Blog Post #3: The Truth About Laughter

I wanted to know where laughter came from, where did it all started, and how did it start, so I researched about it. And the particular phrase that appeared is "Philosophy of Laughter", When I was a child, my mother told me that I always laugh and they loved it, they loved it because of the way I laughed. But now I wonder, there are many things to laugh about and there are theories that had been stated about it. When I was a child, I used to watch comedy films rather than horror because I feel like I'm gonna explode when I laugh hard and it feels awesome. I laugh at shallow things.

When you ask someone about what do they look for in a potential partner, they always say "A guy/girl who has a good sense of humor" Am I right? I myself agree with it, but why? Because people love to laugh! That's right! This world could be so dead without humor and laughter, it could be a world of pain and suffering and depression and sadness and awfulness. Laughter makes the world alive, and that's another good thing about laughter. 

I have observed different cultures of laughter too. I mean cultures of different countries. And they are different from one another. From there I can also say that there are some common things about them, not only with them but around the world, that is why I researched. There is this guy who wrote a book entitled "The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor" this is by John Moreall. The book focuses particularly on the theories of humor and laughter, and it really caught my eyes.

Based on the articles, Is there a scientific formula for funny?, Monro's "Theories of Humor", and 5 Leading Theories for Why We Laugh , I understood most of the theories like the Superiority, Incongruity, Benign etc., based on what I understand, here is what it stated.

1. The Superiority Theory - we laugh by the deformities and imperfections of other people we usually get this through taunts and teases. E.g. Ian looks like a pig.
2.  The Incongruity Theory - we usually get this when someone's disappointment makes us laugh. E.g. Oh my god, my zipper is broken! 
3. The Benign Violation Theory - this theory of laughter shows that we laugh with people's violations of law, human life and human dignity. E.g. So you are fat? Eat me.

Now there, these are just some theories, there are a lot more to talk about. This is a concept about the philosophy of laughter and humor. These show that there a lot of sources on why we laugh, at how it occur. A part of my blog is that it focuses on the branches of study. This post shows laughter's philosophy. We laugh at certain reasons at a particular time and we laugh because of something, we don't laugh with no reasons. 

These theories made me realize that laughing is not just "You laugh when you want to", there are situations that can able to trigger laughter. That's it, thanks.