In the Conceptual Age, as we’ll see, fun and games are not just fun and games—and laughter is no laughing matter.

Burlesque is a poetry that treats a serious subject as humor. So that means I am going to look at humor humorously . People who know me have started giggling if not “lol”ling in the mind. But yes, humor is a serious business, let’s dissect it. The element of “surprise” “shock” “suddenness” is very important in humor. Sometime the client in bizarre tone in therapy asks me “why me?” And I reply “why not you?” Usually ends up laughing says “ya it can happen to anyone” But this is an art & science. Science is knowing “how & when to say it ” and art is not to say this to your wife. Similarly numerous labels are used to characterize people according to their mode of humorous behavior or abilities (e.g.,

comedian, wit, humorist) or according to the absence of such behavior or abilities (e.g., humorless, dullard, serious). And, perhaps the most difficult of all is understanding what it means to have, or not to have, a “sense of humor.” Eysenck (1942) identified three approaches to theorizing: the “cognitive” (focus on the thinking processes), the

“conative” (focus on the motivational aspects), and the “affective” (focus on the emotional aspects). Laughter and humor have been hailed as “good for the body” because they restore homeostasis, stabilize blood pressure, oxygenate the blood, massage the vital organs, stimulate circulation, facilitate digestion, relax the system, and produce a feeling of well-being.

“What does laughter mean? The greatest of thinkers, from Aristotle downwards, have tackled this little problem which has a knack of baffling every effort, of slipping away and escaping only to bob up again, a pert challenge flung at philosophic speculation.” – Henri Bergson

“Humor is being marker for effectiveness, emotional intelligence, and the thinking style of right side of brain. And joyfulness, as exemplified by unconditional laughter, is demonstrating its power to make us more productive and fulfilled. In the Conceptual Age, as we’ll see, fun and games are not just fun and games—and laughter is no laughing matter.” Says Dan Pink**. Humor releases “pent-up” emotion or repressed energy. Although people laugh when they find something funny, they also laugh when a “joke” is seen anything but funny. May be we need to learn how to laugh at our other failures like we do on a “failed joke”.At least not to take failures “so damn seriously”.

Reference : The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach by Rod A. Martin **A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Dan Pink