【英语时差8,16】“笑”看发展（上）

（单词翻译）

Last time we discussed joke evolution. Philosopher of science Daniel Dennett uses jokes to illustrate¹ how evolution works. Very few people actually sit down and make up jokes. But everyone is always telling jokes. Where Do They Come From? They come from earlier forms of jokes that get embellished² every time a new person passes them on. Gradually they change into new jokes. But sometimes you can still see the family resemblance to the earlier joke in the later development. That’s why we find ourselves saying “You know, when I heard that joke it wasn’t about President Obama, it was about President Bush. It went like this…” Or some such thing. This is a great example of evolution in action. Every time a joke is passed on, it’s like a new generation being born.