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Sophs

Early Morning Research, Vol. 1, No 1 (2015)


Case study responding to


Wittgensteins Challenge: A
Serious Philosophical Work
In a Joke: a philosophical
examination of humor


Sophy M. Laughing, Ph.D., MBA

Primarily conducted between Mexico, Paris, and California.

sophylaughing@gmail.com


Humor is infectious. It lightens burdens, inspires hope, connects us to others, increases our insight, keeps us
grounded, focused, alert, and happy. Laughter is a universal language that stimulates both sides of the brain. It
allows us to get messages quicker and remember them longer. We all learn more when were having fun.


On April 17th, 2011, Philosopher Sophy M. Laughing created a Google blog originally titled Sophy
softly Laughing (sophlylaughing.blogspot). The blogs name was later changed to Happy Thoughts
Travel Fast (HTTF), though the URL remained the same. The idea behind the blog was to conduct an
investigation into the nature of the human mind in relation to earnestness, and then follow each
revealed verity produced. The approach was all embracing; examining self-knowledge in the
tradition of Descartian introspection encompassing psychology and ethics; the experimental study
was based on the notion of reliable metaphysical foundations. Statistics were made available by
Google analytics, Live Traffic Feed, and Live Statistics. Additional analytics were conducted by
Laughing, which also includes feedback from multiple social networks, the three primary platforms
being: Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.

As of June 12th, 2015, Happy Thoughts Travel Fast (HTTF) received a total of 824,416 direct page
views, while the blogs Google+ page (titled Sophy Laughing) has received 21,174,980 views. Other
than sharing articles on Twitter, which simultaneously posts the links to Facebook, no other public
visibility campaigns have been conducted. In addition to writing articles and interviewing
professional comedians, Laughing published over 5,000 jokes and humorous quotes on Twitter and
Facebook, as well as humorous comics and Status Updates. An increase in the association of Sophy
Laughing with humor, as well as an increase in associated traffic to the blog was recorded, both were
supported by reader comments.

Thinking is one of the funniest and most entertaining activities in which we can engage ~ even
serious thinking is up for examination under a humorous microscope. Why we think, what we think,
and how we think is quite funny, when you think about it. HTTF, about (page).

Laughing continues: One of the benefits of exploring humor is that it promotes the enterprise of
philosophy, which teaches humans to seek truth, challenge themselves, reflect on their lives and
relationships with others, and to make the world a better place by writing blogs, like this one.

Laughings thought experiment incorporates silliness with philosophical inquiry through the
instantaneous publication medium of blogging rather than through publication in peer-reviewed

http://sophlylaughing.blogspot.com/

Sophs Early Morning Research, Vol. 1, No 1 (2015)



philosophical journals. Laughing contends, Omitting formality increases familiarity, which aids ones
psychological readiness for humorous discourse.

Collectively HTTFs 1,297 posts relate to Laughings three dimensions of success: Writing for love,
economy and artifact. Laughing asserts that one succeeds in writing when something of value is
transmitted to the world. The dimensions are symbolic of Laughings three ethical descriptors of
success: (1) writing for love, which enables a resilience for life through self-expression; (2) writing to
meet the needs and wants associated with economy, or in Laughings self-proclaimed case writing as
an appreciation of the good life; and (3) writing for artifact, the transference of knowledge as a
catalyst for social growth and prosperity.

HTTF regularly offers visually dynamic content. A wide variety of articles are presented in
association with positive images and concepts, what is commonly referred to as positive thinking.
Based on the theory that for beneficial well-being effects to continue positive input must be
consistently presented for the minds processing1, Laughing regularly publishes visually and
conceptually positive, engaging articles: 328 posts in 2011, 553 posts in 2012, 230 posts in 2013, 140
posts in 2014, and 47 posts in 2015 (April 17, 2016 will mark HTTFs fifth year of continuous
publication.).

Blog Surfer ranks HTTF 151; while Webstatdomain registers Happy Thoughts Travel Fast as the
3,644,110th most visited website in the world (among the 30 million domains), with a SEO score of
29%. Webstatsdomain classifies sophlylaughing.blogspot as a safe website. (This information is
from Google, AVG Threat Labs, McAfee Site Advisor, Wot with a Reputation of 100/100.)

On the 17th of April 2012, in a one-year anniversary post Laughing states: Sophy softly Laughing
humor studies blog is made up of many parts. Each has a specific function: to spread positive humor
throughout the noosphere (i.e., internet); to process humor theories; to practice writing humorously;
and to explore the healing power of humor. Laughing announced her intent to offer the public a
collection of unique ever-changing and exquisitely sensitive to not propagating negativity
articles for the purpose of exploring the interdependent functions associated with lightening up.

Laughings goal is to write something positive every day as a demonstration of her commitment to
exploring humor studies with an audience as well as enjoying the experience and having fun.
Laughing describes humor as a mysterious oscillation that swings on a trapeze between two
extremes of opinion. Irrespective of its magnitude or position, humor regularly returns to a place
around a central point: happiness.

Laughing further states: Humor is bound together in a dynamic exchange of laughter, smiles, and
giggles. Whats funny for some might be different for others, but one thing is parallel: Laughter is a
universal language that represents all things good.

http://sophlylaughing.blogspot.com/

Sophs Early Morning Research, Vol. 1, No 1 (2015)




In a post titled, the Secret to Reading This Blog, Laughing claims: Life is all about communication. In
typical Sophian ironic discourse, Laughing playfully, and with great creative liberty, introduces
fictitious intrigues behind writing to an audience before claiming that secrets do not allow a subject
to reach home. The stated intent of the post was to open the dialogue of keeping secrets, a topic of
social interest. In Laughings softly coated, straightforward communication style, she advocates for
the abolition of secrets in favor of open communication. Laughing humorously ends the post positing
that her literary attempts are, as a first-cause, presented in direct relation to personal good
intentions there are no hidden secrets other than the ones Im not telling you about.

Independent of any perceived positive benefits that might be gained from reading Happy Thoughts
Travel Fast, Laughing is consistent in her attempt to seek truth, challenge herself, and reflect on life
and her relationships with others, and to make the world a better place by writing blogs, like HTTF.

1 Goodheart DE, Some psychological effects associated with positive and negative thinking about stressful event outcomes: was
Pollyanna right?, J Pers Soc Psychol. 1985 Jan;48(1):216-32.

http://sophlylaughing.blogspot.com/

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