Preview

Sense of Humor

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
614 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sense of Humor
The person with a sense of humour attracts other people with a sense of humour and in trying to amuse his eager listeners, as people possessing a sense of humour usually do, he shows wit, intelligence, vitality and a zest for life.
A sense of humour can also lift a person up from the troubles of everyday life. Any person with a sense of humour is able to laugh at himself and find something funny in the sticky situations he gets into. By laughing at mundane problems, such as accidentally dyeing an entire load of laundry pink or being chased round the block by someone's poodle, he shows that he has, in a way, risen above these problems and, to quote Shakespeare who has a great sense of humour, he was "born in a merry hour."
A sense of humour also prevents people from taking life too seriously and, consequently, from worrying about everything that happens. Needless to say, a person who cannot laugh at life's little ironies - and there are a lot of ironies and worries - will certainly not find life a barrel of chuckles. Once a person has lost his sense of humour, life can become drab.
A sense of humour can also be educationally useful. It allows us to appreciate comedy - not just slapstick and verbal humour, but also black humour and satire which usually have very serious messages to bring across about human nature. By laughing at black comedy or satire in plays, books or movies, we recognise particular traits in ourselves and in our newfound self- knowledge, we can change and correct our faults. A person who cannot find humour in the experience probably will not understand the message and, hence, is unable to edify himself.
A negative aspect which comes to mind where a sense of humour is concerned is that a person might be tempted to take everything too lightly, and nothing seriously. A sense of humour is supposed to lighten the burden of life, not let it slip entirely off our shoulders.
A sense of humour is not finding amusement in someone else's misfortunes. It

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    King Lear Notes

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Someone with a sense of humour that jests will often prove to have another side to them that is wise and has knowledge and opinions of the world and the universe, that is not apparent in their usual joking personality.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Humor appear’s to help people’s psychological and physical well being.” It says in Peter McGraw’s essay “The Importance of Humor Research.” It has been proven that it is good for your body to react in such a way to a funny situation but the psychological portion of it is hard to understand. When someone laughs, endorphins are released from the brain and are sent throughout the body creating the feeling of pleasure. It is a healthy alternative to any negative situation, whether it be negative or awkward it can be made easier with a joke here or…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sarah states that laughter is beneficial to health because it relieves stress and helps one socially. Information from another article Laughter is the Best Medicine concurs with what is being said. " Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. ....Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert" (Smith, Segal). She gives physical and mental effects of laughter such as decreased risk of heart attack, increase pain tolerance, increased intelligence, production of antibodies and protective cells that fight off disease and infections. Smith and Segal created charts, shown in fig 1, with lists that include benefits of laughter that Sarah mentions and more. In the article The Health Benefits of Laughter similar benefits are also mentioned: "research shows that when you laugh, there is an increase in oxygen-rich blood flow in your body, possibly due to the release of endorphins, which create a chemical rush that counters negative feelings and stress"(…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    • Sense of humour – It can be important dependant on the situation to have a sense of humour. Laughing with someone can make them feel more at ease and in turn they may learn to trust you more.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    By maintaining a sense of humor where possible can encourage an individual to relax and alleviate stress, especially if they are having a difficult home life or experiencing a challenging period of their life. If they are experiencing a difficult time it is important to be considerate.…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and why not”, said by George Bernard Shaw (miscellaneous quotes). In society today, many people go about with things and don’t ask why they do such matter. In the article, “Corn-pone opinions” by Mark Twain, he uses a good example: he states that “fashion has established itself: it is admired, now, and no one laughs”. In other words, fashion is created, and people go along with it and never ask why they do so. Alain de Botton argues that humorists are not to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly”. In agreement, humorists play a vital role in society.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    >By overviewing these topics i will be able to show how humor can help you both physically and mentally throughout your day.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Laughter is something that pleases the mind. Throughout our entire lives, we search for things that make us feel, even for the slightest amount of time, happy. Billy Collins writes, “Chalk dust flurrying down in winter, / nights dark as a blackboard” (Page 535). He is referring to happy times as a teenager. Being more than happy when the snow comes and school is out. Having nothing but time to be out of the house at all times of the night. Through conscious decisions, we forget about life. Sometimes even forgetting about the future.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humor is often used as an escape, a way for people to cope. It’s a way to connect with others and get along on this more intimate level. Humor is apart of our language as a way to lightheartedly show how we feel. More importantly it brings us together. It’s like a beaming light in a shadow of darkness, and it never goes unnoticed. Humorists can say things that others cannot, and get away with it too. Humor is not only found in obvious jokes, but in the very basic things in life. I catch myself laughing or finding humor in bizarre things, things that should make me upset but instead are so unbelievable that they are funny. Humor comes in varieties that are essential to life.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humor In The Simpson

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Humor is the act of saying something funny and bringing laughter to others when doing so. Humor acts as a catalyst of what people think but will not say. Humor is a part of life. Humor is a necessity for free speech and free thought for that matter. Humor can be divided into various sub sections from cartoonist, stand-up comics, satirical writers, and hosts of television programs- just to name a few, as de Botton states.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Humor and Persuasion

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The actor John Cleese once said, "If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth.” (Mortensen, 2004) Humor disarms an audience, making them more likely to open up to you. In a book by Kurt Mortensen, called “Maximum influence: the 12 universal laws of power persuasion”, he stated:…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In a study conducted by Boyle & Joss-Reid (2004), the effect of humor on health was investigated. Data was collected from a sample of 504 individuals who were divided into three groups (community group, university students, and respondents with a medical condition). RAND 36-Item Health Survey (Hays, Sherbourne & Mazel, 1993) and Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (Thorson & Powell, 1993) was completed by the participants. RAND Health Survey yields eight dimensions of Health-Related Quality of Life: Physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health, role limitations due to emotional problems, energy/fatigue, emotional well-being, social functioning, pain, general health and health change. It was hypothesized that humor would be significantly associated with health and that individuals having a greater sense of humor would report better health as compared with those with less humor.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Philosophy

    • 994 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Three theories of laughter are common to the philosophy of laughter and humor. The superiority theory is unquestionably the oldest. All laughter is a response to the comical ignorance in others. The superiority theory makes a solid case by claiming that laughter is derision towards another's misfortune, and a good laugh commonly follows the painful obstacles that others may endure. An example of this type of laughter may be when one goes to a fair and visit the dunk tank where someone is repeatedly dropped into a tank of icy water. This may be funny because it is a relatively harmless situation of watching someone else ridiculed for being in a ridiculous predicament. Yet another example might be when someone forgets his lines during a play or other live performance. It is funny when someone slips up, and a hearty laugh at the embarrassing dilemma often seems natural (Gordon, 2010).…

    • 994 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Laughter, which bursts from a smile or a sense of humour, is related to personality. It is not only a healthful "exertion" but also a badge of a bright personality. A person with a "long face" becomes a sad spectacle of society.…

    • 1577 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Power of Laughter

    • 2176 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Studies and researches show that laughter is a very effective reliever to stress, conflict, and pain. The ability to laugh easily and frequently is such a great and extreme way for developing your social relationships and interactions with the people around you. It is also a tremendous source of strength in facing and surmounting problems. And best of all, it is an effective way of supporting both physical and emotional health stability.…

    • 2176 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics