Remember Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks, which raised silliness to new heights of art? “Silly” means “innocent, simple, foolish, imprudent”, from Old English and Old German “seely” and “saeli”, which mean luck and happiness. During anxieties around wars and pandemics we need a Ministry of Silly Jokes. We need a Humour Boot Camp in which “these boots are made for silly walking”.
Because humans are built for laughter it's contagious: someone starts, another joins in, and soon everyone's doing it. Obviously there's some evolutionary advantage here, promoting social peace and mental health. The jolly news is that you can even do it at home alone, for private peace and health. Tell yourself a joke out loud and see whether you resist giggling. (Don't worry, no one's watching.)
Psychologists make serious studies of humour. There should be a special U.N. Institute for it. “He laughs at his own jokes” might seem like a put-down, but maybe he's a clown of genius. There should be a Nobel Prize for that. Jokes, jocosity and jests probably save more lives than mood medication does. They are mental vitamins.
Language seethes with inbuilt humour. Did we build it in, or is it one of the ways Nature keeps us evolving? Humour is pre-verbal, philosophical. Or maybe philosophy (“love of wisdom”) is laughable. How confusing. (Blame it on the scape-joke.)
It doesn't have to be a side-splitter, it could be a mere chuckle a day that keeps the Black Dog of depression away. We say “I had to laugh when …”: lucky you if you had to laugh. Sometimes you have to weep, but you can escape depression if you (drum-roll for the eye-roll ...) just o-pun your mind to silly ("seely") thinking.
(See also: https://justjests.blogspot.com)
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