Nothing Funny About Self-Deception, Researchers Say

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J.) -- Everyone enjoys a good laugh now and then. Well, almost everyone, according to a Rutgers University study.

As you’ve probably discovered, there are people who just don’t see the humor in anything. Take them to a comedy club and you may as well have left them in the car because they’re just not going to crack a smile no matter what.

Rutgers anthropologists Robert Lynch and Robert Trivers claim the problem with non-laughers is that they are masters in self-deception, that is, they don’t pick up on the absurdities in life. As a result, these seemingly joyless people are missing out on what the rest of us might find hilarious.

Lynch and Trivers explain, “Humor often involves seeing something from a novel angle, with surprising and pleasing effects. But if you are practicing self-deception and blocking out certain angles, you will, when these angles are exposed, fail to see the absurdity and fail to enjoy the humor.”

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