The Alternative to Thinking.
As we know, laughter is good for us. When we laugh, we smile, which releases Seratonin and a myriad of other endorphins, which makes us feel better than before. It's nice to have a good laugh, and so we're all listening out for the opportunity most of the time. The other side of the plate is lathered in adrenals, which we also love to indulge in. The problem with adrenals is they make you tense, and so we have an in-built mechanism of laughter to combat these chemicals. Our in-built mechanisms respond to the primal instincts - particularly in a 'fight or flight' situation. What can you do about something intimidating, but laugh at it? The urge to laugh at fear is sold as the mature way to face it - better than snapping back or avoiding the conversation. If you observe the physical characteristics; when we laugh and smile, we expose our teeth. This is the age-old method of threatening (exposing deadliness). The progression from happiness leading to defensive behaviour is then not hard to see. When we feel threatened, we laugh. This is the philosophy under which the comedian Jeff Dunham manages to profit wildly from his bigotist stage act. The fact that many laugh wildly at his jokes is a sign that our fear of terrorists is real. Media workers have been well aware of the power of laughter and then effects of rising and falling endorphin levels for decades, and the art of making people laugh has grown into the fine art of manipulating the masses into acceptance of ideas (Political cartoons?). If only that art were a secret, comedians could name their prices and live like kings. Unfortunately for them, though, the fine art of mass manipulation through the media has directly clashed with the art of honest comedy, and so we can now see (if we look) the patterns of comedy inherent in propaganda. As the times change, and propaganda is exposed as such, the producers of this fine art must also change their styles, and so comedy evolves along...