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What I Learn From Jokes

Karl Palachuk

Karl W. Palachuk
September 19, 2008

There are different kinds of jokes. I’ve been accused of favoring the corny kind. Not sure where that comes from.

To get a quick summary of humor on this site, click here: http://www.rfsblog.com/category/humor/.

I think I like jokes because of the element of surprise. A really good joke is funny because the ending is not what you expected from the story.

Alternatively, a joke is often a play on words. Puns and other word-play jokes are funny because your mind has to reconstruct what you heard and substitue a different understanding of a word or phrase.

In either case jokes are great for making your mind look at the world a little differently.

For example:

Outstanding In Their Field

A driver was speeding down a winding country road. He came around a corner and was shocked to see two farmers standing and talking in the middle of the road! He swerved to avoid them, went into a ditch, up over the embankment, and flew into the field.

One farmer said to the other: “That was sure lucky. We got out of that field just in time!”

Were the farmers lucky?

If nothing else, the joke makes the point that perspective colors everything we do. When you woke up this morning, it was inside a context that you will use to interpret your day. You interpret the world from your perspective whether you’re at work, in the car, on vacation, or in your own back yard.

It takes a conscious effort and a lot of practice to see the world from someone else’s perspective. Most people never try.

As silly as it sounds, jokes help you gain a little perspective. If you listen to (or read) a lot of jokes, you find yourself trying to figure out the punchline. They train your mind to anticipate something besides “the expected” result.

In addition, humor is good for your health. Every year there’s a new study showing that humor helps us live longer, live happier, recovery faster from surgery, stay married longer, take things in stride, and lost weight! Really.

So, in more ways than one, jokes can give you a different perspective on the world.

The next time you’re in a book store, spend a few bucks on a book of jokes. It will be good for you!

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