[ziplock]

I thought I posted here earlier but I guess not. Thanks for the clarification, ziplock. I could stand to clarify a bit also.

No problem and please do.

A joke is a communication that works through the mechanics of linearity. The joke-teller possesses all parts of the joke simultaneously, and as such it can be said that his grasp on the joke is non-linear. To humor the listener he reveals elements of the joke in a progressive manner, setting up the punchline.

Yes exactly! Well said. Not much else to say on that.

A punchline, to me, is simple satisfaction. In our lives, a punchline can be something like driving to the store just as another shopper is pulling out of a space right in front. So while "behind the scenes" things like this require some kind of set-up, the entire set-up is not comprehended as must be the case to enjoy a joke. In other words, you can enjoy having the nice parking space without having to wonder who left it and why. Indeed, from your perspective a long series of punchlines can be experienced subsequently without ever paying mind to whatever gradual transitions were necessary for them to occur.

Yes most definitely. Really, anything can be a punchline to all sorts of "jokes." Not all of which are humorous. It is basically the perspective you place on it. That being said, one needs to tune one's perspective to that "frequency." However, our minds start out as highly malleable and we adopt many ways of thinking and perceiving that are heavily ingrained. For instance, many people's thinking processes are largely language based. Like reading the post to yourself in your mind.

This tunes your perspective to extract a particular type of information from the environment. You then have to sort of break down and rebuild yourself, difficulties in life for example tend to serve as the resistance that breaks one down, after which they're rebuilt. To me, the trigger mechanism has no place here. Instead, it's simply another punchline, though unusually intense, in a series of punchlines. It is a joke in itself only made up from the punchlines of many many other jokes.

The process is reflective of you, individual, unique. As such, I feel one should attempt to find their representation of this process in their own ways. Taking and borrowing from other thoughts, but not identifying with them to an exclusive degree.

This is something called "living in the moment," a concept which I've long heard about but am only just now beginning to comprehend.

It's a tough one... to comprehend and to put into practice.