health benefits as genuine laughs.
Most of my laughter comes from a podcast I listen to (which ended now! D: ) and my kitty.

 

[AndOhh]

I laugh quite frequently, though often at things others don't seem to appreciate. People find me eccentric.

This reminds my of a interesting bit I once read in reference to INTPs. It was something along the lines of: INTPs can basically crack themselves up by themselves out of the blue.

After reading that, I reflected on how I have done that several times in class -- comes to mind. I found humor some humor in my own world and I had a really difficult time from not getting hysterical.

Crying is an entirely different line of pastries though.

I very rarely cry -- I believe that last couple times were alcohol induced. I can easily count the number of times I cried as an adult on 1 hand. I'm 26.

I suppose there were times when I could have cried but held it in.

 

[anemian]

http://bash.org/?874353

that should get a laugh out of you.

 

[AndOhh]

http://bash.org/?874353

that should get a laugh out of you.

This managed to pull out a couple good chuckles

 

[Fleur]

For me, light smirk with inclined head equals laughter. The loudest manner of laughting is quiet chuckling to myself (it's very rare case if I display my emotions with sounds - even if feel physical pain, it's voiceless).

 

[Ermine]

I laugh a lot, but most of it is so people think I'm engaged in a conversation and don't bug me about being "antisocial". It's one of the many things I do so people won't get on my case.

Hardly anyone can make me genuinely laugh except my best friend, so most laughter is in response to normal things I happen to find amusing. It makes for a lot of awkward moments.

 

[didyouknow]

I did smile at "that's not blood, that's confidence!"

 

[Titania]

I actually can't remember when I'd had laughed around my friends. Polite fake laugh and smiling, yes, but not genuine laughter. The only person that has made me laugh is my sister ( well, I'm always in a kind of hysterical state around her...). Usually when I'm amused of something, I'm just laughing quietly to myself (but not when it's very inappropriate moment for laughing and something hilarious pops in my mind... ). I also laugh if I get hurt and shocked, crying cause of the pain at the same time... I'm happy that doesn't happen so often.
I don't cry much either, never in public. It's embarrassing to reveal so much about yourself, like being naked. And I never cry when others do, which is kinda scary at times. I didn't cry when I had to leave my new friends and neither in my dad's funeral. I felt like a monster when others were crying their eyes off and I couldn't make a tear. :/

 

[MattSeven]

For many years I had to tell people. "No, I'm serious...I'm laughing inside."

As I've gotten older I've found more laughter in day-to-day life than in prepackaged entertainment. I think INTP's laugh more if they work at experiencing their feelings more in general.

 

[NoID10ts]

I fake laugh a lot. Usually its for the benefit of the other person. Even if I don't find it funny I'll fake laugh so I don't come off as a big asshole. On the flip side of it, though, I notice other people fake laughing with some things I say, as well, the pricks.

I make myself laugh a great deal and often wonder just how crazy other people think I am. I catch myself having to frequently play off a burst of laughter when people walk into my office at work. I think the secretary has suspicions of drug use.

 

[dbtng_thomas]

I heard some great advice about secretaries the other day. Started with sticking your fingers in her nose ...

 

[boku]

Strange, I do laugh very often at various triggers, sometimes at things people don't find funny. I laugh even at inappropriate times and have difficulty controlling my laughter. When watching funny anime with my psp on the train, I find it hard to stop laughing among a large crowd of strangers and end up getting stared at.

 

[didyouknow]

I've never cried over a book, but I've laughed over one... Last night I was reading a Dean Koontz, (Life expectancy) and laughed at the phrase "Never had death looked so festive"... maybe I just have an absurd sense of humor.

 

[Melkor]

Nyah....

I do laugh.....just not the real laughter.

It's mostly manical laughter though....

 

[Chimera]

Manical laughter, huh? :P

 

[Anticitizen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5W58LoiSEQ&eurl=http://failblog.org/

If the above doesn't garner a genuine laugh, then you simply have no soul.

If that doesn't work, something from failblog.org will.

Example 2:

 

[NoID10ts]

God damn! Those guys can't do jumping jacks to save their fucking lives!

 

[boku]

http://notalwaysright.com/i-tremble-for-our-children/484
http://notalwaysright.com/of-all-the-moments-for-freud-to-slip/164

Some of my favourites on notalwaysright.
Maybe we should have a 'laughter thread' where we post links to stuff we think other INTPs might find funny.

 

[Raku]

I laugh a lot to funny stuff in columns. I like to read my newspaper in the train, so the laughing makes me a bit uncomfortable then...

In general I can say I love to see/read black humor.

I don't cry to writings though. The only thing that can do that is music and only very specific pieces at that.

 

[sagewolf]

http://notalwaysright.com/i-tremble-for-our-children/484
http://notalwaysright.com/of-all-the-moments-for-freud-to-slip/164

Some of my favourites on notalwaysright.
Maybe we should have a 'laughter thread' where we post links to stuff we think other INTPs might find funny.

That is a good idea, but I'm too lazy to start it.

And that is SO funny.

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

mostly i watch sitcoms to amuse me. Fawlty Towers, One foot in the Grave, Ronnie Barker sitcoms. my particular favourite is called Still Game. about two scottish pensioners.

lee evans can tickle me.

 

[sagewolf]

I tend to laugh when people are mad at me, unfortunately. Recipe for disaster.

 

[Zealot]

I hardly actually "laugh". I usually force myself to laugh so people don't feel like nincompoops. I do find more things funny then it may seem. I can read something and think it's funny, but not actually laugh.

 

[Carinthian]

South park and Simpsons me friend.

 

[Anling]

Let's just put it this way, my friend one said, and I quote "You know it's funny if Sarah laughs."

I had a teacher say this about me. She left the room and students started cracking jokes. When she came back even I was laughing. It's wasn't the jokes though, it was the behavior of the other students that was so funny. But she thought something hilarious must have been going on if the student who doesn't react to anything was so much as laughing quietly.

I don't laugh or cry much, usually. My family can get me laughing. Recently I watched Get Smart for the first time and that had me laughing rather loudly.

 

[Minuend]

I pretend to laugh a lot as well. Which is a shame, 'cause I really like to laugh sincerely. I wanted to laugh for real, so I dow.. bought some stand- up shows. Then I put it on and told myself I wouldn't laugh unless I did it sincerely. I laughed twice throughout 2hours. Other than that, I didn't even smile. So i kind of gave up on that idea. But I do sometimes laugh at pictures in funny- picture- threads. Or at "comebacks" like linked earlier in this thread:

Me: “No, he cannot bend light around objects.”
Teacher: “Why not?”
Me: “Because he’s not a black hole.”

If I am to cry, I have to provoke it. I have to be depressed and then feeling extra sorry for myself. Then I can squeeze out some tears. Crying relieve stress, so I believe it's a positive thing when one are depressed. But I'm rarely depressed. I'm usually neutral.

I laugh easily when I'm excited.

Edit: I guess I could mention a movie that I found funny; the Kings New Groove. But some say it was better dubbed in my language than it was in English. I haven't seen it in English, so I don't know.

 

[zxc]

I laugh quite frequently, though often at things others don't seem to appreciate. People find me eccentric.

Crying is an entirely different line of pastries though.

It seems INTPs come in 3 kinds...

a) Rare Laughing
b) Rare Crying
c) Both

I hang out with other NTs, so I'm a b... My friends can be hilarious...

I once had a conversation about price effective methods of captial punishment by firing people out of cannons... with cameras attached to their feet for public entertainment... =P

I laugh reasonably often (many people that don't know me well think that I never break out of a poker face though), but I rarely cry. Very few movies have made me cry before, but the ending of LOTR has, as well as Kiwi, YouTube- Kiwi!

Books have made me cry before, but that's rare. I've had tears come while listening to music before, but that's rare too. It's happened before to my own playing as well.

Unlike you guys, more often than not I'm trying to suppress a laugh at times. I've become very good at remaining completely expressionless whenever there's an embarrassing or very sexually-oriented joke (around other people).

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

YouTube- Megadeth - In My Darkest Hour

good song.

but watch at 2:15, the stage diver

this made me laugh today

 

[Parodyofme]

I laugh way more than I used to, I guess since I'm not depressed anymore. Sometimes I'll laugh at a joke or skit on TV or something before the actual punchline, just because I've already figured it out, you know? Friends can crack me up, but the worst laughing fits are usually self-induced. I just get going and can't stop!!! Typically I'll think of a funny way to misinterpret something, and I just for some reason find it hilarious. Sometimes that is awkward if it was a random thought going through my head and people are around.

As for crying, I really try and make sure not to do it around anyone, but I'll let loose when I'm on my own.
On a semi-related note, I read somewhere that INTPs (probably an entire category, though I'm not sure which) tend to listen to music that reflects their mood, i.e. sad music when sad (as opposed to whatever type makes the effort to pull themselves out of the funk by playing cheery music), is that common for you all? Seems like such a clash to hear happy music when I'm sad; and usually its just what I need to push me over the edge and have a nice cry. I feel much better afterward, kind of like being nauseous sucks; but you feel way better after throwing up. It's good to purge!!!

 

[dwags222]

i must be weird because i both laugh and cry a lot. my laughter isn't always out of control gut wrenching laughter, but it is still genuine. i pretty much think almost everything is funny. sometimes i laugh at stuff and other people look at me like i must be crazy or an ass hole for thinking such a thing could be funny.

 

[Mud~Eye]

dwaggs222- I envy you.

I actually have come to a point where despite wanting to be sincere, I can't seem to break the habit of laughing to please others. How I long to stand there eye to eye with someone who has said something totally unfunny and not react, at all. And, the smile! That's even worse. I smile so much when there is absolutely no reason, that I can see, for smiling except that that is what everyone or the other person is expecting to be reflected. Even that little curtousey grimace that people give each other just because we've made eye contact is annoying to me now. When I was much younger, I did not do this, so much. But, people would often ask me if I was mad, when I would be completely content. I thought it was kind of strange that people would assume anger from...I don't know... concentration, maybe. I would always have something on my mind... Anyway, perhaps there comes a time in a persons life when adaptation is the best thing, at least for a while. But, I think I'm just over it, and lack the courage to stop. I've spent too many years faking it (heh, that's reminiscent, I must say). Well, good things happened when I've stopped faking other things, so there's some motivation, right there. Yeah, I'm sick of wasting energy on "acceptable" behavior. In fact, I think, at this point, I'm running out of energy to spend on those things. Well, I have less energy anyway, so cutting that crap out could be one way to conserve it. I am, perhaps somewhat morbidly, curious as to what the response of another person or a group will be when I don't fake the laugh/smile.

 

[The Fury]

I've got no problem laughing, nothing cracks me up like watching one of Ricky Gervais' stand up shows. I don't however laugh at people who aren't funny, I don't really care if they feel like idiots.

 

[Parodyofme]

@ Mud~Eye: What are you going to do instead? You've spent a long time faking. If you just suddenly switch it all off, you might make yourself more uncomfortable (at least at first anyway... eventually this decision will provide you relief). Some reply, like "I don't get what you mean" or "I don't think that's very funny"? Practice with a friend; ease into it. You don't wanna quit cold turkey.

 

[Airel]

I was talking about this yesterday. Some people in my class laugh at jokes that aren't funny, even moreso when a teacher says stuff. I rarely find things that funny, but I guess its polite to laugh at a joke or something.

 

[Anling]

On a semi-related note, I read somewhere that INTPs (probably an entire category, though I'm not sure which) tend to listen to music that reflects their mood, i.e. sad music when sad (as opposed to whatever type makes the effort to pull themselves out of the funk by playing cheery music), is that common for you all? Seems like such a clash to hear happy music when I'm sad; and usually its just what I need to push me over the edge and have a nice cry. I feel much better afterward, kind of like being nauseous sucks; but you feel way better after throwing up. It's good to purge!!!

I definitely listen to music that fits my mood. I think that goes with just about every thing I choose to experience. I don't like to watch movies that are completely out of sink with my mood either. My mood can be changed by music or other media, but not if it starts out completely different, it has to be in the same range as the mood I'm already in.

Also, I absolutely can't stand it when people try to cheer me up if I'm in a bad mood. It's like they are trying to shove their cheeriness down my throat. And then they won't take no for an answer either. Just makes me want to do something horribly violent to them. Just let me work through my mood on my own, I'll be fine in a while and you are not helping matters any. I don't like being anyone's project. I have to work through my emotions/moods or they don't go away. The process can be helped along, but not with that annoying "we can't let her be upset, it infringes on our own good mood" attitude. Curse you meddling roommates and your false concern!

Ahem... Anyway moving on. *points* Oh, look, whats that over there.
*runs away*

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

Kansas City Shuffle....

 

[FF]

It depends on who I'm with. I laugh hysterically when I'm with my family.

I still laugh when I'm with my friends, but it's a lot more controlled.

And when around strangers, I hardly laugh at all.

All in all, I laugh super easily at lame, nerdy jokes.

 

[Mud~Eye]

@ Mud~Eye: What are you going to do instead? You've spent a long time faking. If you just suddenly switch it all off, you might make yourself more uncomfortable (at least at first anyway... eventually this decision will provide you relief). Some reply, like "I don't get what you mean" or "I don't think that's very funny"? Practice with a friend; ease into it. You don't wanna quit cold turkey.

This is a great suggestion, in my opinion. It would be kind of freaky if I just unplugged, wouldn't it? Thanks.

Anyone else here like Jeff Dunham and his dolls? I get a kick out of Walter.
YouTube- Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist

 

[dwags222]

Some people in my class laugh at jokes that aren't funny, even moreso when a teacher says stuff.

i remember when i was in school this would happen a lot. all the sudden the class would burst out laughing and i would look around all confused because nothing funny happened. and then by the time they all stopped laughing i would start laughing because i found it so funny that they were laughing at something so unfunny.