Stupid Jokes for Clever People & Clever Jokes for Stupid People

If you dont understand a joke, its not funny. Alternatively, if you do and dont want to, its also not funny but for a different reason. If we see something as offensive or insulting, its because we dont want to be associated with it: For us, it has a personal meaning, which wed rather not be reminded of thank you very much and so go into an automatic, paranoid defense reaction, in order to block it out of our conscious awareness. If we see it as a joke, its because we interpret it as meaningless, harmless, non-embarrassing that is we dont fear it as disclosure of our personal life or history. You have to speak a language and understand its cultural heritage, to laugh at a joke. Only slapstick is universal humour because it is visual (composed of body language) and emotional (tone of voice indicators). A good joke hides the punchline, so that you are surprised by its revelation much as you would be if you accidentally stumbled over a cliff edge but with less permanent damage.