Sociologyspeaking topic
In society, laughter mostly serves social bonding rather than humor; people almost never laugh alone. Is laughter a response to jokes, or a hidden signal that says 'we are good, you and I'?
— the social function of laughter
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- Durkheim's distinction between mechanical and organic solidarity: are we bound together by our similarity, or because we are different and need each other?
- Societies declare things 'dirty' not because they are dangerous but because they cross a boundary. Why is the clean-dirty divide less about hygiene and more about order and borders?
- Marx's concept of alienation: what does it mean to feel like a stranger to what we ourselves produce? If the work that fills eight hours of our day does not feel like ours, are we alienated from our own labor?
- The most expensive way to prove you are rich is no longer spending money, it is spending time. Why is luxury drifting toward the quiet and the logo-free?
- The anomic division of labor: in modern society everyone is a specialist but nobody sees the whole. Could extreme specialization be pulling us apart instead of binding us together?