![]() ![]() “Play is probably one of the original building blocks of humor,” Polimeni says. The things that make us laugh today, from knock-knock jokes to satire, don’t quite resemble our ancestors’ version of humor. Remember when “epic bacon” was the height of comedy? ![]() More from this collection Alex Gilbeaux for Vox Toward a unified theory of “millennial cringe” (Does this explain Pete Davidson’s appeal?) ![]() Why else, when scrolling through profiles on dating apps, would so many say they hope to date someone who’s funny (or at least claim to be “ fluent in sarcasm”)? According to the 2022 Singles in America survey from online dating service Match, 92 percent of singles seek a partner who can make them laugh. Funny people are idolized in pop culture.Ī desire for hilarity influences who we choose to spend time with, too. At the box office, popular comedies rake in big bucks. We seek out laughs in nearly every form of media, from film and TV to memes and TikToks. Sure, there are people who are better suited at making others laugh, but “almost everybody,” Polimeni tells me, can appreciate a quip.Īs much as humor is universal, how it works is, to most people, a mystery. Just as humans have an innate ability to understand language, Polimeni says, so, too, do they have a reflex for comprehending everyday comedy. ![]() For someone who analyzes humor, Polimeni tells me he’s still surprised by its complexity: How words and phrases and jokes have different meanings to everyone, but we all have the instinct to laugh. No culture is unfamiliar with humor, according to Joseph Polimeni, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba. To find mirth in the world is to be human. ![]()
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