Needed Armor: The Importance of Seeking Humor and Laughter in Reading

Since ancient times, humor has held an interesting place within philosophical readings describing human life and nature. Laughter and humor often received objections and negative assessments, with the idea that human life would not suffer much loss if left out. Laughter has been described historically as malicious and carrying scorn. Spiritual writers also believed laughter led to a lack of self-control, where joking of any kind was foolish chatter. Put quite simply, humor in scholarly thinking has received a bad reputation. This paper discusses why seeking humor and laughter is important in our scholarly and pleasure reading practices. Humor and laughter, it will be reasoned, allow us to find meaning, surprise, and wonderment when learning new thought, especially in these divisive times. Humor and laughter also provide us contemplative and critical reflection on societal issues to provide hope and optimism from the creative writing of current humorists and essayists.