Alain De Botton Humorism

A series of studies examines three age groups. These studies were named under, a developmental test of the disposition theory of humor, which were conducted by Paul Mcgee and Sally Lloyd. These studies observed three age groups and their preferences of humor. The age groups included children, college aged teens, and middle aged professional people. At the age of two children start to understand humor for themselves and do not just mirror their parent’s smiles. So does the gender of the child depict their sense of humor? The children in this study were between the ages of three and seven, this also shows how early on humor preference is introduced. The jokes were presented to the children in the form of drawings. Taken from the text; “The pairs included the following

Modern society allows humorists to touch upon offensive topics without receiving much criticism. As Alain de Botton claimed in his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, humorists’ role is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” De Botton’s argument proves legitimate. Many humorists, such as cartoonists and television hosts, decide to use their humor as a tool to prove an idea or express a belief that cannot be voiced candidly in public.

People always say that laughter alleviates tension. If this is the case, then it makes sense that the use of humor when discussing uncomfortable topics can make the conversation easier and more light-hearted. One of Mark Twain’s most frequently used devices in works such as “Advice to Youth”, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is satire, which can provide society a method to bond over uncomfortable topics, and facilitate the ability to sustain that bond through an easier way to create discussion.

“Theories of humor often suggest that humor requires a perceived violation, or something that disrupts people’s sense of how the world ought to be” (McGraw and Warren 2010).

Humor is our way of expressing our opinions and thoughts, in a way that lets us see the gravity of the situation but in a less complex, serious tone. In the book Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton, believes that Humor is vital to Society, due to it allowing “humorist to say things that other people cannot or will not say”. Button is right in believing that Humor is vital to society. It allows for other people to feel more comfortable expressing their own opinions without it turning into a serious discussion. Humor as found itself in political cartoons, Stand-up comedy like comedian Gabriel Iglesias, and TV shows like Saturday Night Live.

Humor affects how people relate to one another. As “much humor draws on the sophisticated use of grammar and lexicon, as well as culture-specific references, genres, and discourse patterns,” (Shively 1), it is considered the height of knowledge of the language to understand its humor. Humor is a type of ludic language play, or using words for one’s own enjoyment or amusement.

Humor is essential in order to live life to the fullest, and this is because of laughter. Laughing is so imperative because “the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health" (Smith 1). Humor has been a huge part of my life because it has helped me out of countless awkward situations, been apart of every inside joke, made bad times good, and good times better. Although I enjoy mostly all humor, I associate my favorite types of humor with movies or videos.

Humor is found across the world to make people happier, but humor can also contain some deeper meanings. Whether it's in a skit, film, or even cartoon, humorists quite often hint at more mature topics. Serious topics are easier to talk about when they are surrounded by humor.

“ Everyone has a sense of humor. If you don’t laugh at jokes you probably laugh at opinions.”. People understand things differently. Its easier to get a point across in a joke and have others listen then laughed at because it sound more like an opinion. Humorists are vital because they expose the taboo subject in society; this illustrated by the following comedic “Doorbell” , “I want a wife”, and “This way up .

Humor plays a very important role in coping with stressful and adverse life circumstances. Gross and Munoz (1995) stated that humor can be viewed as an important emotional regulation mechanism contributing to one’s mental health. According to Fredrickson (2001), the positive emotion of mirth accompanying humor alleviates the negative feelings of anxiety, anger and depression. It enables an individual to think in a broader and flexible manner and engage in creative problem solving.

What one person finds funny another might disturbing. Comedy is art is a forum to express someone’s self. Many comedian’s use their anger and frustration to express their opinion on current events, politics and religion. Many Americans would rather listen to a comedian talk about what’s wrong in America then listening to the local news. Some comedian should refrain from exercising their right to freedom of speech if others are offended.

Political cartoons have these particular attributes because they give life to what everyone is already talking about for their own parties. My particular cartoon, “political-cartoon-2016-election-hillary-clinton-coughing-cant-tell-truth”

Humor is the tendency to look at things from a lighter side. It is a way that makes something funny or amusing. It is the ability to recognize, appreciate, or talk about what is hilarious or laughable. Humor is the source of laughter and the substance of smiles. Humor is the flash that illuminates our eyes as well as the cause of uncontrollable tears that never gets old. Humor is a state of mind.

Humor is the quality of being amusing or comic. Humor changes whenever comedy subjects change. For example, comedians only put out topics that are taboo in society, which makes their audience laugh. Once that certain taboo subject becomes more public, people start to lose interest and begin to laugh at more taboo topics. Comedy emerged soon after the American Revolution in both written and spoken forms. Now, there are three types of humor: American humor, usually targeting US events; British humor, has a strong element of satire and sexual taboos; and Canadian humor, branded as "gentle satire."

Most of my humor ends a conversation with a laugh, or even a smile. Humor to me is something that makes the mind positive. Gives a feeling that you crave; that you want. Can turn any situation to a good situation. I try my best to make sure that what I 'm saying is humorous and not serious. Life without humor for me would be very boring because I would never be able to extent my thoughts. Everyone has a different style of humor, which leaves room for creativity. Humor makes people want stick around. To me that 's awesome because when people want to talk to me I get to make new friends. Another reason why I love humor is it never gets boring. Humor never gets repetitive, by saying the same joke over and over again. I can play with my ideas. Use the knowledge that is given to me and extend it. Which ends up making humor interesting and creative. Being creative is what makes humor what humor is.