What is humor? 4 theories about its function

Humor, laughter and the funny are concepts whose meaning has changed over time.

Since the beginnings of Western philosophy, humor has been one of the fundamental themes for different thinkers. However, the term "humor" was not used in the sense we use it today.

Previously it was part of the theories that explained different personalities and character models and even body fluids. 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 the funny, or rather, it began to indicate the quality of being funny or amusing.

In the following we will see some theories that have explained humor in philosophy and psychology over time. over time.

Theories about what humor is

Surely when we think of the word "humor", words such as "laughter", "comedy", "clowns", "theater", "joke", "smile", among other concepts associated with fun, come to mind.

If we were asked what is humor? we could surely define this word as a state of mind; a quality of jovialityA quality of playfulness and grace; a disposition to do something (e.g. "I'm not in the mood"); or a personality attribute ("he 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 of humor, ranging from pejorative connotations to healing potentials.. Below we will look at 4 of the theories that have explained humor over time.

1. Humor as an obstacle to reason

One of the first to use the term "humor" in the context of amusement, was Henri Bergson in 1890, in a book entitled Laughter. However, humor studies did not become very present in this same period. In fact, from classical philosophy until the beginning of the twentieth century, humor had been considered as something negative..

In line with models of thought that gave predominance to reason over the body and emotions, classical and modern philosophy considered laughter, comedy, wit or jokes as a way of overriding self-control and rationality.

Humor was often considered a quality to be avoided, so that the human being would not be overcome and vitiated by laughter. Even both laughter and humor had been linked to the immoral, the immoral, the immoral and the immoral. linked with the immoral, the malicious or the malevolent..

2. Humor as a sign of superiority

By the twentieth century, humor and laughter began to be signs of superiority, that is, they were considered ways of reflecting feelings of greatness about other people, or about a previous state of ourselves. Roughly speaking, he suggested that, in order to laugh at something or someone we first 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 when laughter is triggered to reaffirm such 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-competition, judgments, self-esteem, egocentrism, among others.

3. The theory of incongruence

In the face of the rise of the superiority theory, the incongruity theory 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 incongruous. an effect of perceiving something incongruous.. For example, something that goes against our values or our mental schemas.

This theory of humor has subsequently generated explanations of "nervous laughter" which is the laughter that manifests itself in situations that seem unexpected, uncomfortable, absurd or even annoying to us, but which 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. Again, before the incongruence of the attitudes, ideas or public behaviors of people who occupy 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, in philosophy as well as in psychology and even physiology, is the theory of well-being, relief or healing. It broadly suggests that humor (the clearest physical/muscular effect of which is laughter), has effects on the nervous system and allows for the discharge of different levels of tension. Put another way, humor and laughter have the potential to release pent-up nervous energy..

In the face of 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. Even laughter therapies have been generated whose uses and applications are very different.