Humor: What is Funny?

Over at the Rule of Reason blog, a discussion erupted over whether His Girl Friday is funny, and was followed up by a post about humor.

I've personally found many Objectivists to be humorless. Maybe that's not exactly it; rather, I've found that they don't laugh easily at the unimportant.

I've long thought that humor is the relaxation of the intelligent mind. Wordplay in particular is a pleasant way to exercise your brain without any purpose other than to make people laugh. Interestingly, I've found that the funniest quips are those that don't get an immediate laugh, but require a fraction of a second to get the laugh. That slight pause means that others are digesting the bit of humor--using those brains to put it together.

In my opinion, many things can be funny. Sometimes it's the absurd, sometimes it's the clever. Sometimes it's even the crude, if handled properly. I'm proud to say that everyone I consider a friend has a very keen sense of humor.

And yes, I'm thankful for that.