Have you ever asked yourself, “What’s the funniest joke in the world?”
你有没有问过自己，“世界上最有趣的笑话是什么？”
Well, Richard Wiseman, holder of Britain’s only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire has for his experiment Laugh Lab, 2002. He created the eponymous website in 2001 where the public could submit and rate jokes, and the winner is:
好吧，理查德·怀斯曼（Richard Wiseman）是赫特福德郡大学唯一一位拥有英国公共心理学理解教授职位的人，他的实验是劳夫实验室，2002年。 他在2001年创建了一个同名网站，公众可以在这里提交和评价笑话，获胜者是：
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, “My friend is dead! What can I do?”. The operator says, “Calm down. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead”. There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says, “OK, now what?”.
当其中一个倒下时，两个猎人在树林里。 他似乎沒有呼吸，眼睛也亮了。 另一个人拿出手机，拨打了紧急服务电话。 他喘着粗气，“我的朋友死了！ 我能做什麼？」。 接线员说：“冷静点。 我可以帮忙。 首先，让我们确定他已经死了。” 一片寂静，然后听到了枪声。 回到电话里，那个人说：“好吧，现在怎么办？”。
The joke was submitted by a Mancunian psychiatrist named Gurpal Gosall, who stated that he sometimes recounted this joke to his patients to cheer them up in moments of despondency. Regardless of whether you chuckled or not, the joke itself is interesting in many ways when it comes to theories of humour, specifically incongruity resolution.
这个笑话是由一位名叫Gurpal Gosall的曼库尼亚精神病学家提交的，他说，他有时会向病人讲述这个笑话，让他们在沮丧的时候振作起来。 无论你是否傻笑，当谈到幽默理论，特别是不协调解决时，这个笑话本身在很多方面都很有趣。
Laughter is one of my unabashed joys in life. There are various theories as to what makes us emit short, sharp vowel sounds when our funny bones are tickled; incongruity theory, superiority theory and benign violation theory topping the current charts for widespread acceptance.
笑是我生活中毫不掩饰的快乐之一。 有各种理论认为，当我们的滑稽骨骼被挠痒痒时，是什么让我们发出短而尖锐的元音；不协调理论、优越理论和良性侵犯理论在目前的排行榜上名列前茅，被广泛接受。
Incongruity, in its essence, is the state of being not in accordance with what we expect or consider reasonable. It is the juxtaposition of seemingly incompatible ideas, events or interpretations.
从本质上讲，不协调是不符合我们期望或认为合理的状态。 它是看似不相容的想法、事件或解释的并列。
In the case of our hunter friends, the expectation might be to check for vital signs or poke our inanimate friend with a toe, at the very least. Perhaps the very last thing we might expect is to definitively ensure that our fallen huntsman is, in fact, beyond all earthly help. By laughing at the absurd or implausible, we psychologically resolve strain through mirth rather than continued dissonance.
就我们的猎人朋友而言，期望可能是检查生命体征，或者至少用脚趾头戳我们的无生命的朋友。 也許我們最不期望的就是最終確保我們倒下的獵人，事實上，超越了所有世俗的幫助。 透過嘲笑荒謬或不可信的事情，我們在心理上透過歡樂而不是持續的不和諧來解決壓力。
This unexpected subversion of norms flips our assumptions on their head and elicits the release of happy endorphins. We laugh hardest at that which violates the expected script in an amusing way. The incongruity of the caller’s actions within context makes us chortle. Cognitive resolution is achieved.
这种对规范的意外颠覆颠覆了我们的假设，并引发了快乐内啡肽的释放。 我们对以有趣的方式违反预期剧本的事情笑得最厉害。 来电者在上下文中行动的不协调让我们咯咯地笑。 实现了认知分辨率。
Another example from Laugh Lab’s website works on a similar principle. Winner of the ‘best joke submitted by a well-known scientist’ category, Nobel laureate, and professor of chemistry, Sir Harry Kroto submitted this gem:
Laugh Lab网站上的另一个例子是按照类似的原理工作的。 「著名科學家提交的最佳笑話」類別的得主、诺贝尔奖得主兼化学教授Harry Kroto爵士提交了這個寶石：
A man walking down the street sees another man with a very big dog. The man says, “Does your dog bite?”. The other man replies, “No, my dog doesn’t bite”. The first man then pats the dog, has his hand bitten off, and shouts, “I thought you said your dog didn’t bite”. The other man replies, “That’s not my dog”.
一个男人走在街上，看到另一个男人带着一只非常大的狗。 那人说：“你的狗咬人吗？”。 另一个人回答说：“不，我的狗不咬人。” 然后第一个男人拍了拍狗，他的手被咬掉了，并喊道：“我以为你说你的狗没有咬人。” 另一个人回答说：“那不是我的狗。”
Incongruous? Very much so. The superiority theory of humour also works for these highly voted laughter bombs. This theory is pretty self-explanatory; we laugh at our feelings of superiority over those at whom we laugh.
不协调？ 非常如此。 幽默的优越性理论也适用于这些投票率很高的笑声炸弹。 这个理论不言自明；我们嘲笑我们比我们嘲笑的人的优越感。
I mean, the world and its mother knows that the first man was inquiring about the very big dog by the second man’s side, right? Or gets the gist of what the first responder was implying when they said, “First, let’s make sure he’s dead”. Superiority theory suggests humour is fundamentally directed at another person or group that is seen as inferior, weaker or subjected to misfortune in some way.
我的意思是，世界及其母亲都知道，第一个人正在询问第二个人身边的非常大的狗，对吗？ 或者，当第一反应者说：“首先，让我们确保他死了”时，他们暗示了什么。 优越性理论表明，幽默从根本上针对的是另一个被视为低级、弱者或以某种方式遭受不幸的人或群体。
But that just seems a bit mean, even if on some deep psychological level, it is true. Incongruity theory seems more palatable.
但这似乎有点刻薄，即使在某些深层次的心理层面上，这是真的。 不协调理论似乎更令人接受。
The final theory is that of benign violation, when discomfort provoked by the set up of the joke, usually in relation to some social taboo, is resolved in an ambiguous way.
最后一个理论是良性违规，当笑话的设置引起的不适，通常与一些社会禁忌有关，以模棱两可的方式得到解决。
Caleb Warren and Peter McGraw proposed this theory as recently as 2010 in their paper “Benign violations: Making immoral behaviour funny”. They consider social distance and psychological distance in their exploration of the “sweet spot” of a joke that may or may not land as intended.
Caleb Warren和Peter McGraw最近在2010年的论文《良性违规：使不道德行为变得有趣》中提出了这一理论。 在探索笑话的“甜蜜点”时，他们考虑了社交距离和心理距离，这个笑话可能如愿以及，也可能不如愿。
And in fairness, how many of us Glomads have launched a rib-cracker only to be greeted with, at best, some raised eyebrows, and at worst, canapé choking horror? Only me?
公平地说，我们有多少Glomads推出了排骨饼干，但最多时候，有些人会挑起眉毛，最坏的情况是，会感到惊恐吓？ 只有我吗？
If I trace my joke catalogue from my earliest memories; “Why did the chicken cross the road?” through my wily 20’s and erstwhile 30’s, there are not many golden oldies in there than I can, or want to repeat. Now, I like to stick with Dad Jokes; how many dogs can jump higher than a tree?
如果我从我最早的记忆中追踪我的笑话目录；“为什么鸡会过马路？” 在我狡猾的20多岁和30多岁的时候，那里没有比我能或想重复的黄金老歌多。 现在，我喜欢坚持爸爸的笑话；有多少只狗能跳得比一棵树还高？
Humour, although transcultural and universally present in every society on our beautiful planet, is quite an encultured beast. It is also one highlydependent on cultural mores and values.
幽默虽然是跨文化的，并且在我们美丽的星球上的每个社会中普遍存在，但它是一种相当有文化的野兽。 它也高度依赖文化习俗和价值观。
Here in our host city, incongruity theory seems to land well. Benign violation, not so much. And one of the most popular forms of humour here and elsewhere in Middle Kingdom is one at which I am hopelessly dreadful; wordplay and puns.
在我们的东道主城市，不协调理论似乎很顺利。 良性违规，没那么多。 在中王国这里和其他地方，最受欢迎的幽默形式之一是，我无可救药地感到害怕；文字游戏和双关语。
In Mandarin, many characters have the same or similar pronunciations. This makes wordplay a particularly playful pastime, and one that is guaranteed a laugh. Puns play on double meanings, again bringing us back to the incongruity theory of mirth incited by the unforeseen.
在普通话中，许多字符的发音相同或相似。 这使得文字游戏成为一种特别有趣的消遣方式，而且保证会让人发笑。 双关语具有双重含义，再次将我们带回了由不可预见的人所激起的不协调的不协调理论。
I asked many Mandarin speaking friends to tell me their favourite joke, and they did, and they laughed, and then I laughed too, because, you know, no one wants to be the one who doesn’t get the joke. Or even worse(!); have the joke explained to them.
我让很多说普通话的朋友告诉我他们最喜欢的笑话，他们做到了，他们笑了，然后我也笑了，因为，你知道，没有人想成为听不懂笑话的人。 或者更糟糕的是（！）；向他们解释这个笑话。
But in the end, I had no choice. No matter how I translated it, I just couldn’t understand it. Here’s what my translator helpfully provided:
但最後，我別無選擇。 无论我怎么翻译，我都听不懂。 以下是我的翻译提供的有用内容：
有一次上楼
One time, going up stairs
有一次上楼一次，上楼梯
我看见一个 老爷爷提着东西
I saw an old Grandpa carrying something
我看见一个老爷爷提东西 我看到一个老爷爷提东西
我看他很幸苦
I see him having a hard time
我看他很幸苦，我看到他过得很辛苦
就想着能帮他提一下
I think I can help him to carry it
就想着能帮他提一下，我想我可以帮助他提一下
没想到脱口而出的是
Unexpectedly, a slip of the tongue
没想到脱口而出的是意外地，脱口而出
老东西爷爷我帮你提
Old thing, Grandpa, I will help you.
老东西爷爷我帮你提老东西，爷爷，我会帮你的。
But all my Chinese friends laughed when they read it. And they tried to explain it, but only the most fluent and foul mouthed of them managed to make it fly. And then I guffawed. Incongruity resolution; it’s (nearly) always funny.
但我所有的中国朋友读到它时都笑了。 他们试图解释它，但只有他们中最流利和最脏的人才能让它飞起来。 然后我大大大大地。 不一致的解决；它（很）总是很有趣。
As we hurtle towards then end of the academic year, may your summer be full of mirth.
随着我们接近学年的结束，愿你的夏天充满歡樂。