Arthur Asa Berger
Human beings were given many gifts when we were created, such as imagination, inventiveness, and reason, but I often think the greatest gift was a sense of humor. For it is our sense of humor that enables us to tolerate and, in a way, triumph over the terrible things that happen to all of us, from time to time, in the course of our lives. That is, mirthful humor has a remarkable therapeutic value that is connected to our survival, psychologically as well as physically. We now know that laughter leads to the release of endorphins and has physiological benefits of various kinds.
The interesting thing about humor is that nobody really knows why we laugh. The Freudians argue that humor is a form of masked aggression and we get rid of many of our torments by ridiculing others. Philosophers, since Aristotle’s time, have been interested in humor and Aristotle is supposed to have written a book on comedy that has never been found. Aristotle argued that humor is based on a sense of superiority over others who are made to be ridiculous. We laugh at others because we feel superior to them, for one reason or another. Other philosophers have suggested that humor is essentially tied to incongruities of one kind or another, between what we expect or are led to expect and what we get. This can be seen in jokes, in which the punch line offers an incongruous resolution to a narrative that generates mirthful laughter. And some philosophers and psychologists have suggested that humor is tied to certain kind of communication and meta-communication that our minds process in ways that we cannot completely understand.
I have argued, in a number of books such as An Anatomy of Humor, that we cannot know why we laugh but, drawing upon work by the folklorist Vladimir Propp, we can know what makes us laugh. I suggest that there are a limited number of techniques used by humorists, at all times and in all lands, that inform humorous texts—whether we are talking about jokes, plays, situation comedies, or any other form of humor.
Whatever the reasons behind our mirthful laughter, and that is the kind of laughter that is connected to humor, people everywhere are drawn towards it and that is because we instinctively recognize that there are significant psychological and social benefits tied laughter and a sense of humor. Our sense of humor enables us to endure and overcome political tyrannies, survive bumbling democracies, and tolerate moronic bosses and inept and neurotic wives, husbands, friends and acquaintances. Life is often tragic but it is always comic. That is why we can say, “He and she who laughs, lasts (that is, survives) and he and she who laughs last, laughs best.”
Biographical Note
Arthur Asa Berger, PhD, is a Professor of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University. His main area of interest includes topics such as Media Criticism, Cultural Studies, Humor, Communication Theory. He has published a number of books on humor including: The Art of Comedy Writing (1997), Blind Men and Elephants (1995) and An Anatomy of Humor (1993).