We need more humor than ever before

And I am just not talking about our deteriorating attention spans to feed our addicted social media minds. If you were to ask someone in the past about how important humor was in their society, they would have laughed it off and thought you were joking. Life and death was a serious matter, surely no one could live on humor and humor alone, or can they? Comedy events now generate more than 2.5 billion USD in revenue annually, more books than ever are teaching people how to be ‘funny’, and people are escaping from reality by turning to witty jokes created by random people on the Internet. In especially the modern world, life cannot be taken so seriously anymore, because life in itself is becoming a joke of its own, and it is more essential to one's wellbeing than ever in the present age from a social, mental and physical lens.

For one, humor serves as a form of escapism. Given the sarcastic nature of humor, it has become one of, if not, the de-facto coping mechanism for many people against the natural setbacks and tragedies of their everyday life. People utilize humor as a means to mock their reality. And in an age where, there is more stress and anxieties coming out of social media, the best way to retaliate is by romanticizing an aesthetic out of their failures. Humor serves as an alternative route that the mind can take, so that they don't get too worried about the past. This is especially seen by the rise of Gen Z humor coming up with meta-ironic humor that deliberately highlights how “bad” and “hopeless” their lives are currently in a surrealist aesthetic, that makes it look as though their problems are not real. In response, people follow up and add onto the pile of nonsensical logic that they are trying to build for themselves. When this happens, this mocking at reality gives a sense of comfort as everyone is suffering but laughing with each other about the rising costs of living, political uprisings and increasingly difficult career hurdles. By laughing through the sadness,it becomes easier to pass through it. No physical medicine or physiotherapy has the ability to recalibrate the mind away from the mental worries as directly as a light hearted joke. In such cases, laughter is indeed the best medicine for stress relief. 

The giant elephant in room as to why people will say that humor is not essential to one's wellbeing, is because it may not bring on any tangible effects or value into the persons life. If utilized irresponsibility, it can have the reverse effect of allowing people to play ignorance to the important matters that they need to address directly, rather than going off tangent with an inappropriate comment for the sake of fun. 

Plato, one of the most renowned philosophers, called humor and ridiculousness as another kind of evil. Where people will naturally punch up to the who are of higher status, wealth, and political power as compared to themselves. This diminishes the achievements of another person, and in return is an excuse to deflect any of the individual's shortcomings. Or in the case of someone's work, a person with a humorous personality may fail to be taken seriously, because they cannot be trusted in giving a direct and honest answer about their work and their intentions with the company. Humor is not able to see things in black and white, it explores the array of colors in between. But unless one's profession is in line with the entertainment and stand up industry, there is no money or job security that comes with developing a sense of humor, which makes it irrelevant with regards to securing one's physical and financial wellbeing.

The last and possibly most important reason why humor is essential, is because humans are social creatures and naturally gravitated towards individuals that can lighten up the mood whenever it is needed. When people encounter others who show that they are not trying to take life seriously, it reveals an air of openness and vulnerability that encourages us to be able to confide and trust in one another. This is nowhere clearer than in the dating scene. When chosen to rank what were the most important factors when it came to dating, a 2018 study in Romania among young adults revealed that a sense of humor outranked physical attractiveness, ambition, and earning potential when evaluating for a potential partner.

From overused pick up lines to well-crafted punchlines and creative stories, the way that humor requires someone to play with language builds the image of someone with a shared and agreeable personality that humans will intrinsically fall for. Humor is a key, which can unlock the hearts and minds of people that an individual may be trying to connect with. 

It is seemingly harder than ever to go on a diet without laughter. It takes up too much servings of our human craving, and as much as past expectations have looked down on the careless and innocent nature of humor, the workplace and medical doctors are advocating for the increasing use of humor, which can translate to better self care, an improvement in one's social market value, and a means to harsh endings.