Death
Death is undoubtedly a controversial topic. In the modern U.S, death tends to be viewed from a distance. For example, whereas people used to die at home surrounded by family members, it is more common to die in a public institution, in the presence of healthcare providers (who are essentially strangers).
Death used to be familiar, with family members acting as primary caregivers. Now, they are merely spectators. In short, death has become more depersonalized and moved out of the mainstream. Other factors, including arising technologies and the rise of degenerative diseases as the leading causes of death contribute to an ever shifting portrait of death.
But what is death’s relationship with humor?
Humor Theories
“Humor is tragedy plus time.” - Mark Twain
This quote exemplifies the benign violation theory, which claims that moral violations are inherently funny- as long as they’re harmless. Providing psychological distance, whether spatial, social, temporal, or mental, makes a tragedy humorous. In the case of Mark Twain’s quote, he uses temporal distance (time) to explain the relationship between humor and tragedy. If someone were to joke about a tragedy that occured mere weeks ago, it probably wouldn’t be taken as well.
Peter McGraw, a scientist at the University of Colorado, said “Humor fails in two ways: it can offend or it can bore. Psychological distance is one way by which to hit that sweet spot.”
Essentially, depending on the moral violation, the amount of psychological distance determines how effective the humor is. More psychological distance is required in the case of major events in order to be harmless, and less distance is needed from minor events to be threatening enough. According to this theory, striking the right balance between harmless and threatening seems to be the key for humor.
Dying of Laughter, Laughing at Death
When first researching for this blog, I wanted to find examples of people who died from laughter. To my surprise, reputable sources on this topic were hard to find, and I was only able to confirm two historical examples. Zuexis, a Greek painter, allegedly died laughing at his own painting of Aphrodite; a painting commissioned by a lady who insisted she be the model. Chrysippus, the Greek philosopher, died laughing when he gave wine to his donkey, and watched it try to eat figs. These reports are most likely fiction, but serve as interesting anecdotes.
So, instead of examples of people who died of laughter, I’ve decided to list some very real examples of people who laughed at death.
In one study, crime scene investigators (CSI) were interviewed on their experiences with humor. Generally, humor was used to relieve stress for people working dangerous jobs, sometimes even used as a method of self control. In this case, humor provided many benefits, including communication and job satisfaction. Overall, humor seemed better at reducing stress than other methods. CSI (at least the CSI interviewed) possessed a group joking culture. Superiority humor was frequently used to keep egos in check, humbling everyone down to the same level. Although superiority humor has a negative connotation, it helps relieve people (like CSI) working with criminals, prostitutes, drug addicts, etc. Humor provided disassociation, distancing oneself from uncomfortable and disturbing topics. Stories that CSI shared included placing frogs on laptops, getting stuck in a suit, and drawing whiteboard cartoons about the current case. Humor seemed like an essential coping mechanism, one that was highly valued and required for this kind of work. However, there was a line drawn where humor became unacceptable or impossible to utilize; cases involving child victims, for example.
Another instance of coping with death in a stressful job setting is the medical field. Although the humor used is similarly beneficial (as in the CSI study), it can just as easily be dismissive and cruel towards others. In both examples, humor strengthens relationships. Especially when feeling powerless or out of control in the face of illness and death, humor usage is helpful. However, I’ve seen criticism of mainstream medicine that factors into more negative aspects of humor usage. The ethos of mainstream medicine consists of clinical detachment, stoicism, and a “narrow focus on biological intervention.” This means that expressions of existential suffering and vulnerability are ignored.
Simon Oczkowsky, a physician, said “In the face of inevitable death, sometimes the only emotional outlet[s] available are jokes.” Oczkowsky’s quote essentially summarized the relief theory of humor; “if we didn’t use humor, we’d cry.” This heavy reliance on humor can negatively affect patients and coworkers alike, encouraging the notion that feeling uncertain, afraid, or powerless isn’t allowed. Furthermore, it fuels distrust of medicine from patients. It is understandable that humor would be used as an important coping mechanism for relief, but it is still important to lower the use of callous humor. Even that could prove to be difficult, as many in the field may find it hard to “talk back” to superiors for this kind of behavior.
Stigma
(Beware: this segment attempts to combine all my findings in a highly opinionated and hypothetical manner)
As discussed in the introduction, many changing factors (such as causes of death) have led to a death-denying society. The stigma associated with death in American society can further be exemplified with the language used surrounding it.
For example, euphemisms such as “kick the bucket” and “bite the dust” are used to refer to death while explicitly avoiding it. Ironically, the word “death” is used frequently in language completely unrelated to death (dead serious, scared to death, etc). This actually reminded me of a George Carlin bit in which he joked about euphemisms used in the U.S(discussing death, among other subjects). Because I have read 1984, I was additionally reminded of doublespeak (deliberately obscure wording that can take the form of euphemisms), and how language was distorted to sugarcoat corrupt aspects of the dystopian world.
Some of the influences of death-related stigma have already been introduced in this article, such as the benign violation theory. As long as death is controversial, or perhaps as long as we exist, death will always be a moral violation; therefore, death may always be intrinsically linked with humor.
Conclusion
Humor is a double-edged sword; using humor to cope with disturbing topics has its positives when used in a healthy way (such as the CSI interviews), but can just as easily be harmful (such as the attitudes presented in medicine). The fact that humor is birthed from tragedy, excludes people, brings people together, hurts, and heals is a testament to its paradoxical nature. Or maybe not. I personally believe it is beautiful in a sort of mathematical, primordial way, though. Hope you enjoyed this article, and stay tuned for next month!
Works Cited
“Chrysippus.” New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chrysippus. Accessed July 2022.
Doka, Kenneth J., et al. Death & Dying, Life & Living. Cengage Learning, 2019.
Jaffe, Eric. “Awfully Funny – Association for Psychological Science – APS.” Association for Psychological Science, 30 April 2013, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/awfully-funny. Accessed July 2022.
Kadari, Rajendra, et al. “Fatal Laughter.” Annals of Internal Medicine, 2012. ACP, https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-157-10-201211200-00022. Accessed July 2022.
Piemonte, Nicole M., and Shawn Abreu. “Responding to Callous Humor in Health Care.” AMA Journal of Ethics, 2020. AMA Journal of Ethics, https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/responding-callous-humor-health-care/2020-07. Accessed July 2022.
Urbisci, Rocco, director. George Carlin: Doin' It Again. 1990. Youtube, https://youtu.be/o25I2fzFGoY.
Vivona, Brian D. “Investigating Humor Within a Context of Death and Tragedy: The Narratives of Contrasting Realities.” TQR, vol. 18, no. 50, December 16, 2013, p. 24, https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1428&context=tqr. Accessed July 2022.
