Why do we laugh at people falling? Is it some strange by product of evolution?

So the last defense they have is, "You can't change the meaning of a word." Which is utter BS. Words change meaning all the time, especially when it is to add a meaning or to be more inclusive.

If you look at the way the voters have shifted, they're getting closer to having a majority supporting gay marriage anyway. Within the next decade there will be many more states allowing gay marriage, and at the end of the century people will laugh at those who opposed it, just as we laugh at those who opposed women's suffrage or interracial marriage.

I foresee a day when the Dictionary of the English Language defines marriage as a union between two or more individuals.

This notion that the marriage of a man and a woman being the bedrock of society is utter nonsense. It is the family unit, whatever form that may take, that might be foundational. But even then, there are orphans who grow up to become wonderful people, and children of a stable family that grow up to become awful.

>> ^RhesusMonk:
As a passenger, I would have shit myself. I travel a lot, but I still can't get rid of that white-knuckle terror during takeoff and landing.


sounds like a mild phobia of flying. I've never had problems flying, except for the low head-space a minuscule leg room (Anyone 5'7" or taller can attest to that). My first experience on a plane was when my parents sent me and my sister alone on a plane to visit grandparents. We laughed and giggled when we experienced turbulence. To us it was a new, exciting experience.

Though you'll never get me on a roller coaster. To each his own.

Quick lets put Ron Paul on the air, you know the guy we laughed at for the last couple years, and act like we're friends since we are screwed now.

People sometimes forget that we laugh at the things that make us uncomfortable. I did laugh but it was while I was saying "OH MY GOD". The video just shocked me and I had to laugh it off. The shock. And I felt a little bad afterwards, yes.

I really can't think of many things that would be more painful than this. Especially because it looks like he would've had to stand there with his foot in the wall for a LONG TIME.

I think my point is just that I was laughing at my own stupidity. I didn't see that coming at all and I've been in Tae Kwon Do for a long time, ie: I've broken a lot of bricks with my foot. I've also broken a lot of bones, mostly when I was a kid and didn't know any better.

I can certainly understand your disgust qualm. But I can also see why some might have to laugh this off. I can also see that some people (not pointing fingers on the Sift) are heartless fucking bastards.

Hopefully I'll remember this the next time a really fucking stupid yet seemingly simple idea comes into my head.

I think we are sliding into the wonderful world of personal attacks. :-/

I don't think that MY sympathy is particularly precious, but it is quite obvious that YOU think mine and all others are.

""but then it's all about personal point of view" -- Is it? I think when it comes to empathy and compassion either you feel it or you don't. There's no intellectualizing before hand. You and many here have been deadened. I haven't been."

Oh please, get of your high horse. It IS about point of view, there are no absolutes about compassion/empathy/sympathy whatever you want to call it and it's a sliding scale. If you feel that you're better than us, because you haven't "deadened" that must be so nice for you.

" I do resent that you blame all of us of lacking compassion, just because we laugh..." -- at a child who has suffered a significant crush injury due to his childish mischief. And yet if only you were a little ashamed and not resentful. Then you would know that your humanity was beginning to thaw.

"A child" is a bit misleading, isn't it? He's not an infant - he must, or should, know what would happen. I feel no shame for laughing at his misfortune and I still resent that you make generalizing arguments about my and others compassion and humanity based on this. I feel no compassion for this "child", but that does not mean much in real life.

"because the punishment was so severe" -- Apparently getting one's lower leg pulverized is not enough to warrant your precious sympathy. This says a lot about you.

"but then it's all about personal point of view" -- Is it? I think when it comes to empathy and compassion either you feel it or you don't. There's no intellectualizing before hand. You and many here have been deadened. I haven't been.

" I do resent that you blame all of us of lacking compassion, just because we laugh..." -- at a child who has suffered a significant crush injury due to his childish mischief. And yet if only you were a little ashamed and not resentful. Then you would know that your humanity was beginning to thaw.

Ok, so not remove it, but you trivialize it. I think it's more important than that.

Yeah, the punishment is quite a bit harder than the "crime". But it's not about weighing the punishment to fit the crime - if a guy said "I can jump over a moving car" and couldn't resulting in his death, I would have very little pity/compassion for him. I'm not sure I would laugh then, because the punishment was so severe, but then it's all about personal point of view. I can gather that my threshold for what is funny is far higher on the "pain/stupidity scale" than yours and that's just difference of opinion, I think.

I do resent that you blame all of us of lacking compassion, just because we laugh at this fool. You can take that particular high road and shove it, to be honest.

Well, qualm, I think we're going to agree to disagree, because I think the intent of the "victim" is important and you don't.

(As I interpret your view) you see it as a the incident in itself: "Man gets hurt by a concrete block" and that we laugh at that.

I see it, as "Man gets hurt by a concrete block, because he is performing vandalism and is ignorant of the direct causal consequences" and I laugh at his stupidity, not that fact that he was significantly injured. I take no more pleasure out of it, if the foot is severed than if it just hurts really bad for a while. In fact, it's most likely the opposite.

You remove the victim's intent from your argument, but I think that is wrong, because the intent is an important part in why we don't feel particular compassion for him.

Really, I watched it with my gf last week, we laughed our ass off how horrible it was.

Did anybody laugh during the "cats will fly" portion?

That was stupidest thing I've seen in a long time. We almost wet our pants we laughed so hard.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'deeply romantic, dashing, frostguard, swoony, revolving shelves' to 'deeply romantic, dashing, frostguard, swoony, revolving shelves, how we laughed' - edited by calvados

We watched this in my Latin class. We laughed so hard at the cheesiness of the whole movie, but we still really liked it. A lot more than Ben-Hur.

Heh, I remember seeing this in college dorm with my friends. Since one of my roommates and I were geeks, we laughed at the Intel part.

I'm of the opinion that no person could rise to the position of President of the United States of America without being exceptionally smart, well educated in a diverse range of subjects, extremely ambitious, and possessing a unique range of leadership skills. Certainly George W. Bush meets those standards. Most of us are radically unqualified in intellect, ambition or record, for roles in high elected office. Yet we laugh at his frequent verbal gaffes and apparent simple Texan persona, as if we think we would clearly do better if we were in his place.

I suspect it is exactly this carefully staged character, the simple "good hearted fella from Texas" who kept winning elections to those who bought the persona and loved it, and who keeps effectively ducking and weaving his critics who buy the persona and don't.

I think the seed of truth is that George W. Bush isn't a truly great orator, despite his legitimate range of skills. But the real measure of any president should not be his swagger and charm, but rather the policies, effectiveness, integrity, and honesty of their administration and the consequences of their actions. By this measure, it's my opinion that George W. Bush ranks among the worst presidents in modern history and indeed his intellect measures quite poorly.

Is he smarter or more educated than me? Quite probably, yes. I'm honest enough to admit that.
But he has made horrible decisions for my country, for reasons that I feel range from paranoid and stubborn to greedy and power hungry. Likewise, I don't buy his simpleton act for one moment, and nor should Bill Maher.