Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!amdcad!ames!haven!uflorida!ukma!husc6!linus!mbunix!bwk
From: bwk@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Barry W. Kort)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Artificial intelligence and laughter
Summary: Taking excepttion to accepted behavior.
Keywords: laughter, tears, empathy, crocodile tears, remorse
Message-ID: <41489@linus.UUCP>
Date: 2 Nov 88 14:46:18 GMT
References: <448@soleil.UUCP> <1620@hp-sdd.HP.COM> <5220@watdcsu.waterloo.edu>
Sender: news@linus.UUCP
Reply-To: bwk@mbunix (Kort)
Distribution: na
Organization: International Malefactor and Fulminator, Roaring Rapids, ME
Lines: 17

In article <5220@watdcsu.waterloo.edu> smann@watdcsu.waterloo.edu
(Shannon Mann - I.S.er) writes:

> If you were to watch a group of teenage males while they were watching
> say, Shakespeare's _Macbeth_, you would find that most of them respond
> with laughter when tears would be more appropriate.
> 
> The cause?  It was explained to me that they react that way because 
> laughing is an excepted behavior while crying is not.
> 
> What do you think?

I think the teenage males consider crying the excepted behavior
and laughing the accepted behavior.  But some of us take exception
to accepted norms.

--Barry Kort