Laughter might not be all it’s cracked up to be. For instance, in Poems of Passion and Solitude, Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote, “Laugh and the world laughs with you.” Isn’t that great? Isn’t that grand? Isn’t that just dandy?
If Wilcox were right, if you laughed, the world would laugh with you. Then what would we have? A world filled with people laughing like idiots, that’s what.
And where would it all end? It’s an infinite feedback loop. You laugh. The rest of the world laughs. You have to laugh again because they laughed. You are, after all, part of the world. Hey, those are the rules. I didn’t make them up.
They laugh again because you laughed again. You …
Well, you get the picture. How the hell would we get anything done with everyone laughing like morons all the time?
The world would collapse under continual, universal guffawing.
And, don’t be so sure they’re laughing with you. Wicox’s quote notwithstanding, the world may be laughing at you, not with you. Now, how do you feel? (But, maybe that’s just me. I’m not the most secure person in the world. And, people probably do laugh at me, not with me.)
Laughter is the Best Medicine. Really?
“They”—yes, anonymous sources*—say that laughter is the best medicine. I don’t know about that. Sure, laughter is much more enjoyable than despondency. You’ll get no disagreement from me on that.
Nevertheless, if I’m stricken with cancer or some other deadly disease and I’m offered the choice of being told a really funny joke or being given an exceptionally effective pharmaceutical, surgery, or radiation treatment, I know which one I’ll go with. And it’s not the one that might give me the material I need to get job on a comedy-club stage, unless it’s a job sweeping the stage.
The Shortest Distance
Victor Borge, the late comedian, pianist and conductor, said, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”
I don’t know if that’s true. However, if it is, caution is advised.
As I write these words, the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. Keeping your distance from other people is key to avoiding infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and slowing its spread.
If laughter is the shortest distance between two people, you should avoid hearty belly laughs, and even less-vigorous guffaws, in this time of pandemic. Keep your mirth down to a soft chuckle or slight giggle so as to not shorten the distance between two people any more than necessary. Or, better yet, avoid all humour just to be safe.
Laughter as a Weapon
Finally, Mark Twain allegedly said, “The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” I can’t find an authoritative source telling me where or when he said it. But I found several random, uncertified sites on the Internet that claim Twain said it. So, he must have.
Assuming he did indeed say and believe that laughter is humankind’s one really effective weapon, all world leaders should adopt Twain’s philosophy.
Think about it. A general goes to her country’s commander-in-chief and says, “The next country over, Whatsitsland, is becoming annoying to our citizens. We should nuke the heck out of them before they escalate to being vexatious.” The commander-in-chief would reply, “Don’t be silly. We’ll appoint our best comedian as ambassador to Whatsitsland. They won’t know what hit them.”
Then again, this wouldn’t work unless all world leaders adopt Mark Twain’s attitude. Otherwise,
General: “Hadesland amassed all of its troops on our borders and equipped them with their most lethal weapons. They also armed all of their nuclear missiles. And we have irrefutable proof that they are about to attack us and attempt to annihilate our country.”
Commander-in-chief: “Quick, send in the forty-second airborne comedy troupe. That will stop them. They think they can beat us, do they? Ha! We’ll show them!”
OK, you’ve had your little laugh. Now, get back to work.
* Sticklers will probably quibble with me on this being an anonymous quote. The bible comes close to saying laughter is the best medicine. In the King James Version, Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a crushed spirit drieth the bones.” It doesn’t specifically say laughter is the best medicine, but it comes vaguely close.
Then again, also in the King James Version, Ecclesiastes 7:3 says, “Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.” This bible quote says that sorrow beats laughter when it comes to heart health. So, it’s a biblical toss-up when it comes to laughter as medicine.
Be that as it may, whoever wrote the bible was far too tedious. True or not, “laughter is the best medicine” is much more succinct and memorable than the Proverbs quote. I guess good writers were hard to come by back in the day.
