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Consider a five-year-old girl who finds potty humor hilarious. She knows it’s rude to perform (or talk about) certain bodily functions in front of others, and that she risks being punished if she does. But at the same time, she can’t take every rule at face value; she needs to probe her boundaries. Just how serious are these norms, really? If she soils her pants, of course, she may feel legitimately ashamed—and thus, no laughter. But if she merely farts, she’ll quickly learn that the danger is quite small; her parents may scowl, but they’re not going to send her to her room. And this realization—that farting can be safe, even though it’s officially discouraged—is liable to provoke some laughter. And a whoopie cushion may be even funnier to the young girl, since it produces only fake fart noises, and is entirely benign.
Gura...
