(no subject)
An attractive lady walks into a bar and asks the barkeeper for a double entendre, happy to oblige he gives her one.
That joke, more or less, was told to me by my friend Linda and I sincerely hope it hasn't lost anything in my re-telling. I've sat and tried to figure out just what it is that makes this joke so fascinating for me, until then I will consider it to be the second most perfect joke I know. This in turn got me thinking about humour in general, what is it and what purpose does it serve? This whole line of thought intrigues me.
I have the fortune of currently taking a Philosophy course at uni, in the course component Existentialism I was introduced to the work of Albert Camus, a Frenchman who dealt with the concept of 'The Absurd' in some of his works during the 20th Century. In The Myth of Sisyphus Camus relates human existence to the struggle of the Greek Character Sisyphus who, after pissing off the gods one too many times is punished; for all eternity he is damned to roll a massive boulder to the crest of a mountain. Upon reaching the mountain's top the boulder rolls down the other side and Sisyphus trudges down the mountain to start all over again. Wash, rinse and repeat. Forever. As for us mortal bunch we are born into the world, we wake, walk around, mouth off, perform some thoroughly pointless actions then retire to sleep. An arbitrary number of repetitions later we die. And that is the punch line to The Funniest Joke in the Universe. Our lives are pointless and without meaning and there is nothing anyone can do about it. The best thing about this ultimate joke is that it is a joke for everyone, we're all living equally futile lives that will amount to nought. The Joke is on us and we have no choice but to appreciate absurdity embodied in humanity. One can't help but laugh, a Hysterical laughter (and I hope feminists will forgive my use of that word for, though I know of its negative context and connotation, I can think of no more appropriate term) borne of anguish.
This, I believe is the reason, the purpose of humour, it is the process by which this grand joke is perpetuated; We face the absurd, perceive The Joke, laugh just to cope and through our coping we live. While there are humans laughing there will always be The Joke and while there is the Joke there will be humans laughing their little hearts out. Live. Laugh. It's all you have.
That joke, more or less, was told to me by my friend Linda and I sincerely hope it hasn't lost anything in my re-telling. I've sat and tried to figure out just what it is that makes this joke so fascinating for me, until then I will consider it to be the second most perfect joke I know. This in turn got me thinking about humour in general, what is it and what purpose does it serve? This whole line of thought intrigues me.
I have the fortune of currently taking a Philosophy course at uni, in the course component Existentialism I was introduced to the work of Albert Camus, a Frenchman who dealt with the concept of 'The Absurd' in some of his works during the 20th Century. In The Myth of Sisyphus Camus relates human existence to the struggle of the Greek Character Sisyphus who, after pissing off the gods one too many times is punished; for all eternity he is damned to roll a massive boulder to the crest of a mountain. Upon reaching the mountain's top the boulder rolls down the other side and Sisyphus trudges down the mountain to start all over again. Wash, rinse and repeat. Forever. As for us mortal bunch we are born into the world, we wake, walk around, mouth off, perform some thoroughly pointless actions then retire to sleep. An arbitrary number of repetitions later we die. And that is the punch line to The Funniest Joke in the Universe. Our lives are pointless and without meaning and there is nothing anyone can do about it. The best thing about this ultimate joke is that it is a joke for everyone, we're all living equally futile lives that will amount to nought. The Joke is on us and we have no choice but to appreciate absurdity embodied in humanity. One can't help but laugh, a Hysterical laughter (and I hope feminists will forgive my use of that word for, though I know of its negative context and connotation, I can think of no more appropriate term) borne of anguish.
This, I believe is the reason, the purpose of humour, it is the process by which this grand joke is perpetuated; We face the absurd, perceive The Joke, laugh just to cope and through our coping we live. While there are humans laughing there will always be The Joke and while there is the Joke there will be humans laughing their little hearts out. Live. Laugh. It's all you have.