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Laughlab
Laughlab: The Scientific Quest for the World's Funniest Joke | The British Association For The Advancement Of Science
6 posts | 1 read
In September 2001 the British Association for the Advancement of Science (the BA) embarked on the world's largest, and most unusual, scientific experiment. The aim of the project was to find the world's funniest joke, and answer important questions about the psychology of humour. For example, Do men and women find the same jokes funny? Does our sense of humour change as we get older? What is the best time of day to tell a joke? Do different nations laugh at the same jokes? The experiment was called LaughLab and was carried out as part of Science Year in the UK. An Internet site was established containing two sections: in the first, people submitted their favourite jokes; in the second they answered a few simple questions about themselves - male or female, age, nationality, etc - and then rated how funny they found a random selection of jokes. The experiment captured the imagination of individuals throughout the world. 40,000 jokes were received and evaluated by 350,000 people. At the end of the project the information was carefully examined and discoveries made about the jokes that made men giggle and women groan, those that tickled kids but not adults, and the jokes that were the most popular in different countries. Along the way the 'winning' jokes in different categories were uncovered, including the best 'doctor' jokes
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keithmalek
Laughlab: The Scientific Quest for the World's Funniest Joke | The British Association For The Advancement Of Science

A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel stuck in his pants. The bartender asks, “Hey man, isn't that annoying?“ The pirate responds, “Arrrr, it's driving me nuts.“

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keithmalek
Laughlab: The Scientific Quest for the World's Funniest Joke | The British Association For The Advancement Of Science

Top joke in the UK:

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says, “That's the ugliest baby I've ever seen.“ The woman goes to the end of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her, “The driver just insulted me!“
The man says, “You go right up there and tell him off! Go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you.“

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keithmalek
Laughlab: The Scientific Quest for the World's Funniest Joke | The British Association For The Advancement Of Science

Eskimos use the word “laugh“ to refer to lovemaking--to “laugh“ with someone is to have intercourse with them.

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keithmalek
Laughlab: The Scientific Quest for the World's Funniest Joke | The British Association For The Advancement Of Science

One researcher estimated that a good laugh produces an increase in heart rate that is equivalent to ten minutes on a rowing machine or fifteen minutes on an exercise bike. Other researchers have found that people who suffer from heart disease are 40% less likely to laugh or to see the funny side of life.

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keithmalek
Laughlab: The Scientific Quest for the World's Funniest Joke | The British Association For The Advancement Of Science

Tourists in the Chicago Museum of Natural History were marveling at the dinosaur bones. One of them asked the guard,“ Can you tell me how old the dinosaur bones are?“ “They are three million, four years, and six months old.“ “That's an awful exact number,“ said the tourist. “How do you know their age so precisely?“ The guard answered, “Well, the dinosaur bones were three million years old when I started working here, and that was 4 1/2 years ago.“

review
keithmalek
Laughlab: The Scientific Quest for the World's Funniest Joke | The British Association For The Advancement Of Science
Panpan

In 2001, some researchers decided to turn to science to find the world's funniest joke. They did this by having the general public submit hundreds of jokes, which were later voted on. The result was this book...which is terrible. Why? It says in the introduction: “Obviously, we couldn't allow any offensive jokes onto the site.“ I'm not sure why that's “obvious,“ but it resulted in a collection of stupid Dad jokes.
#2025Book41