The End of the World and the Purpose of Laughter

Laughter, distraction, exceptions, are all images of the edge of a world, but is there a way for laughter to play a useful part in living on the edge.
this is the second part of a conference I gave at Holy Nativity of the Lord Mission in Shreveport Louisiana in May 2019. The first part is called "The Garden of Eden as Cosmic Structure".
• The Garden of Eden as ...
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Пікірлер: 107

  • @a1r383
    @a1r3835 жыл бұрын

    Only Jonathan would laugh while talking about how laughter is a sign of godlessness

  • @SpiritualFox

    @SpiritualFox

    5 жыл бұрын

    I would say a humourless & severe clergy sells snake oil. It's like they know they're charlatans, or they see themselves as the gatekeepers of a funeral barge. Jesus subverted expectation, and surrounded himself with thieves and vagabonds. God, i suppose, is the one who is dead inside, given that he is the father _in heaven._ I know i always chuckle when i tell people that our God is invisible. Like women over 50. Or unemployed young men. I would say the false air of seriousness is a way to perpetuate the authority of the establishment. It's like they think in their infinate wisdom that of course Jesus isn't for real. One cannot walk on water. It's a metaphor. It's really all about the piety and delaying gratification. Some people are simply desperate. It's about going to church everyday, or even leading a service. Jesus on the cross is a representation of the dearly departed. They're with skygod now. No laughing. This is monotheism. Do not look at the pantheon. There is no pantheon. God is a trinity. Monotheism. One second while i bless some holy water. Serious business, not magic. Our Lord is dead-dead. Sad clown sad. There is no man in a dress. Draggin' isn't real. Miracles are just a way to glorify him. Let's turn to a passage where Jesus gives sarcastic answers as to his identity. No laughing! A man is about to die. I mean a God is gonna die. A demigod is gonna die. Oh dear. I must go and lash myself now. Serious business. No, really. Put money in basket now... is that a fiver? You know God sees everything, right?

  • @a1r383

    @a1r383

    5 жыл бұрын

    @@SpiritualFox How much did you smoke before typing that?

  • @WatersAbove77

    @WatersAbove77

    5 жыл бұрын

    MNI Andes remove the about

  • @HarrySBallz

    @HarrySBallz

    5 жыл бұрын

    Paul van der Klay would laugh to!

  • @IndyDefense

    @IndyDefense

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@SpiritualFox I read that in Bob Dylan's modern speaking voice.

  • @oambitiousone7100
    @oambitiousone71005 жыл бұрын

    That feeling when Jonathan starts a story he's told before and you're eager to hear it again 😊

  • @bititid
    @bititid4 жыл бұрын

    This man must be a prophet. He understands that we have come to the edge.

  • @jpemery11
    @jpemery114 жыл бұрын

    "There is a chairness of the chair" my favorite part.

  • @iankaiser2401
    @iankaiser24015 ай бұрын

    That laugh was a beautiful moment while it could have been sinful, it personified his explanation perfectly. Demons hate when you laugh at them, and laughing at the devils temptations even more so

  • @j.r.4466
    @j.r.44665 жыл бұрын

    I love this stuff. It has opened my mind. But my question is this. Is not laughter sometimes a realization and not just a distraction or forgetting? Sometimes futility, the realization of mistake, or a let out of stress can cause laughter. it's kind of inversion. Laughter is associated with forgetting and leisure as well as realization

  • @ReluctantReader
    @ReluctantReader5 жыл бұрын

    Nice to see you come back to this scripture analysis, I really enjoy these lectures, especially that one you did on modernity, with the structure of cities losing its meaning and the centres replacing churches with shopping malls.

  • @RogerTheil
    @RogerTheil4 жыл бұрын

    You know that story of Silence really spoke to me this time as I realized yet another level of ironic humor that sort of sums up the story. One small thing fell out of place and so was rectified by putting some thing else out of place (the King stripped Silence from her inheritance by declaring that women could not inherit, so her father makes her into a "man" instead of what she is). These few things slightly out of place eventually set up the very out-of-place situation of Silence now being a female knight to the King and the Queen accusing her of something not only untrue, but not possible. Very ironic all around. This pushes Silence into an even more absurd venture, bringing back a great sorcerer-turn-complete-wildman to the King, who accomplishes it by her ironic out-of-placement. She brings back the very edge of the wild to the center of Civilization and he cannot bring himself into composure because of all of the out-of-place things he sees, and he sees things out of place on all levels of the country until seeing the court and realizing EVERY level of society, from the beggars in the street, to the King's own court and marriage, is out of place. Thereby, through the revelation of the marginal one's laughter, all corruptions in society were exposed, punished, and rectified. And Order and everyone's place was restored. Tl;Dr: One small thing fell out of place and ended up setting up a situation that revealed how ALL things are out of place. And it was the outsider's laughter that revealed it all.

  • @EamonBurke
    @EamonBurke5 жыл бұрын

    I also would like to try to be helpful in asserting that the purpose/cause/basis/nature of laughter is "danger->safety". The things that make people laugh are: Falls (where the person isn't hurt) Farts (the smell of rot and decay but the source is your friend, who is alive) A surprise (a predator that reveals to be friend). A naked person exposing themselves (should be very dangerous, but is proven harmless) The most irresistible laughter is that toward your own infant child. They fart or fall or scream or wander into your room and it's so funny it makes you want to cry. This intense signal of laughter assure the baby that there is no danger. Even a pun or a simple one liner is designed to create a misdirection pointing toward something confusing or unknown(potentially dangerous) and revealing to be pedestrian and close-to-home. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Knock knock jokes evoke the fear of the outsider requesting entrance and identifying themselves with an unsatisfactory riddle. This is why funniest home video hosts often assure the audience "don't worry folks, he's alright." A joke is "danger->safety". The jokes at the edge of reality are the revelation of their subordination to the infinite power of God. To Him, even the insatiable beast at the edge of the map is as harmless as a rabbit.

  • @oambitiousone7100

    @oambitiousone7100

    5 жыл бұрын

    Comedians as guardians. This is brilliant.

  • @Tyler_W

    @Tyler_W

    3 ай бұрын

    Much like how God spoke of the behemoth and leviathan in Job.

  • @RunninUpThatHillh
    @RunninUpThatHillh5 жыл бұрын

    Much respect for not being tempted by the man-bun.

  • @Danbach90
    @Danbach905 жыл бұрын

    That priest up front has great hair and a great beard.

  • @Hbmd3E

    @Hbmd3E

    4 жыл бұрын

    amen brother amen

  • @i_am_a_real_cat1443

    @i_am_a_real_cat1443

    4 жыл бұрын

    he is a real man of god. I wish i would have hair

  • @Hbmd3E

    @Hbmd3E

    4 жыл бұрын

    and seems to be good as a person

  • @i_am_a_real_cat1443

    @i_am_a_real_cat1443

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Hbmd3E I wish i could hear his quesiton, they need to give him a mic.

  • @Hbmd3E

    @Hbmd3E

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@i_am_a_real_cat1443yup"

  • @craigcalcaterra1331
    @craigcalcaterra13315 жыл бұрын

    Laughter happens when different personalities "clack" together. Sometimes laughter integrates diverse personalities. When this happens, some of the clacking personalities unite, then understanding occurs. That's why jokes can bring people together. Jokes can unite people into a family. Sometimes laughter drives personalities apart, differentiating them. When this happens, new personalities are formed from the clacking personalities, then misunderstanding occurs, between the previous personalities. That's why jokes can provoke fights. Laughter happens when different personalities clack together. It takes energy and resonance, a perfect poetry, to form a joke that will provoke laughter. Whether it's integrative or differentiative laughter, depends on how it's received.

  • @Hbmd3E
    @Hbmd3E4 жыл бұрын

    - Killing the monster = male hero, - Taming the monster(man) and making him hero ( who then goes on and kills the monster ) = female hero

  • @Pacmoar
    @Pacmoar4 жыл бұрын

    About monsters guarding the borders between things... kinda explains why you have to fight Bowser before reaching the next world in Mario!

  • @yadira6984
    @yadira69842 жыл бұрын

    Thank you! I appreciate how you uncover the edges of the corners of the world, especially in a world that focuses on covering flaws. A society focused on veiling authenticity.

  • @LibertyGryphon
    @LibertyGryphon5 жыл бұрын

    Then Alfred laughed out suddenly, like thunder in the spring; till shook aloud the lintel beams, and the squirrels stirred in dusty dreams, and the startled birds went up in streams, At the laughter of the King. And the beasts of the earth, And the birds looked down, in a wild solemnity, On a stranger sight than sylph or elf: On one man laughing at himself, Under the greenwood tree. The giant laughter of Christian men, that roars through a thousand tales, Where greed is an ape and pride is an ass, and Jack's away with his master's lass, and the miser is banged with all his brass, The farmer with all his flails. Tales that tumble and tales that trick, Yet end not all in scorning, Of Kings and clowns in a merry plight, And the clock gone wrong and the world gone right, That the mummers sing upon Christmas night, And Christmas day in the morning." G. K. Chesterton

  • @oambitiousone7100

    @oambitiousone7100

    5 жыл бұрын

    Having discovered GKC only this year, I find this esp consoling and delightful. Thanks for sharing 😊

  • @LibertyGryphon

    @LibertyGryphon

    5 жыл бұрын

    @@oambitiousone7100 welcome!😁 I was lucky enough to find him in my teens. This bit is from the White Horse.

  • @tardwrangler
    @tardwrangler5 жыл бұрын

    One of your best videos imho, I love this type of presentation, hope to see more

  • @ZlotyChannel
    @ZlotyChannel5 жыл бұрын

    Awesome video Jonathan, like always!! I always stop whatever I'm doing when you upload a new video so I can watch it

  • @fizzarolig69
    @fizzarolig694 жыл бұрын

    Brilliant work, stay safe. I’m sure alot of evil forces and principalities are watching your work, but they cannot touch you or your soul with the love and grace of God in your heart... You continue to inspire me to know more about truth itself and what it means, but also how it can help me understand what I’m curious about in these days of confusion and manipulation.

  • @sennewam
    @sennewam5 жыл бұрын

    laughter reveals (apocalypse is revealing) Toto, the little dog who nobody thinks of, pulls back the drapes to reveal the man behind the curtain

  • @ronishchaudhary
    @ronishchaudhary3 жыл бұрын

    Now i know why JP didn’t begin with a “Rabbi, Priest and Father walked into a bar” joke 🤣

  • @attrix09
    @attrix095 жыл бұрын

    *Baby screams*

  • @stevenanderson4515

    @stevenanderson4515

    5 жыл бұрын

    That's the sound of a growing church

  • @oambitiousone7100
    @oambitiousone71005 жыл бұрын

    I remember that tweet from Matt Walsh (45:34), and its ludicrous logic was maddening😩.Put it this context, its lunacy makes me laugh😄. Thanks for perspective, Jonathan

  • @neversurrender6112

    @neversurrender6112

    5 жыл бұрын

    Which tweet? What did he say?

  • @oambitiousone7100

    @oambitiousone7100

    5 жыл бұрын

    @@neversurrender6112 Go to (45:00) for the lead-in to Walsh's tweet; tweet's at 45:34.

  • @cabal4171

    @cabal4171

    5 жыл бұрын

    Matt was making fun of the logic

  • @oambitiousone7100

    @oambitiousone7100

    5 жыл бұрын

    @@cabal4171 Oh, I understood his intent: the contradictions, the lunacy. Jonathan's framing it, with his long view of human nature and its cyclical tendencies, made it more ridiculous 😏 than enraging 😡.

  • @Ricco5uave
    @Ricco5uave5 жыл бұрын

    LOGOS

  • @sheehanremodeling
    @sheehanremodeling4 жыл бұрын

    2 things come to mind Sarah and Abraham name their son Isaac which I am told means laughter. My gradchildren make me laugh just by being.

  • @benitoesteban7091
    @benitoesteban70915 жыл бұрын

    Great talk. Then may be you can talk about the book/story ' in the name of the rose' by Umberto Eco. Or you can talk about that movie, 'what will happen if we don't laughter??

  • @RogerTheil
    @RogerTheil4 жыл бұрын

    Jonathan: "...so what does that do? Chases the water away" Pro-water baby in the audience: "nnnNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

  • @JROFROMTHALIKS
    @JROFROMTHALIKS3 ай бұрын

    Sometimes laughter=agreement

  • @williampotter7572
    @williampotter75725 жыл бұрын

    The old law is that the unclean makes the clean unclean. The new law is that the clean makes the unclean clean.

  • @TheeChrisM
    @TheeChrisM5 жыл бұрын

    If church was this good I would actually go. There's no good churches that teach symbology in Toronto.

  • @RunninUpThatHillh

    @RunninUpThatHillh

    5 жыл бұрын

    i hear ya there.

  • 5 жыл бұрын

    No God lives in a church. Rent out a church and do a talk about symbolism. Solved.

  • @peepoclown1

    @peepoclown1

    Жыл бұрын

    Have you got any Eastern Orthodox (specifically “OCA”) churches in the area? 👀

  • @omglolzbbqsauce
    @omglolzbbqsauce5 жыл бұрын

    35 minutes in... still waiting on the priest to explode into a deep belly laugh. *Crosses fingers*

  • @cabal4171

    @cabal4171

    5 жыл бұрын

    omglolzbbqsauce did it happen?

  • @doulos44
    @doulos445 жыл бұрын

    Very nice, Jonathan will you end up transcribing the questions? I missed some of them..I’m curious about what was said about the toll house thing. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment 😳

  • @DudeRanchDan
    @DudeRanchDan Жыл бұрын

    This may sound like a bad pun; but it has always bothered me to some degree that the only difference between laughter and slaughter is an "s".

  • @EamonBurke
    @EamonBurke5 жыл бұрын

    Christ would have taken the prostitute into the Holy of Holies. He told the woman at the well that He was ready and able to give her living water if she but asked. The difference between us and Christ 'hanging out with prostitutes' is twofold: 1. Not all that Christ can do, we can do. Christ was also crucified for our sin. 2. By being with them, He was giving them Himself. They don't need company, they need Christ. You can go be with them too, but are you bringing the Salvation of man with you? Jesus of Nazareth brought the incarnate Word of God to them.

  • @annoybot
    @annoybot5 жыл бұрын

    @7:39 a halo is appearing around his head/face : )

  • @rs.matr1x
    @rs.matr1x5 жыл бұрын

    I wasnt here yesterday.. I was born yesterday tho.

  • @sennewam
    @sennewam5 жыл бұрын

    32:57 England described by Elijah

  • @ZAYA2227
    @ZAYA22272 жыл бұрын

    PB: 46:00

  • @quentissential
    @quentissential2 жыл бұрын

    Have you talked with Peterson about this topic? I think the 'psychedelic' edge of culture is spoken to in this talk...

  • @WTFSt0n3d
    @WTFSt0n3d5 жыл бұрын

    life isn't a tragedy. it's a comedy

  • @WatersAbove77

    @WatersAbove77

    5 жыл бұрын

    HadesXY perhaps it’s both in certain aspects

  • @WTFSt0n3d

    @WTFSt0n3d

    5 жыл бұрын

    @@WatersAbove77 ​ Some Dude in the end i simply hope to have lived my life to the extend that puts a smile on my face when i'm dying. if it's true that you get a recap of your life in the moment of death so far it will be a twisted story with ups and downs full with very bad jokes but mostly a lot of fun in hindsight. like in a comedy. the fool stumbles, misses his chance with the girl, gets into trouble with shadowy figures. but in the end if he keeps going all goes well somehow.

  • @abebber2008

    @abebber2008

    4 жыл бұрын

    What if the joke is on you? Kind of tragic if you don't find it funny

  • @jokerguycz

    @jokerguycz

    2 жыл бұрын

    only if you get to heaven

  • @ScreenRecorderApp
    @ScreenRecorderApp5 жыл бұрын

    Screen Recorder provides an easy way to record screen videos, like game ?? videos, video calls, live shows, and more - making everything simple! #Download our most easy to use screen recorder now and create your first, amazing video! Download the app NoW- appscreenrecorder.com/getapp

  • @stevenyoung3752
    @stevenyoung3752 Жыл бұрын

    I think laughter is an expression of play, and play is the opposite of power. Like how if you laugh while lifting weights you lose your ability to assert your power on the weights. Or how the court jester challenges and legitimately criticizes the king in a spirit of play. Something like this might be the intuition that Chrysostom had with Christ not losing his power in laughter. However, Christ isn't just power, he's also God condescending to the lowest and most humble form to divine it. So I don't think that Christ was averse to play and laughter, after all He was accused of being a drunkard. I of course don't want to go against a church father so I'm sure there's more to Chrysostom's assertion than I can see.

  • @TheDonovanMcCormick
    @TheDonovanMcCormick4 жыл бұрын

    Ironically this made me think of Trumps drain the swamp phrase. He is acting as the monster at the gate. His campaign slogan was to remove the chaotic water from the landscape and allow cultivation and order. Trump is the gargoyle lol. What a crazy world.

  • @gumbootrecords
    @gumbootrecords2 жыл бұрын

    Should spiritual education be free? Specifically commercial free?

  • @knightrider585
    @knightrider585 Жыл бұрын

    Mad magazine (not sure it is even still in publication) is a recent example of a publication that incorporated marginalia.

  • @piety6703
    @piety67035 жыл бұрын

    I have a question, if the left always complains about, how jokes are only supposed to punch upwards (in a sence to show the unjust hierarchy), aren't they actually right in so far that it's only cruel (and maybe even a sin? ) to laugh at someone who is lower than you, fallen down in way? Is there a "right" way to laugh at someone who is in a worse situation than you because of their false pride which needs to be shown? Maybe you always have to laugh simultaneously at your self like merlin does in order to laugh justly

  • @ivanengel8887
    @ivanengel88873 жыл бұрын

    Can someone give me a condensed version of the role of humor besides exposing the flaws of the powerful/proud?

  • @mathphysicsnerd
    @mathphysicsnerd4 жыл бұрын

    Doing some honestly rather basic research, I am not seeing the slightest hint of evidence for the claim that the etymology of barbarian is sourced from dog vocalizations. It seems to at least partially originate from the same family of words as several Indo-European words for tongue-tied, which was then specialized to identify an outgroup that speaks a foreign untranslated language. Aside from that, this has been quite informative

  • @zalazalaza9093
    @zalazalaza90935 жыл бұрын

    maaaaaaaaaaaan. laughter is an expression of power in the face of a paradox. it is a sign of power over godlessness. farts are awesome. they let us reassure ourselves that we are capable put that in yr pipe and split

  • @Tullerman
    @Tullerman3 жыл бұрын

    Isn't there a verse about John or someone going in to the cave after Jesus's death and there he is, laughing like a madman, as if he would ever fade away and be no more, guess he's just playing hide and seek.

  • @Tullerman

    @Tullerman

    3 жыл бұрын

    I like Allan Watts - start each day with 30-minute of crazed laughter

  • @angelsmilkyway4352
    @angelsmilkyway43524 жыл бұрын

    Wow bible out of context. Sending these people through a joyless life. This is horrible. We're just going to forget laughter is the best medicine

  • @zalazalaza9093
    @zalazalaza90935 жыл бұрын

    nooo, laughter is the power over the hypocrisy in modern culture, not the ignorance of it! it enables us to persevere through chaos indeed, one of the primary reason i am averse to worship at a church or temple etc... is the lack of the elevation of laughter in places deemed holy. Laughter seems to grant access to the most holy, it elevates and is the water in the cracks of hypocrisy! I couldn't disagree with lecture this more

  • @Metalheadspartan

    @Metalheadspartan

    2 жыл бұрын

    I agree but did you finish the lecture? The elaboration towards the end is exactly this.

  • @marykochan8962
    @marykochan89625 жыл бұрын

    I think people keep missing a key point about Sarah's laughter. I think she is laughing at the thought of having sex with her husband after all those years. She says after I have grown old and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?

  • @WhiteWolfeHU
    @WhiteWolfeHU5 жыл бұрын

    Only when you take the Bible as history can you say barbarian comes from dog barking 😂 Yes plz go on.

  • @bk3430

    @bk3430

    5 жыл бұрын

    @Isaac linguistics debunks this. The greeks claim barbaros comes from how foreigners sound to them. Other languages of the time contain cognates however. Balbus in Latin and Balba in Sanskrit. Therefore Barbaros isn't a construct for how foreigners sound to greek, but an ancient proto-indo-european word.

  • @WhiteWolfeHU

    @WhiteWolfeHU

    5 жыл бұрын

    I'm not the expert here that's why I'm listening to this but shit if we can just make stuff up... barbarian means bearded Aryan like the germanics who tormented the Latin speaking world. Basically big fucking bearded dudes killing people. You can believe your dog bark theory though.

  • @EdwardsComment

    @EdwardsComment

    5 жыл бұрын

    @@WhiteWolfeHU Everything I read indicates the word is onomatopoetic, it is used in greek and sanskrit, and it refers to unintelligible speech and the foreigners who speak it - frequently depicted as beast-men, or dog-men. Revealing whatever information you have to the contrary would probably be more helpful than... this. I liked your story about bearded German dudes, though.

  • @carljung9504

    @carljung9504

    5 жыл бұрын

    If you actually listened to Jonathan, you'd know that he's not interpreting the Bible in any literal or historical form.

  • @WhiteWolfeHU

    @WhiteWolfeHU

    5 жыл бұрын

    NORMALIZATION OF IGNORANCE call me evil and say I'm attracted to your silly story like a moth haha. Ok don't debate anyone, keep living in your uber superiority Christianity complex fuckface spineless rat.