How Does Humor Affect Human Behavior?

evolutionary anthropologist Robert lynch studies how traits pass down through evolution affect human behavior. He found that people's unconscious attitudes about gender were strongly correlated with whether they laughed or found the joke offensive. Lynch thinks there are strong evolutionary reasons people behave this way. In fact, he thinks humor itself may have evolved because it allows people to tell who belongs to their in group and who doesn't. We'll talk about how comedians need to skirt the edge of what's offensive in order to be funny.