Social Question

YARNLADY's avatar

Everyone has a sense of humor - agree or disagree?

Asked by YARNLADY (46378points) September 15th, 2009

Isn’t it judgmental when a person doesn’t appreciate your joke so you say they have no sense of humor. Some laugh at the same things and some laugh at different things. Do you have the right to decide what is funny and what isn’t for others?

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63 Answers

Likeradar's avatar

Everyone thinks something is funny, so yeah, everyone has a sense of humor. It’s not up to someone else to decide what is or what isn’t funny for a person, but it is ok to point out why most people might think something isn’t funny at all.

Some people just have a terrible sense of humor.

ragingloli's avatar

I don’t. I never laugh. Never.

holden's avatar

Everyone has a sense of humor, at least until the joke is on them.

AstroChuck's avatar

No. Not me.

eponymoushipster's avatar

Everything i’ve ever said on Fluther is drop-dead serious.

AstroChuck's avatar

Except that.

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

It has been said that Adolf Hitler had no sense of humor. There is only one recorded instance of him laughing, and most of the historians disagree about whether it is true or not. Once he became the Fuhrer, he never laughed for any healthy reason.

I know at least one person that takes themselves so seriously that if they were to laugh, their face would crack. Not everybody has a sense of humor, just like not everybody has ten toes.

Zen's avatar

Isn’t “agree or disagree” a poll? I’m flagging this shitty question.

(P.s.: that’s my sense of humour.)

PandoraBoxx's avatar

At every job I’ve had, I’ve worked with someone that I’ve never seen smile, let alone laugh.

ratboy's avatar

Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?

Bluefreedom's avatar

I do agree that everyone has a sense of humor but it’s not always readily evident because different people choose different times and material to actually show their liking or disliking of something humorous. As far as deciding something for someone else, I don’t have the right to do that in any case I don’t think.

If someone doesn’t like a joke I tell or my sense of humor, they still have a sense of humor but what I’ve offered just doesn’t appeal to them and that’s okay. I’ll try better next time.

YARNLADY's avatar

@PandoraBoxx Some workplaces are not that funny. I suspect I never laughed at work either.

YARNLADY's avatar

@ratboy I don’t know, are you laughing?

Zen's avatar

@PandoraBoxx That is one of the saddest things I’ve read here. Ever.

eponymoushipster's avatar

@YARNLADY have you ever laughed, period?

YARNLADY's avatar

@evelyns_pet_zebra According to a new lip reading technology, some old films show him making a joke “I looked at him across the dining table and then I knew that what they say was true,” he says, “that pigs eat the flesh of their own.”

eponymoushipster's avatar

@YARNLADY i highly doubt that was a joke.

PandoraBoxx's avatar

It’s not the workplace, it’s the people. They aren’t dour, they are just deadpan. I laugh at work all the time.

dalepetrie's avatar

My college Freshman Composition teacher absolutely shocked the hell out of me when he told the class he never laughed (the guy was well into his 60s…his name was Allen W. Higgins and he sounded exactly like John Houseman). He said that he believed that all humor without exception was at someone’s expense, so he was essentially morally opposed to humor. So, I suppose it’s possible.

Zen's avatar

@PandoraBoxx Lurve for “deadpan.” Classic fluther.

Likeradar's avatar

Even if Hitler thought things that healthy, sane people think are disgusting and reprehensible were funny, it’s still a sense of humor, right?

rooeytoo's avatar

Until I read what @dalepetrie said, I assumed everyone did, albeit some perverted, some dry, all sorts but maybe not.

Does all humor come at someone’s expense??? That can’t be right, I often laugh at myself. Is that at my own expense?

Zen's avatar

@Likeradar Yes it is. Nazi Humour, but nonetheless humour. To him.

Zen's avatar

@dalepetrie He sounds like a real dick.

Likeradar's avatar

@rooeytoo Hurm… puns are funny and often not at anyone’s expense.

Zen's avatar

@Likeradar My little pun about Parmesan era after Permian era wasn’t at anyone’s expense. Maybe Darwin?

YARNLADY's avatar

@eponymoushipster I laugh out loud at Jay Leno every night of the week. I am so glad he is back on the air. I also laugh frequently at the following: Robin Williams, Galaxy Quest, Monty Python, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, ’‘Weird Al’’ Yankovic and much, much more. I do not laugh at the Three Stooges, South Park, The Simpsons, or Family Guy. MAD Magazine is sort of half and half, with Spy to Spy being very funny and “Lowered Expectations” not.

DarkScribe's avatar

No, some people cannot understand humour. I know one who can’t and she is a surgeon. She always assumes if something is said in conversation that she doesn’t grasp, that it must be humour. It is quite sad – and often frustrating for those around her who enjoy humour. She had a horrific childhood which probably accounts for some of it. She is also very religious. Strange.

dalepetrie's avatar

@Zen – he was a decent enough guy, just sounded like a relic from a long forgotten era.

@rooeytoo – that one bothered me for a while, but no, I don’t agree with his assessment….I had to think about it, but yes, there is plenty of humor that doesn’t come at someone’s expense.

YARNLADY's avatar

@DarkScribe That sounds a lot like my husband. He takes most things at face value, but still manages to find humor in various places, as do I.

eponymoushipster's avatar

Jay Leno? yikes

YARNLADY's avatar

@eponymoushipster Jay Leno kept David Letterman out of the top for every year he was on, and last night was one of the most triumphant returns TV has ever seen, with a 19 market share.

“A California state senator has proposed an amendment to the California state constitution that would lower the voting age to 14. This is ridiculous, do you know what would happen if we allowed 14 year olds to vote? We’d end up with someone like an action hero as governor.” —Jay Leno

Zen's avatar

@YARNLADY that WAS very funny.

rooeytoo's avatar

@dalepetrie – wow that’s a relief, thank you. I would hate to have to give up laughing!

pathfinder's avatar

If I dont understand the humor of the others than I synchronize with the others to laught with them…............

Bluefreedom's avatar

@pathfinder. You can do that? Can you teach me how to synchronize with others? I’ll pay you.

XOIIO's avatar

Of course! Even if it is sick, twisted perverted or otherwise everyone will find something funny.

I’m the twisted type

Response moderated
LostInParadise's avatar

This is an interesting question, no kidding. Is it possible that there are people with no sense of humor? A sense of humor would seem to be at the heart of what it means to be human. Are there pathological conditions that are associated with loss of humor? Is it possible to be so depressed that humor can’t be found in anything? I know that when I get real depressed I can still find humor in things. Tom Robbins wrote a novel involving a South American tribe with no sense of humor, but I am sure that no such tribes exist.

mattbrowne's avatar

Disagree. One reason for not having a sense of humor is brain injuries of particular areas.

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

I agree with @mattbrowne as there are certain brain injuries that can cause a person to hear colors and taste sounds. The brain is a complex machine, and just because you think something is funny, that doesn’t mean everyone does.

I’ve never read anything by AstroChuck that I thought was funny, but maybe that’s just me. well, that’s not really true, but since he is so high up in lurve points, he deserves a little ribbing.

CMaz's avatar

Agree, even if they do not know it.

LostInParadise's avatar

@mattbrowne , Could you point to a description of the types of brain injuries that cause loss of sense of humor? I am curious to know how functional a person can be without a sense of humor. My hunch is that imagination and creativity are closely tied it and I would like to know if this is true.

mattbrowne's avatar

@LostInParadise – Well, I’m not an expert. I’d say pretty functional. Look at this true story of the 19th century

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage#Brain_damage_and_mental_changes

wundayatta's avatar

I don’t particularly care whether I can generalize about everyone having a sense of humor.

Did you know there are laughter meditations? Laughing is important to our health. It’s hard to imagine anyone who never laughs. Whether laughter always implies a sense of humor, I don’t know. There are certainly other sources of laughter besides humor. Nervousness, for example.

Of course, as to deciding what is or is not funny for others—I get to decide. Don’t you see my King of Humor crown? I have to say, ya’ll are not very funny. Do better! Get cracking!

Oh. And that’s not a judgment. Just a statement of fact. ;-)

YARNLADY's avatar

@evelyns_pet_zebra I saw one (AC funny) once, but I don’t remember where

YARNLADY's avatar

@daloon There are “How to develop a sense of humor” on a lot of the “how to” sites on the internet, I even saw one on how to teach someone else to have a sense of humor.

Zen's avatar

Personally, I like this one: a zen Buddhist walks up to a hot-dog vendor and says, “make me one with everything.”

hungryhungryhortence's avatar

I’ve never met a person I couldn’t make laugh, I think it’s important to lose control in laughter.

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

@hungryhungryhortence I’ve met several, and I have the wackiest sense of humor of anyone I know. I think those people are just spiritually dead, if not dead altogether.

ShiningToast's avatar

Agree. Some have different kinds than others, but it all exists in one for or another.

DarkScribe's avatar

@hungryhungryhortence I’ve never met a person I couldn’t make laugh, I think it’s important to lose control in laughter.

Intentionally?

(Just kidding…)

XOIIO's avatar

@Zen LOL! That’s a great one!! I haven’t given lurve to anyone yet, but you certainly deserve to be the first!

yoteddy's avatar

Some people have sticks up their asses.

Zen's avatar

@XOIIO Don’t be so stingy with the lurve. We should all learn to lurve one another. Shakespeare said, tis better to give lurve than to receive it.

Val123's avatar

@evelyns_pet_zebra You said, about Hitler, “Once he became the Fuhrer, he never laughed for any healthy reason.”—I need to slow down when I read because at first glance I read, “Once he came to Fluther…” Say WHAT?!!
I have no sense of humor.

AnnieB's avatar

@yoteddy I agree 100%!

Val123's avatar

I’d say it’s like driving. Everyone thinks they’re a good driver, and everyone thinks they have a good sense of humor!

Ghost_in_the_system's avatar

Yes, everyone has a sense of humor. It might be hid well. They might not like for people to see it. Everyone has one, though. My is kind of warped, twisted and sick, but, it is there.

OneMoreMinute's avatar

I see lots of funny- even in non funny places.

I will laugh at sour pusses who never laugh. I just want to go up to them and pull their finger and do the fart sound-to lighten them up a bit.

But there’s one place that I laugh my ass off where I wished that I wouldn’t.
And that’s when somebody falls down, trips, and hurts them self. And the more hurt they are, the harder I laugh!
My friend fell off my deck. I was in hysterics! And she was in pain crying.
I ruined our friendship.
Those You Tubes of people doing shit and getting hurt falling make me pee my pants!!!
What’s WRONG with me?

OneMoreMinute's avatar

I see funny people!

Val123's avatar

@OneMoreMinute At least you don’t see dead people!

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