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Humor In A Rumor Of Angels By Peter Berger

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In chapter 3 of A Rumor of Angels by Peter Berger he discusses five major signals of transcendence. The signal of transcendence I want to focus on is humor. The way Berger discusses humor is that it is necessary for being human. I think humor, laughter and joy add to life and make it more enjoyable. Berger defines humor as “an intrinsically human trait” (p. 70). I agree with Berger that humor is a human trait, but I do not think we are born with it. I want to focus on when humans start using humor in a form of distraction Berger describes and why Berger thinks we do this. Berger’s thinking that humor can only be linked to humans is interesting to me and not a concept I have ever thought of. There are videos of animals doing all kinds of human like actions, but other than monkeys, there is little evidence that animals recognize humor. Berger thinks that we use humor as a way to distract ourselves from the grim realities of what will happen to us in this world. Humor is a tool used in masking emotion and it is used in making emotions and death seem insignificant. It makes death and other strong emotions seem less serious, making them easier to deal with. If humans are the only ones that are able to experience true humor and express it, I started to think when do we start to use humor in a this way to make death easier. Babies laugh all the time and are always smiling, but I do not think they are intrinsically aware that death is the ultimate end to life physically but not

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