The Superiority Theory Of Humor, And St. Thomas Aquinas

Humor is a tremendous factor in our daily lives. In the numerous ways we communicate with other people, one of the vital ways is through humor because it helps people get through the hard times, and makes the good times even better. Most of the things people find to be “funny” are based on experiences that have happened to them, others, where they live, and the events happening at the time. When looking at each era, and the humor used in that time, you can see that based on the things happening in that time their sense of humor was different. Humor has existed throughout all of humanity, considering the fact that chimps laugh, just goes to show how long humor has been around. As a result of this, we must look at the philosophy of humor, and

Thomas Aquinas looked at humor from a very different perspective from Plato. He believed that Humor benefited life, and that it was a god given gift. There are three theories that explain why we find something humorous. The first theory is called the Superiority Theory. The superiority theory of humor focuses on the darker side of comedy. Specifically, that we laugh in response to our elevation over others. We laugh because we feel superior over other people or we can see our former selves in these people, for example, you have left your car in neutral and walked away, only to see it rolling away so you have to chase it down. Sometime in the future when you see it happen to someone else you find it funny because you were once in their shoes once. St. Thomas loved humor, but when it came to dark humor he did not find it appealing, because he was a devoted Christian to God, and it is wrong to laugh when someone is helpless, or judging people by their limitations. The Relief Theory is a hydraulic explanation in which laughter does in the nervous system what a pressure-relief valve does in a steam boiler. To take a more scientific approach to the Relief Theory When we find something funny we laugh, which in doing so releases natural chemicals in our brains called endorphins which give us a good feeling that lasts long after the action of laughing has been done. Laughing reduces stress levels this is the same thing with the natural chemicals being released, lowers blood pressure, relives pain, improves cardiac health, boosts immune system cells, produces a general sense of wellbeing, and is a great workout for you abs. There is no negative effect laughing has on your body, only good can come from it, which is why St. Thomas believes humor and laughter is a God given gift. The last theory is the theory of Incongruity. The Incongruity Theory says that it is the perception of something incongruous—something that violates our mental patterns and expectations. It is