Despite the general understanding that humor is based on jokes that are predominantly aimed to be light of heart and hold little value, humor actually holds quite a bit of weight in the human mind. I did some searching a little bit out of my comfort zone shifting from my interest in the brain and psychology to the mind and philosophy. With some research (gold worthy and peer edited, if you ask me) I was able to happen upon an interesting blog post by Nicole Force M.A. She provides a chemical explanation of the human body's response to laughter resulting in the release of serotonin and endorphins which happens to be the effects of many popular antidepressant drugs.
There is the possibility to "self-medicate" to an extent by exposing the mind to experiences that hold comedic value or create a level of enjoyment. This forced, yet natural boost in serotonin and endorphins enhances their ability to cope with "overwhelming emotion and taking control of a situation." If you ask me, this makes the ability to have a sense of humor a superpower that obviously has the power to sway the political views of an entire nation. What do you think this reveals about popular comedians or even the regular class clown? Comedians are willing to break boundaries and bring up what the average person tries to conceal (shoutout to the theory of incongruity). These taboo topics are then minimized and laughed at, the comedian has taken control and shed some light on a previously displeasing topic.
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