One of the most important, yet underrated, of human characteristics is our capacity for humour. While humour is often considered a diversion, it is not value-free, as Erasmus' cheeky denunciation of the clergy of his day in In Praise of Folly indicates.

A Variety of Forms

Humour takes many forms.

Innocuous

Some are relatively innocuous.

One form that humour takes is a clever manipulation of language, evident in understatement, deliberate misunderstanding and punning. It also includes situational humour, which relies on exquisite timing, misunderstanding and intentions that are at cross-purposes. Gentle buffoonery could be included in this category, as could clowning, which is able to sneak in significant messages under cover of innocent stupidity. Calculated exaggeration, which includes caricature that is devoid of savagery, should be added to the list. Slapstick comedy and cartooning sit comfortably in this category. [221]

Moderately Malicious

The next classification is that of send-ups that are moderately malicious.

Much humor is concerned with sending up people, situations or ideologies, with reducing seriousness and pomposity to size. Included in the category of the moderately malicious would be irony, the mock-epic, parody and satire.

Vicious

The next, and least acceptable classification, is represented by send-ups that are marked by a degree of viciousness. These include ridicule, a bully-boy tactic, and sarcasm, in which the person delivering the salvo assumes a position of superiority. Satire has been described as the lowest form of wit.

Sexual

A class of humour that could fit into any of the three categories, depending on its form and intent, sexual innuendo, nevertheless deserves a category of its own. Some sexual innuendoes are undeniably clever. Others are gross, and often reflect a desperate attempt to disguise the fact that the person indulging in this sort of humour lacks the level of intelligence, or cleverness, that other forms of humour demand. It can be a cheap way of getting a laugh.

Functions

There are a range of functions that humour fulfils. Some of these are healthy and others unhealthy. [222]

Healthy

The healthy functions are numerous.

First, humour can lighten the seriousness of life, or of a conversation. It can also afford temporary distraction, and allow time out, providing space for recuperation. Zen koans illustrate the fact that humour can be a means of enlightenment. Humour helps us to laugh at ourselves, at our shared foibles. It is through humour that we are able to acknowledge our fellow humanity, the frailties that we share.

Humour also has certain psychophysical benefits, involving a relaxing of the bodymind. When we smile we bring into play facial muscles that help to relax us. Full-body laughter does the same thing, and allows the body to slough off some of its tensions. Humour is also disarming.

There is a different energy associated with humour, a difference that is picked up even by animals. Humour opens us to the possibility of transformation. It is also a counterpoint to tragedy, one of the ways of enabling us to face tragedy. This is evident in Blues music, which, while deeply moving, is often lightened by an undercurrent of humour. Humour is also a form of play.

This list does not exhaust the positive benefits of humour, but at least it suggests they are extensive.

Unhealthy

Humour can be unhealthy. [223]

The humorist may be engaging in humour merely to draw attention to himself. Humour is sometimes his way of exercising power, particularly if it is put-down humour. Some use humour to camouflage their viciousness. The humorous banter disguises that blatancy of their attacks on others. Some use humour to put down their enemies. Humour has also been used to legitimize racism, sexism, classism, ageism and a host of other discriminatory practices. This sort of humour is a swift slight of hand that does not allow sufficient time for critiques that would challenge the pernicious freight with which it is loaded.

Pain

Humour may also be used to disguise pain. It is a safety valve that enables individuals to avoid facing their distress, or that of others. Sometimes the funniest people are the most depressed. Their humour is both a counterpoint, and a disguise. They need to give everything a humorous twist in order to avoid entertaining their pain.

Society

Humour fulfils a similar function in society.

The healthy use of humour in society can help us challenge society's prejudices by disabling its usual defenses. Humour can be used to spoof those in power, and provides an opportunity for those who are powerless to acknowledge each other. This sort of humour is evident in Gloria Steinem's comment that women need men as much as fish need bicycles. Humour also helps to oil our social interchanges, and has the ability to draw people together, to get them responding as one. It also helps to reduce the imposing structure of towering authorities, even if it is not [224] able to directly challenge their authority. Humour also affords a counterpoint to ideological seriousness.

This same tool can be used for unhealthy purposes. It can disarm our critical faculty. It can be used to maintain prejudice. This style of humour is a form of aggression that can perpetuate divisions in the social fabric.

Pathological Underbelly

It is been argued that humour has healthy and unhealthy uses. It is also clear that it can inadvertently reveal underlying pathologies.

These pathologies can be associated with our deficiencies, and, in such cases, will be fuelled by the inadequacies of the humorist. Humour can represent a projection of one's self-detestation, where we criticize in others the sorts of things we most detest in ourselves, but which we are unwilling to acknowledge, or challenge.

National Distinctives

Different nationalities have their own brands of humour, which reveal much about the nation's psyche.

Jewish humour tends to be gentle, and it is told against the teller and his community. It spoofs itself, rather than others. American humour tends to the situational, and slapstick. It is an in-your-face humour that is difficult to misinterpret. British humour, on the other hand, is subtle, understated and phlegmatic. Irish humour revels in turns of phrase. It is a cheeky, irreverent humour, a humour characteristic of people who have been dominated, and hit back with humourous asides. There is a seriousness about the German [225] character that does not easily yield itself to facile humour. French humour is lyrical.

Humourlessness

While humour can be cruel, can reinforce prejudice, and can be spiteful, those who are totally devoid of humour are more dangerous. They are unable to gain sufficient distance from themselves to be able to laugh at themselves. Hitler was totally without humour.

In Praise of Humour

Humour is one of the most health-giving of our natural capacities. The style of humour that benefits both the individual and society is marked by several characteristics.

It is a form of humour that indicates that we are able to distance ourselves from ourselves, that we have the capacity to observe our weaknesses, and to laugh at them. Healthy humour is frequently humour directed against the humourist, or his fellow countrymen, though not in a manner that diminishes either. It is not an expression of self-loathing. It enables people to laugh at themselves without feeling diminished. It also exhibits an element of subtlety. One of the most intriguing and enjoyable books I have read was written by "Ashley Brilliant". It was a subtle exploration of our illusions. Healthy humour is gentle. Healthy humour also enables us to treat life with a lightness of touch. This lightness is not facetiousness, but the flip-side of our seriousness. Those who have this lightness of touch treat life as a dance, an extravaganza over which they have little control, but at which they can laugh. [226]

[ROI 221-226]