Evening my fellow humanz (with a z), hope you are all doing super great this week!!
I know I said I'd only do one Wachi's Nonsense this month, but to be honest I have noticed a growing trend of "over-victimization/sensitivity" rising up and in the wake of my bullying blog I thought I'd use this chance to, not necessarily rant, but express what I see in today's internet culture and how I think people's views can sometimes be more toxic than tolerant, regardless of how they may view it; now normally I would feel inclined to say that this is an opinion piece and blah blah blah, but to be honest I am tired of this and if people want to keep feeling attacked by every little thing well, go ahead ;)
So with that out of the way... Let's talk HUMOR!!!
So What Is Humor..?
Now this is a tough question, I mean there is an actual definition to humor, according to the dictionary humor means "the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech." Now technically that is a correct definition, however just like there are different types of people I believe there are different assets or types of humor as well and I am not talking about types of humor such as dark, sarcastic, slapstick, etc; no, what I am referring to are the way we use humor in our lives; that is to say, what is it to us as a species?
When I think of humor, I think of it as an exercise of balance, a balance of wit and emotion to be able to construct a social statement that is not only understandable, but also relatable to the audience that they can not only get a laugh out of it but also a thought provoking "That's an interesting point", regardless of whether or not it's a good or completely ridiculous point it is more than just a punchline, I feel.
Now here is where humor gets interesting and perhaps a bit dark/personal, as I said humor is not only about laughing, it's about thinking too, whether you like it or not, not all humor is mindless, there's always a realism to it and this reflected realism can be used for many different things, such as;
- Superiority; like bullying, some humor is done to ridicule or laugh at others to whom the joker feels superior, and sure this is a common type of humor, but from what I can see a lot of people seem to think that this is all humor means, and I mean A LOT of people think this way, I am shocked by how many take every little joke or statement personally, but again this is just one aspect of humor, and just because it's there doesn't mean all humor should boil down to something snide and judgmental.
- Irony; this is a very bitter sweet aspect of humor, but also a favorite of mine, and it is self explanatory and goes well with how a joke is set up in itself; think about it, a joke consists of two parts, a set up and a punch line, now just like with the irony of life, in humor the set up will lead the listener to think the story is going one way, and we convince ourselves what is going to happen next, but when we hear the punchline we find that it is diverse, even to the point of being contrary to where the set up was going. This can also be known as the incongruent for the same reasoning. Basically cause of the funny or humorous reaction here is how 2 or more inconsistent or incongruous things or circumstances that are united in one complex joke or object create this mutual relation solely from the peculiar way in which our minds take notice of them/connect them. It's having your expectations toyed with that can be shocking but also quite hilarious if we allow it to be.
- Relief; they say laughter is the best medicine, and I'd have to say I agree with this statement, laughter is a drug, and this "drug" can help us burst out of social restraints as it were as humor often calls conventional social structures into question, helping us break free from conformity that may make us uncomfortable. Also those with inhibitions or internal strains, can often break free from such worries from a good dose of laughter, why do you think a lot of genuinely good humored and easy going people aren't tied down by mental strain for long periods of time? Because humor actually helps you break away from such things!! Not only this, but sometimes pent up frustrations either, stress, anger, or even sexual frustrations can be expressed in a healthy way through humor as we don't censor or bottle away our thoughts, instead we get them out there with a tastefulness that can be good for all.
- Defense Mechanism/Adaptation; Similar to relief, this aspect sees humor as a style of coping, it is very common for people to automatically use humor to cope with anxiety, depression, internal and external conflicts, as well as many other different stresses we face. However, unlike relief I personally find this aspect to be more subconscious and automatic, I personally make light of a lot of heavy situations almost without thought because I need to lighten the burden of hat's going down, not because I am an insensitive jerk as others may interpret the same. With a higher level of understanding of your humor as a defense mechanism, you can use it to adapt and better handle stress in your life and increase gratification as you no longer are held back by ideas and feelings and their possible consequences.
Now here is where humor gets interesting and perhaps a bit dark/personal, as I said humor is not only about laughing, it's about thinking too, whether you like it or not, not all humor is mindless, there's always a realism to it and this reflected realism can be used for many different things, such as;
- Superiority; like bullying, some humor is done to ridicule or laugh at others to whom the joker feels superior, and sure this is a common type of humor, but from what I can see a lot of people seem to think that this is all humor means, and I mean A LOT of people think this way, I am shocked by how many take every little joke or statement personally, but again this is just one aspect of humor, and just because it's there doesn't mean all humor should boil down to something snide and judgmental.
- Irony; this is a very bitter sweet aspect of humor, but also a favorite of mine, and it is self explanatory and goes well with how a joke is set up in itself; think about it, a joke consists of two parts, a set up and a punch line, now just like with the irony of life, in humor the set up will lead the listener to think the story is going one way, and we convince ourselves what is going to happen next, but when we hear the punchline we find that it is diverse, even to the point of being contrary to where the set up was going. This can also be known as the incongruent for the same reasoning. Basically cause of the funny or humorous reaction here is how 2 or more inconsistent or incongruous things or circumstances that are united in one complex joke or object create this mutual relation solely from the peculiar way in which our minds take notice of them/connect them. It's having your expectations toyed with that can be shocking but also quite hilarious if we allow it to be.
- Relief; they say laughter is the best medicine, and I'd have to say I agree with this statement, laughter is a drug, and this "drug" can help us burst out of social restraints as it were as humor often calls conventional social structures into question, helping us break free from conformity that may make us uncomfortable. Also those with inhibitions or internal strains, can often break free from such worries from a good dose of laughter, why do you think a lot of genuinely good humored and easy going people aren't tied down by mental strain for long periods of time? Because humor actually helps you break away from such things!! Not only this, but sometimes pent up frustrations either, stress, anger, or even sexual frustrations can be expressed in a healthy way through humor as we don't censor or bottle away our thoughts, instead we get them out there with a tastefulness that can be good for all.
- Defense Mechanism/Adaptation; Similar to relief, this aspect sees humor as a style of coping, it is very common for people to automatically use humor to cope with anxiety, depression, internal and external conflicts, as well as many other different stresses we face. However, unlike relief I personally find this aspect to be more subconscious and automatic, I personally make light of a lot of heavy situations almost without thought because I need to lighten the burden of hat's going down, not because I am an insensitive jerk as others may interpret the same. With a higher level of understanding of your humor as a defense mechanism, you can use it to adapt and better handle stress in your life and increase gratification as you no longer are held back by ideas and feelings and their possible consequences.
Moving on...
Okay, so with that bit of knowledge under our belts we can better understand how may people, STUPID people, will take these jokes and make them out to seem way worse than they actually are, for example, jokes about rape or murder... Now, a stupid person will take offense to this because they feel the person telling the joke actually finds the act of rape or murder to be humorous, and let's be honest, unless it's a psycho, rapist, or murderer that is not usually the case. You see, stupid people will treat jokes about bad things with the same fright, agitation, and loathing as intelligent people will treat the ACTUAL bad thing, and guess what they aren't related. As we saw above, one of the main things about humor is for to get us out of the bad things, if we can't laugh about the bad and find a bright side then that kind of kills it no? Why only joke about the good? I like the good, no need to make it good if it already is. It's like only taking your medicine, in this case, laughter, when you are feeling good, and never when you are feeling bad, that's silly.
Now, another "fun" personality trait that has been on the internet and society as a whole as of late is this self-entitled "If I feel it's appropriate to joke about it it's alright, but if I don't you can't do or say it." and that's fair to a degree, there's some things one will simply not appreciate jokes about, we all have things we are sensitive about, but there's this amazing super power we all have called freedom of speech, and if you don't like something you don't have to listen to it, but please realize not every joke or silly remark has to fall in line with what YOU find or believe to be "appropriate" that's just stupid. An example of this is when people use the words "Gay" or "Retarded" in perhaps demeaning ways, I agree they aren't the nicest or most correct terms to use, but we can't just assume, "Oh, so he's a homophobe and hates mentally handicapped individuals!!" That's classic over-reacting, and even being judgmental which is also an undesirable quality to have, and these self-entitled, over-reacting individuals are unfortunately the ones who seem to have the loudest voice online, forcing their self-righteous, and at most times, toxic personalities down people's throats, which I find to be more harmful and tasteless than a simple word or ridiculous joke. Sadly, more often then not,these people only want an excuse to be heard/attention, AKA making themselves a victim, which makes all their incessant whining even more irrelevant, only serving to cause headaches.
Listen, I know there's things many of us can't emotionally get over, I have things I will simply not tolerate jokes of/about, however I keep quiet, because if someone makes a lot of jokes, about a wide variety of subjects and I can intellectually understand the satire of each subject, when a joke about something I am sensitive about comes up, I should be able to understand that if there was no malicious intent in any of the previous jokes, it should mean that there is no hate in this joke either, I simply don't like it, but should feel like it was an attack on me or those like me. Always keep that in mind, it'll lighten up the amount of headaches you get, believe me.
In the end humor is something with many forms and those forms are manifested in many styles, so like fashion or music, we should stick to what we like and can relate to, and if not directed at us or our loved ones in a negative or hurtful manner, we should keep quiet and move on, and not go on a tirade attacking other's freedom of speech. We should not go around and take other people's words or jokes out of context just to justify our victimization, it's lame and it needs to stop, people need to understand, not everything is going to cater to their easily offended hearts.
Anyhow I won't ramble on or continue to repeat my point, I will end it here and hope you all are able to laugh at the bad along with the good, learn to push through and overcome life's challenges, but don't take it so seriously, as laughter makes the road to your personal success just a bit more enjoyable. Something to think about *wink*
Much Love,
Wachi
Now, another "fun" personality trait that has been on the internet and society as a whole as of late is this self-entitled "If I feel it's appropriate to joke about it it's alright, but if I don't you can't do or say it." and that's fair to a degree, there's some things one will simply not appreciate jokes about, we all have things we are sensitive about, but there's this amazing super power we all have called freedom of speech, and if you don't like something you don't have to listen to it, but please realize not every joke or silly remark has to fall in line with what YOU find or believe to be "appropriate" that's just stupid. An example of this is when people use the words "Gay" or "Retarded" in perhaps demeaning ways, I agree they aren't the nicest or most correct terms to use, but we can't just assume, "Oh, so he's a homophobe and hates mentally handicapped individuals!!" That's classic over-reacting, and even being judgmental which is also an undesirable quality to have, and these self-entitled, over-reacting individuals are unfortunately the ones who seem to have the loudest voice online, forcing their self-righteous, and at most times, toxic personalities down people's throats, which I find to be more harmful and tasteless than a simple word or ridiculous joke. Sadly, more often then not,these people only want an excuse to be heard/attention, AKA making themselves a victim, which makes all their incessant whining even more irrelevant, only serving to cause headaches.
Listen, I know there's things many of us can't emotionally get over, I have things I will simply not tolerate jokes of/about, however I keep quiet, because if someone makes a lot of jokes, about a wide variety of subjects and I can intellectually understand the satire of each subject, when a joke about something I am sensitive about comes up, I should be able to understand that if there was no malicious intent in any of the previous jokes, it should mean that there is no hate in this joke either, I simply don't like it, but should feel like it was an attack on me or those like me. Always keep that in mind, it'll lighten up the amount of headaches you get, believe me.
In the end humor is something with many forms and those forms are manifested in many styles, so like fashion or music, we should stick to what we like and can relate to, and if not directed at us or our loved ones in a negative or hurtful manner, we should keep quiet and move on, and not go on a tirade attacking other's freedom of speech. We should not go around and take other people's words or jokes out of context just to justify our victimization, it's lame and it needs to stop, people need to understand, not everything is going to cater to their easily offended hearts.
Anyhow I won't ramble on or continue to repeat my point, I will end it here and hope you all are able to laugh at the bad along with the good, learn to push through and overcome life's challenges, but don't take it so seriously, as laughter makes the road to your personal success just a bit more enjoyable. Something to think about *wink*
Much Love,
Wachi
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| Never be afraid to be bananas |
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