There are few people so devoid of an innate sense of humor that they
do not respond to wit, although often they may manage to successfully
conceal the outward appearances of the response. Sometimes, in fact,
the reaction to the stimuli of wit may not be conscious at all.
There is reason to believe, however, that every person who approaches
what may be called a normal mental plane experiences an unconscious,
if not a conscious response, to wit, humor, the comic, the naive,
caricature, etc. And in those of abnormal psychic tendencies who may
not react to these stimuli, it will be found that they accomplish the
same result by other means--that is, their unconscious mind is relaxed
by other forms of expression or diversion.
The manifestations of the various neuroses in themselves constitute
an unconscious means of relief--although of the most unnatural and
irrational form. They act as a substitute means of gratification.
In behalf of wit, it may be said that, within bounds, it is the
most social type of unconscious gratification. Most other forms
are egotistical, such as day-dreaming, phantasying, dreaming in
sleep, etc., involving only the single individual. They are purely
self-centered means of satisfying the unconscious mind.
Wit, however, has a decided social value, unless of course, it is
carried to unwarranted extremes. And it is primarily among those whose
Unconscious exercises a predominating influence over their actions who
are apt to indulge in wit that tends to be destructive or extremely
unpleasant.
In the first place, wit usually requires a second or third person, and
may involve a large audience, as in the case with professional story
tellers, vaudeville performers, and certain other forms of organized
amusement. Of course, there are plenty of instances where we smile
to ourselves at jokes that come to mind, or upon reflecting on a
witticism that we had once heard. But this, in reality, is an example
of day-dreaming into which we lapse momentarily, perhaps in the midst
of conscious mental effort.
Thus the social value of wit is in making life pleasant and
agreeable--sometimes even when it would be quite unbearable. It is
frequently invoked under very trying or even tragic circumstances. We
have all heard of instances when a grim joke has been passed by some
one in a perilous position.
It invariably relieves the tension in a crisis or at a serious
climax. Notwithstanding our realization of the desperateness or even
hopelessness of the situation, the unconscious relief or satisfaction
which we experience in a joke under these circumstances often lifts
us out of an agonizing suspense. If only temporary, the relief is
nevertheless real and may be a valuable psychic bracer to sustain us in
a time of need.
Even in the presence of death or of some inescapable fate impending,
this tendency is quite universal. Soldiers before battle, and in
the thick of the fight, are known to relieve the suspense by some
expression of wit, however grim. And it is an established fact
in psychiatry that soldiers who are capable of so relaxing their
unconscious tension are less susceptible to shell-shock.
Shell-shock, indeed, is a form of neurosis produced by the abnormal
environment, in which the victim is unable to get relief of the psychic
tension over a more or less prolonged period. As a consequence,
he develops shell-shock, which is a neurosis or type of insanity
that may be almost any degree of intensity, as a substitute form of
gratification of the self-preservation urge. Furthermore, it is usually
successful to this extent: The attack makes the victim useless for
military service, and sometimes any other kind, so he is sent to a
hospital or other institution. But even if not at once removed he no
longer suffers from the agonizing suspense of bombardment. By a very
abnormal process he has been relieved.
Another example of relieving the tension in the midst of death is the
old custom of the Irish wake. This ancient folk tradition of the Irish
race makes full allowance for the psychic needs of the occasion by
permitting light story telling and other expressions of a diverting
nature. The practices of this function unconsciously recognize a basic
requirement of the psyche.
Wit, in substance, is a form of mental relaxation because invariably it
is illogical. And as logic is a development of the conscious mind, the
interruption of concentration, or the deviation from logical reasoning,
affords momentary relaxation.
Among those of so primitive a mentality that the faculty of logic is
at low stage of development or practically non-existent, then what we
consider wit would not to them have the same significance.
For instance, children two or three years of age are prone to make very
“funny” remarks. The expressions sound humorous to us because of their
absolutely illogical construction. But to the child, they are not funny
or humorous, because the infantile mind lacks the perception to realize
that the utterance is illogical. This is the case of an unintentional
misuse of words, resulting in a ludicrous effect.
The child or person of primitive, undeveloped mind laughs at what he
believes to be a joke when he is placed in a position of apparent
superiority. When I get down on the floor on all fours, and my
three-year-old youngster grabs my coat-tails or rides on my back and
bids me assume the lowly function of the quadruped, he is conscious
of a feeling of superiority--as we are in driving a horse. The infant
becomes a very superior person in his mind, and this to him is the real
kind of a joke.
Wit is a diverting short-cut from the stiffness and sober
conventionality so constantly demanded in civilized life. The whole
evolution of civilization has been the history of repressing primitive
instincts. With this constant repression and inhibition there develops
in our unconscious personality a tension of greater or lesser degree.
The ever present tendency of the Unconscious is to relieve this
tension. And anything that contributes to this form of relaxation is a
mental tonic. Of course, an excess of tonic, like an excess of any good
thing, is useless.
Besides wit, petty mischief offers a favorite outlet to the youth and
adolescent. It is the unconscious prompting and striving for some
vogue, indefinite goal of satisfaction which makes gang-companionship,
with all its evil potentialities, so alluring to the boy entering upon
the age of puberty.
A working knowledge of adolescent psychology has taught us that a
substitute form of gratification for the destructive tendencies of
the gang can be obtained by the youth in athletic activities, country
hikes, woodcraft, etc. These diversions offer a healthy outlet for the
pent-up psychic steam that accumulates so rapidly during this critical
period of the boy’s life when he is undergoing profound physical and
psychological changes.
Wit, humor and fun are strikingly in evidence during the adolescent
period. It is conceded for instance that the leading college comic
papers, conducted entirely by youths, many quite inexperienced, contain
better examples of real, spontaneous wit and humor than the national
comic publications, which have a nation-wide field of professional
“humorists” to draw from.
When a semi-civilized being or a person of very low mental status sees
calamity befall another, he may sense a huge joke. It is a joke, not
because the accident or misfortune is illogical, but because it raises
him to a position of greater comparative importance. It amounts to
saying: “You are down and I am up.” The victim is now inferior. This is
immensely pleasing to the unconscious which does not discriminate as to
how the measure of superiority is attained. This quality is typical, in
some pronounced degree, among neurotics, as it is to a lesser extent
among more normal persons. We have all seen examples of the busy-body
type of person who goes around his or her circle of acquaintances,
bringing the latest news of misfortune that has befallen some one.
Notwithstanding the conscious lamentations that are forced upon us, the
eagerness with which the oracle unfolds his story of somebody’s trouble
carries a connotation of pleasure which the student of psycho-analysis
readily perceives. A very primitive Unconscious is being gratified.
The characteristic of wit is its brevity; its quick action; its
spontaneity. “A flash of wit” in its true sense is as well phrased as
“a flash of lightning.” Attempted wit, that results in long, studied
dissertations, no matter how carefully gotten up, is rarely, if ever,
wit. While it may sometimes involve humorous situations, there is
seldom present the characteristic of wit.
The psychology of wit takes into account the intellectual standard of
both speakers and the listeners. Subtle jokes that are appreciated by
persons of keen mind go over the heads of those with less perception.
This tendency is often observed in vaudeville audiences, which are
apt to comprise people of all types and degrees of intellectual
development. A particularly subtle joke is uttered by the performer,
and here and there is an individual in the audience who will “get it.”
A few seconds later quite a large number will begin to snicker and
finally the balance of the audience will start to laugh--for the most
part because they have caught the spirit of the occasion, even if they
have missed the point made by the comedian.
The mother-in-law motive in jokes, which is so universally invoked,
is given a deeply vital significance by Freud in his book, “Totem and
Taboo.”
Among men and women who have had few cultural advantages, wit becomes
less and less subtle and descends to a lower and lower intellectual
scale. Persons under the influence of alcohol, that is, where the
conscious inhibitions are partially lifted, may consider any lewd
remark as quite humorous.
Sex and ego, as in dreams, form the underlying themes for most jokes.
So either of these tendencies may easily veer into the questionable
under the stimuli of their basic sources, especially when the conscious
repressions are relaxed by convivial associations or the influence of
Bacchus.
Some examples of wit are so outstanding in their excellence that they
remain classics for a long time--not for current usage in lieu of the
spontaneous variety, but for better illustrating the characteristics of
a prominent person. These are usually the jokes of faulty logic. Those
associated with the name of Lincoln are almost legion. One attributed
to Wendell Phillips was good enough to stand the test of time, as we
occasionally hear it referred to at this late day.
When asked by a minister why he did not go right into the heart of the
South to save the Negroes from slavery, the abolitionist, in turn,
asked the clergyman why in his search for souls he did not go straight
to hell. The comparison between the South and Hell can hardly stand the
test of logic.
My old school master was a ready wit and a man of unusual intellectual
attainments, although some of his personal habits were rather slovenly,
making him quite a picturesque character of more than local prominence.
One of his petty vices was chewing tobacco, in which he indulged
himself out of school and in. One day the local Methodist preacher,
a close personal friend, chided him for indulging in so unbecoming
a habit, saying, “even a hog wouldn’t chew tobacco.” Instantly the
school master asked him if he wouldn’t chew tobacco. The negative reply
brought the retort, “then you are a hog.” The idea of putting the
dignified parson in the same category as the hog because they had one
evident dislike in common was ludicrous because illogical.
There is the Hungarian folk tale which tells of a blacksmith in a
village who had committed a crime punishable by death; the Burgomaster,
however, decreed that not the smith, but a tailor, must be hanged, as
there were two tailors in the village, but only one blacksmith, and the
crime had to be expiated. This displacement of guilt from one person
to another is contrary to all laws of conscious logic, but not to the
psychic operations of the Unconscious. So consciously, this ridiculous
idea amuses us.
The natural sequel of wit or a joke is to laugh. We have all
experienced the almost unbearable situation wherein our sense of humor
had been touched very strongly, but the proprieties of the occasion
made it imperative that we should not give way visibly or audibly to
our feelings.
As a consequence, we have had the painful sensation of being choked
up with something that should come out or express itself. Thus, we
are under a nerve-racking tension, quite ready to “explode.” Laughter
is the physical demonstration which accompanies the response to the
stimuli of wit, jokes, humor, etc. It is the means of a free and quick
discharge of psychic energy.
Besides the common (or uncommon) variety of good-natured wit, there
is also the well-known brand of wit which causes pain or chagrin
to the person at whom the shaft of witticism is aimed. The cynic,
or perpetrator of this kind of joke, thus exhibits a strong sadist
tendency, which is present in all of us, but in widely varying degrees.
He causes pain to another--and gets pleasure or satisfaction out of it.
On the other hand, those who good-naturedly laugh or pass off a joke of
this kind, are demonstrating a well defined masochistic tendency, which
also is inherent in everyone.
Certain jokes, especially the so-called “practical jokes” are
frequently of an intensely irritating or even destructive character.
The unconscious mind is fundamentally primitive and uncultured, and
takes a positive delight in causing pain and misfortune to others. It
craves excitement. And it is only our hundreds of thousands of years of
human progress, with the consequent development of the social instincts
and the sublimation of the primitive forces in our individual lives,
which overcomes to a large degree the destructive tendencies of the
Unconscious.