A sense of humor - the ability to laugh, especially at yourself, and your ability to perceive funny things and say funny things - is the topic of this week's 2-on-1 blog. A sense of humor is not a one size fits all proposition. They vary by the number of people alive. Some may like a guy like George Carlin, some may prefer Chris Bliss or any of a number of stand-up comics.
The ability to laugh is one of our greatest coping mechanisms. Think about the topsy-turvy, insanity filled world we inhabit. The schism between left and right is deeper and wider than the grand canyon. We are currently gearing up for the 2020 Presidential election. Believe it or not, things will probably get worse before they get better. Is laughter really the best medicine?
Laughter decreases stress hormones and
increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving
your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of
endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote
an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain. So a good sense of humor is actually good for you.
The Dark Side of Humor
most of us enjoy the Roadrunner Wile Coyote cartoons. Poor old Wile Coyote takes it on the chin several times in each cartoon.He gets blown up, runs off a cliff and has numerous things like safes dropped on him and the dark sides of our senses of humor keeps us laughing. Naturally some of us that have dark sides so dark things that normally make a person cringe make us laugh or make us utter comments betraying our dark senses of humor. Before she outgrew them, one of my granddaughters used to watch horror movies and scifi movies with me. A machete attack usually resulted in one or both of us commenting that was gonna leave a mark, followed by a bit of raucous laughter.
Ditto when one of the bad guys in the Jurassic series gets eaten by a dinosaur. The cheers were equally raucous.
The point? Laugh. Laugh long, loud and hearty. Whichever side of the comment you land, laughing- even if at the presumed loss by your opponent - and you will feel better. That raises another question. A standard political question revolves around when power does or doesn't speak to truth. Need the same standard apply to laughter? In a world rife with political correctness and political spin, I suspect not.
Now something I find interesting but will not really be addressing here is the senses of humor attributed to Millennials. I have often considered the term Millennial sense of humor to be an oxymoron. I am not sure they do not have senses of humor. Probably, I just do not understand them as a group and have no logical point of reference. Perhaps therein lies the problem - Millennials are notoriously light on logic - just another thing they blame us baby boomers for. But I truly cannot see the current generation leading the civil rights movement we spearheaded. But that's topic for another blog.
That is it for this weeks blog topic - selected by Ramana (look at the spelling) LOL. Please check for Ramana's Musings here.
Look at the spelling indeed! If that is not an amazing sense of humour, I don't know what is. You got rid of the Brits much much before we did Shackman. It will take us time to get Americanised though Hollywood is making it happen sooner.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about Millennials resonates with me too. Particularly because we got out of our Socialistic Pattern Of Society when they were becoming adults and many things that they take for granted simply did not exist for us. They do not understand our sense of humour also as, they were not exposed to the social conditioning that we were exposed to and grew out of. A topic for research and thesis submission for a PhD perhaps!
Yes, there are many types of comedians and some one can relate to and some one cannot. There are very few that I cannot.
I am glad that I came up with this topic to get your point of view as I found it difficult going to write on the subject. Writer's block perhaps.
Some of the best recipes start out as mistakes
DeleteI have a strong sense of humour, and I can find humour in just about anything, however tragic or awful. I've always maintained that every situation has both a serious and a humorous side. In fact po-faced seriousness is itself amusing.
ReplyDeleteTalking of cartoons, I've always found total disaster amusing, don't ask me why. Perhaps because it expresses my secret fears about imminent disaster. I always laugh when a cartoon character walks off the edge of a cliff or gets blown up.
You sound verymuch like me Nick
DeleteI don't watch horror movies. too much ketchup if you ask me.
ReplyDeletebut I did enjoy Jurassic Park. I have always found myself cheering on the monster in films.
do you remember on the Oscars one year... Shirley MacLaine emerged from a space ship that landed on stage... as if she'd been with the aliens. that's funny stuff. and immediately showed you she's willing to laugh at herself! as to the millennials...? I don't try to understand them anymore. I just try to happily accept them. they give that vacant look and so I quit trying to do small talk with them. sorry! not all of them... but most of them are just weird. perhaps like Rummy says... it's only just a matter of what they've grown up with. robots and apps and virtual communication. and I love that poor coyote!! LOL! it's that smart aleck bird I can't stand. LOLOL!
The world belongs to the Millennials - we have had our time in the sun so we can retire and listen to our much better music,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t have survived this long without laughter. I see humor everywhere and even in some of the darkest situations. For the latter I must be careful lest I offend someone when no disrespect is intended — just a way in which to release tension. Quirky humor and the straight-faced variety that can require I think are often rich.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more
ReplyDeleteMost recent things to make me laugh...
ReplyDelete1. A friend trying and failing to talk while eating an Easter egg.
2. A Murder To Die For - a cosy murder mystery novel by my mate Stevyn Colgan.