Three Important Points from Comic Relief

Comic Relief: A Comprehensive Philosophy of Humor by John Morreall may not have been my preferred book of choice (hence the vent session in a previous post), but it did lay a great foundation concerning humor in regards to this course.  There were some arguments made that were very true and some that I agreed with.  In conclusion from Comic Relief, three points that I find important or beneficial are:

1)      Humor Increases Health: Humor increasing health is a point that was mentioned many times throughout Comic Relief, which I took note of and really liked.  I mean, how cool is it that humor and laughter is actually increasing our health?!  Well, I think it is pretty darn awesome.  Laughter “reduces heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and stress chemicals in the blood” (Morreall 66).  Normally, negative emotions suppress the activity of the immune system, but laughter is able to actually enhance the immune system.  In fact, many psychological studies show that “humor serves as a buffer against stress, and that people with a good sense of humor go through fewer and less pronounced emotional swings” (Morreall 68).  Also, hearty laughter involves several areas of the brain, nervous system, and muscles groups; in addition, it is estimated that 20 seconds of hearty laughter gives the heart and lungs a workout equivalent to three minutes on a rowing machine, and 15 minutes of laughter can burn 40 calories!  These health facts are very beneficial, which gives me a reason to make people laugh more, right?  I’m only trying to help their health…

2)      Harmful Effects of Humor: While humor and laughter can be fun and beneficial, there are some cautionary things to be careful of while joking.  Morreall discussed how “the practical and cognitive disengagement in humor can have harmful effects” (Morreall 102).  He focused on three effects: irresponsibility; blocking compassion; and promoting prejudice.  In regards to irresponsibility, humor can cause us to neglect actions that are called for, or cause us to do things that should not be done.  In our lives, we can be notorious for simply laughing off a problem instead of taking the required action.  By doing this, we are treating a problem as trivial, instead of giving it the necessary attention.  Secondly, another harmful effect of humor is blocking compassion instead of helping those who need it.  In this way, humor can displace an action or insult on those who are suffering, which in turn increases suffering.  Morreall stated that the “most widely accepted moral rule is to not cause unnecessary suffering.  From that it follows that we should not laugh at someone’s problem when compassion is called for (Morreall 105).  The third harmful effect is that humor may be promoting prejudice. This effect is cognitively disengaging us from the object of our amusement.  In personal opinion, these jokes are widely used in our society today, which is spreading false and exaggerated stereotypes of “the other.”  In fact, these jokes are categorizing “all members of a group as being interchangeable and as having certain shortcomings” (Morreall 108).  In this case, we are saying that anyone who is different than us is inferior, and therefore showing the harmful effect that some forms of humor can cause.  While humor can be beneficial and create a fun atmosphere, there is also a line that cannot be crossed with humor.     

3)      Disengagement in Humor: Humor and disengagement is one of the first ideas presented in Comic Relief, and is also mentioned many times throughout.  Morreall uses this idea of disengagement in amusement to build some of his other arguments and theories off of.  I found the idea that emotions such as fear and anger cause us to be cognitively and practically engaged to what is going on around us, while amusement involves cognitive and practical disengagement.  The emotions cause us to be serious and focused on the dangers or opportunities around us, which prepares us to take further action if necessary; therefore, we are aware of our surrounding and engaged in the situation.  Amusement, however, makes us not serious or concerned about dangers or opportunities that could be around us, and does not prepare us to act.  If we are amused or laughing at someone, it is not possible to also be angry or upset at them; this shows the differences between engagement and disengagement, which is an important point that is continually referenced throughout Comic Relief.