What makes something funny in bad, and sad times

Lewiscoaches

Dec 23, 2020·4 min read

Ho, ho, ho! Well, here we are, in Covid lockdown at I time where we are told, “Tis the season to be jolly!”

I guess at a time like this what can be better than to explore what makes something fun?

Humor is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: humor, “body fluid”), controlled human health and emotion.

People of all ages and cultures respond to humor. Most people are able to experience humor — be amused, smile, or laugh at something funny (such as a pun or joke) — and thus are considered to have a sense of humor. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humor would likely find the behavior inducing it to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a host of variables, culture, maturity, age, and many other factors. For example, young children may favor such as the 3 Stooges or certain cartoons, whose physical nature makes it accessible to them. By contrast, more sophisticated forms of humor such as satire require an understanding of its social meaning and context and thus tend to appeal to a more mature audience.

According to the British comic actor, Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) an object or a person can become funny in three ways:

1. Behaving in an unusual way;

2. Being in an unusual place;

3. Being the wrong size in a particular environment.

Though a bit immature for sure, a Xmas song that meets all these criteria is Grandma Got Run over By A Reindeer.

OK, as dumb as this is, tell me you didn’t chuckle even a little?

Humor is also demonstrated in situations so absurd that they almost defy reality — but not quite. Here are other factors you can recognize:

· Sudden relief that occurs from a tense situation.

· Interpretation of a “subjective” experience that seems absurd but is rational in some unexpected way.

· When two ideas or things are juxtaposed that are very distant in meaning emotionally or conceptually, and a collision is engineered between them. An example of this might be a wise person who on the first appearance appears to be foolish or ignorant and who is sought for advice by a seemingly intelligent person who in time is seen to be the fool. Many profound Zen kōans exhibit this very quality.

· Ugliness that does not disgust. This is a common type of humor described by Aristotle.

· Combined ridiculousness and wit in one individual.

An alternative or surprising shift in perception can make us laugh, no matter what our beliefs may be about the situation. The power of laughter for the student of the Wisdom Path is that it is a doorway into the realm of feeling, awe, and emotions. Humor shifts what seems real into another dimension. This is done through the essential tools of humor — surprise, ambiguity, and misdirection. In a way, you might call humor a form of mental magic. Like the sleight of hand magician, the stage comedian feeds us paradoxes, contradictions, and ambiguity that with close observation ultimately transforms our ordinary sense of reality.

Takeaway

So, for the person who wishes to live life to the full, humor can be used as a tool for self-actualization. It may be the ultimate tool for freeing yourself from limited, rigid, and dysfunctional thinking and can lead you into a state of actualized intention one of the most powerful experiences one may have when living one's best life

Author: Lewis Harrison is an Independent Scholar with a passion for knowledge, personal development, self-improvement, and problem-solving. He is the creator of Harrison’s Applied Game Theory. His website is AskLewis.com

You can read all of his Medium stories at Lewis.coaches@medium.com.

“I am always exploring trends, areas of interest, and solutions to build new stories upon. Again, if you have any ideas you would like me to write about just email me at LewisCoaches@gmail.com”.

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I offer advice on the arts, innovation, self-improvement, life lessons, mental health, game theory strategies, and love. Find all my stories at LewisCoaches.Medium.com