Since the beginning of Western philosophy, humor has been one of the fundamental themes for different thinkers. However, the term “humor” was not used in the sense that we use it now.
Previously it was part of the theories that explained the different personalities and character models and even the fluids of the body. It was not until the 18th century, with the development of modern science, that the term “humor” changed its meaning and began to be associated with the experimentation of what was funny, or rather, it began to indicate the quality of being funny or entertaining.
We’ll see now some theories that have explained humor in philosophy and psychology over time.
Surely when thinking about the word “humor”, words such as “laughter”, “comedy”, “clowns”, “theater”, “joke”, “smile”, among other concepts associated with fun, come to mind.
If they asked us what is humor? surely we could define this word as a state of mind ; a quality of playfulness and grace; a disposition to do something (e.g. “I’m not in the mood”); or, a personality attribute (“has a sense of humor”).
However, the latter has not always been the case. With the constant development of philosophy and science we have gone through different understandings about humor, which range from pejorative connotations to healing potentials. Below we will see 4 of the theories that have explained humor over time.
One of the first to use the term “humor” in the context of entertainment was Henri Bergson in 1890, in a book whose title was Laughter. However, humor studies were not very present in this same period. In fact, From classical philosophy until the beginning of the 20th century, humor had been considered something negative.
In line with the models of thought that gave predominance of reason over the body and emotions, classical and modern philosophy considered laughter, comedy, wit or jokes as a way to nullify self-control and rationality.
Humor was often considered a quality that had to be avoided, so that human beings would not become defeated and corrupted by laughter. Even both laughter and humor had been linked to the immoral, the malicious or the malevolent.
2. Humor as a sign of superiority
Come the 20th century, humor and laughter began to be signs of superiority, that is, they were considered ways to reflect feelings of greatness about other people, or about a previous state of ourselves. Broadly speaking, he suggested that, to laugh at something or someone First we have to establish a comparison with that someone. Then, look for elements of humor that are a sign of inferiority of the other person or situation.
It is then that laughter is triggered to reaffirm said inferiority and therefore, one’s own superiority. An example of this would be cases of verbal harassment or bullying based on derogatory humor towards the other person. In other words, humor would have psychological components related to self-defense, self-competence, judgments, self-esteem, egocentrism, among others.
Given the rise of the theory of superiority, the theory of incongruity emerges. While one said that the cause of laughter was feelings of superiority, the other suggests that it is rather an effect of perceiving something incongruent. For example, something that goes against our values or our mental schemas.
This theory of humor has subsequently generated explanations about “nervous laughter,” which is what manifests itself in situations that seem unexpected, uncomfortable, absurd or even annoying, but that occur in a context where we cannot clearly express these sensations. . Through humor and laughter we show the incongruity or discomfort that the situation generates in us.
Another example of this could be political humor. Once again, given the inconsistency of the public attitudes, ideas or behaviors of people who hold positions of political representation, It is common to respond through humor, sarcasm, irony, mockery, caricature. In this way, humor has an important political value: it allows us to express our disagreement in a socially valued way that is easily shared and distributed among different people.
4. Theories of humor as healing and well-being
One of the most representative theories of humor, both in philosophy, psychology and even physiology, is the theory of well-being, relief or healing. Broadly speaking, it suggests that humor (whose clearest physical/muscular effect is laughter) has effects on the nervous system and allows different levels of tension to be discharged. In other words, humor and laughter have the potential to release pent-up nervous energy.
Given the theory of superiority, which spoke of elements that were not very functional for coexistence; this theory that humor also has important components in adaptive terms.
Among other things, the latter has been very present in the development of different psychotherapeutic currents. Laughter therapies have even been generated whose uses and applications are very different.
