And yes the subject IS funny. It's cartoonish. Have any of you thought about why the idea of alien life is so easy to reduce to the level of the absurd? When infinite space in the form of "aliens" intrudes into the mundane, it's been considered funny. Another type of punchline is created when supposed superior intellect bumps up against inferior intellect. The alien is often portrayed encroaching into the mundane realm of the lowly farmer. Hilarious.
The collective unconscious plays up the aspect of contact that has different planes of existance,meaning, or opposites, colliding. This seems to soften the impact ON ITSELF. Tension turns to laughter.
Another thing that makes the subject of little green men automatically cartoonish, is the fact that aliens are generally drawn by gag cartoonists, as they draw everything, with large heads and small bodies. Since it is generally assumed and reported that these creatures are indeed small with large heads, they're just naturally kind of "funny". Which makes me wonder. What is so funny about having a big head? As a culture have we taken something potentially threatening and softened it's impact by drawing it with neotenized
features?
Can the universe, itself, be viewed as a riddle, a mystery, a joke or all three?
Just a few thoughts from an armchair observer of human nature.
The collective unconscious plays up the aspect of contact that has different planes of existance,meaning, or opposites, colliding. This seems to soften the impact ON ITSELF. Tension turns to laughter.
Another thing that makes the subject of little green men automatically cartoonish, is the fact that aliens are generally drawn by gag cartoonists, as they draw everything, with large heads and small bodies. Since it is generally assumed and reported that these creatures are indeed small with large heads, they're just naturally kind of "funny". Which makes me wonder. What is so funny about having a big head? As a culture have we taken something potentially threatening and softened it's impact by drawing it with neotenized
features?
Can the universe, itself, be viewed as a riddle, a mystery, a joke or all three?
Just a few thoughts from an armchair observer of human nature.