Why humor is an essential life skill

a post by Matt Davis for the Big Think blog

From your health to leadership, a good sense of humor can improve nearly every aspect of life.

• Studies have shown that a sense of humor can improve your mental and physical health, boost your attractiveness, and improve your leadership skills.
• There are a variety of theories and styles of humor, each of which can improve your understanding of the subject.
• Humor may be a critical life skill, but can it be taught?

Mark Twain said that "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing after all. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations, and resentments flit away, and a sunny spirit takes their place." He's certainly not wrong. Humor may very well be the great thing. It touches upon nearly every facet of life—90% of men and 81% of women report that a sense of humor is the most important quality in a partner, it's a crucial quality for leaders, and it's even been shown to improve cancer treatments. There's no doubt that humor is a life skill that everybody needs. But how do we define humor, and can it be taught?

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6 Good Reasons to Laugh More

a post by Therese J. Borchard for the World of Psychology blog



It’s been 40 years since Norman Cousins published his classic An Anatomy of an Illness, in which he documents curing himself with a high dose of vitamin C and a continuous stream of humorous films. Since then research has further established the medicinal benefits of laughter, helping everything from Alzheimer’s disease and allergies to backaches and muscle cramping.

Following one of his studies on the benefits of laughter, Dr. Michael Miller said he envisioned a time when physicians might recommend that everyone get 15 to 20 minutes of laughter in a day much like physicians recommend regular exercise. Noted laughter researcher Robert Provine commented in the documentary Laugh Out Loud, “Until the scientists work out all the details, get in all the laughter that you can!”

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Can Humor Alter Your Brain Chemistry?

a post by Nichole Force for the World of Psychology blog



Do you know why everyone isn’t in a mental hospital? Because there isn’t enough room. Philosophers have long observed a dearth of happiness among humanity. Henry David Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” John Stuart Mill observed, “Unquestionably, it is possible to do without happiness; it is done involuntarily by nineteen-twentieths of mankind.”

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