My thoughts Today
Dear Barbara, The ability to laugh is a primary human attribute, and an indispensable characteristic for a successful life. Everybody likes to laugh, have fun and celebrate. But laughter can also be used to mock others. Which begs another question that people often ask: ‘‘Can anything be funny? Can we laugh at everything?’’ The answer is both yes and no. On the one hand, comedy has no limits, and anything can be made to seem funny, even things that are intrinsically tragic. But when laughter is used as a weapon to harm people, by ridiculing or humiliating them, it exceeds its limits and can no longer be seen as comic. There’s another kind of laughter that falls somewhere between the two extremes, and that’s the ability to laugh at yourself, and question your own existence. It’s easy laughing at others. It could be something they say, or a gesture they make that you find amusing. People are funny, animals are funny, and we all have the ability to la...