This post is the second of a two-part series.

Readers who saw my previous post will recall its focus on a recurring pattern of laughter and humor found during my deep dive into the humor of the Seinfeld series. I wondered why we tend to laugh at various things going into our bodies and tried to explain why we might be so inclined using the Mutual Vulnerability Theory of Laughter.

The Mutual Vulnerability Theory holds that amusement is fundamentally the desire to affirm a sense of shared or mutual vulnerability. Yes, at lower intensities, it can be expressed with a smile, but above a certain threshold intensity, amusement’s most definitive outward expression is that of laughter. (Newcomers can find a more complete description of the theory in my very first post linked here, and a universal definition of humor in another post here.)

So, do we see a connection between these basic “animal” functions we contend with on a regular basis and the concept of vulnerability? I believe so, and this article will cover the things that come out of our bodies.

Whether you were a fan or not, most of us who watched television sitcoms in the 1990s will remember Seinfeld as a cultural phenomenon. It was groundbreaking in so many ways, not the least of which was the degree to which it featured physical humor. There were the usual slips, falls, injuries, and illnesses, but there were........

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