spohkh | Personal Log #16 - Accidental Voice w/ Eleytheria

"I do not understand, is it not supposed to make logical sense?"

"Hmm, I am not certain. I was told that often jokes are humorous because an individual can relate to them or they remind the person of something familiar. For it not to make sense... does that not go against that theory?"

"I am uncertain. As I can see, they are filled with grammatical errors with a 'punch line' that is a misrepresentation of the language in which it is told... Do you find anything particularly 'funny' about any of these?"

"A punch line...?" [A pause.] "Well... I do not feel the desire to laugh or smile, so I suppose not. Perhaps it really is the delivery of the words that is important."

"Hmm... another test then. Knock Knock."

"Who is there?"

"Orange."

"...orange who?"

"Are you not pleased that I did not tell you another 'knock knock' joke?" [A Pause.] "That is not right..."

"...no. What relation does that have to an orange?" [Confused Eley is confused, but after a moment's silence, he'll speak up again.] "Perhaps I can try a different kind of joke..."

"Please do."

[Time passes, but soon Eley speaks again.] "I used to be a doctor, but then I lost patients."

[A pause.] "You were a doctor? And I have always known you to have an incredible amount of patience."

"...ah, no. I was not actually a doctor. That is a part of the joke. Besides that, the word 'patience' is also referring to those the doctor cares for." [Honestly though, he's realizing now how awful a joke it is.] "...death is not funny."

"Ah, I see. I believe the joke you just told is classified as a 'pun'."

"A pun... I can only see such jokes as confusing in the long-term. How can you be sure exactly what meaning a person is aiming for?"

"Perhaps it is our grasp of the lang-- hmmm... [A pause.] It would seem that my journal has been left open..."

[Oh dear.] "Does that mean everyone has been listening to our conversation?"

"That is quite possible...."

[ooc: Replies will be done by both Eleytheria and myself~ Don't be shy to poke fun at our two fail jokers.
Spock is in Green, and Eleytheria is in Blue~]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He recognizes that voice...] Miss Fenimore, greetings.

[The Vulcan thinks about that for a moment.] And what if no 'joke' appeals to my sense of... humour?
[As if he had one.]

[Eley could say the same about himself, despite trying to investigate these things lately. Maybe he really was destined not to have a sense of humour in the first place.]

There is no way to instigate laughter then? It seems it is a natural and spontaneous reaction... and not something that can be forced.

[To Spock's question:] Then you have a bad sense of humour. [SRY 2 SAY]

[And then to Eley's question, although from the sounds of the conversation there, it probably addresses both of them:]

Have you really never laughed at anything? I mean, there are plenty of jokes that I don't find funny, like, um, well...the jokes you were trying were kind of bad. But surely you must have run across something that amused you, right?

Vulcan's think of laughing as a somewhat wasteful facial contortion that requires a great deal of energy. However, we do have laughter in abundance, though our brand of laughter is on the inside.

[By the sound of Spock's voice, he is finding you quite amusing.]

...I have never experienced laughter myself, being born without emotion. However, some of these human emotions have begun to surface over time. I admit that I do have feelings of amusement from time to time but they are not usually expressed outwardly. I have never laughed at anything before.

[Perhaps it was odd, but as a Spirit he was already being assaulted with sensations he should never really experience in the first place.]

You believed the jokes to be bad? May I ask why?

[Laughter as a waste of energy? Born without emotions? What weirdos, thinks the magical amphibious humanoid. She's at least learned to not say this much out loud, though.]

Do you really have so little energy that laughing would tire you out?

As for the jokes, well...for one thing, the delivery is kind of flat when you don't understand them. But I guess you have an excuse, at least, if emotions are a new thing for you.

I am merely implying that it is a waste of energy.

[It was unlikely that he could explain thousands of years of Vulcan methods to Fenimore...]

Surely there are human methods that you find illogical or difficult to comprehend?

Flat... so you believe that more emotion will enhance the humour?

[If that was really the case, no wonder his own delivery had been so terrible.]

Perhaps I should work on... energising my emotions in that case. Even if I cannot laugh myself, I feel that being able to amuse another would be somehow fulfilling.

[She gets a little start from the "human methods" comment before she realizes that he's probably distinguishing the methods from himself rather than her -- there's no way he could know she's not human, right? Luckily, being in a three-way conversation means that her hesitation in answering is covered by Eley's response.]

With all the different places people are from, I couldn't help but have trouble with some things like that. But I also find it hard to believe someone would be so careful about how much energy they're using that they'd avoid laughing. Isn't it supposed to be good for you, or something?

And, well...more emotion wouldn't hurt. You really have to sell the joke -- [She stops, seeing a possible pitfall.] Um, not that you sell it literally. It's an expression. You have to...engage people, I guess.

[You're lucky, Fenimore, that they're doing this in voice, or Spock would have noticed that little hitch. He wouldn't be surprised though if he knew the truth.]

It is not a matter of conserving energy, we have merely deemed an illogical function.

[Good job Fenimore, you managed to avoid confusing Eley about that prospective sales pitch.]

Engage... It has to be of interest to others. It has to catch their attention. Perhaps the way I am now... humans are bored of me.

[He knew how to gather attention from humans at least, but he'd never done it with something like a joke before. Could he perhaps merge his past skills together with new ones? Now, the Spirit seems thoughtful.]

[If they weren't doing voice, Spock would also see her side-eye that comment. Deeming laughter "an illogical function" seems super-weird to her, and maybe a little silly. But she'll keep that thought inside.]

I didn't mean that people would be bored of you. That's a little harsh, isn't it? It's just that -- I guess laughter is an emotional reaction, so you have to appeal to people's emotions to put them in the mood to laugh. But it also does have to interest them.

Edited 2014-02-07 07:13 (UTC)

Then perhaps this is an unwise branch of research for a Vulcan.
[He realizes that might not be self-explanatory.] The very foundation of Vulcan logic is emotional control.

[In short, he was never the joker in class.]

Harsh? Perhaps. I do not mean to imply that I would take the comment personally, but in order to better understand humans, it would be useful to avoid losing their attention entirely.

Besides... I have made plans to try to re-instill belief in my kind when I return home. To do so, I must know how to communicate with them.

Moods... yes, I can see how that would also influence whether or not something is considered funny.

If you've got so much practice with controlling your emotions, can't you indulge yourself in something that feels as good as laughter? Or are you supposed to always stop yourself from feeling things?

[On to Eley's response...when he talks about re-instilling belief, it almost sounds like he's a god or something like that. But, despite there being a few around who have mentioned being deities over the journals (including Eley, but she doesn't remember it), she dismisses this idea as too outlandish. Maybe his people are just very reclusive.]

Well...if you do learn about telling jokes well, that might help with communicating with people. Humour is a good way to connect with people and make them like you. Er -- at least, if they're like the ones I know. I guess it wouldn't work with, um -- Vulkens.

[Her pronounciation of Vulcan is kind of awkward, but it sounds pretty close. She's pretty used to words that have one syllable end in l and the other in n, after all.]

But...I'm not sure how to learn that sort of thing. Most people figure it out from observing people telling jokes when they're growing up.

[This was probably the most he's ever heard Fenimore speak. And an interesting question occurred to him...]

Do you ever tell jokes as a way to connect with others?

Personal Log #16 - Accidental Voice w/ Eleytheria

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