Dear Funnybone,
Let’s be honest.
If philosophy can’t laugh, it’s doing it wrong.
Somewhere along the way, we decided that “serious questions” require serious faces. Furrowed brows. Deep voices. Intellectual posture. But the great philosophers always knew better.
Socrates played dumb.
Diogenes lived in a barrel.
Zen masters answer profound questions by bursting out laughing.
Why?
Because laughter is what happens when the ego trips over reality.
And that’s a good thing.
Most of our suffering comes from taking ourselves just a little too seriously –
our opinions, our identities, our plans, our certainty, our narratives about who we are and how the world should behave.
Laughter loosens the grip.
It says:
“Oh… right. I’m not the center of the universe.”
“I might be wrong.”
“This isn’t as catastrophic as my inner monologue suggests.”
That’s not nihilism.
That’s freedom.
To laugh at yourself isn’t to belittle yourself.
It’s to forgive yourself.
It’s recognizing the comedy in our contradictions:
Wanting peace while checking email compulsively.
Preaching patience while yelling at traffic.
Seeking meaning while losing our keys again.
Laughter is philosophy’s pressure valve.
It lets the air out of the overinflated self.
It turns rigid beliefs into flexible ideas.
It reminds us that wisdom doesn’t always sound profound –
sometimes it sounds like a snort-laugh at your own nonsense.
And here’s the secret:
If you can laugh at yourself, no one else can really hurt you with their laughter.
Because you got there first.
Gently.
Honestly.
With humor instead of armor.
So today, if you catch yourself being dramatic –
about work, relationships, politics, the meaning of life –
pause.
Smile.
And ask:
“Is this one of those moments I’ll laugh about later?”
If the answer is yes…
you’re allowed to start laughing now.
Tell me, Funnybone –
When was the last time you let yourself laugh with your humanity instead of fighting it?
Doubled over,
~ The Radical Left