Humor is all around us. From a joke people hear to funny tweets that people read, humor is prevalent wherever people go, and for good reason. Humor has numerous benefits, ranging from social interactions to health. One article, by Janet Gibson, even referred to it as, “an essential, fundamental human behavior.” Now let’s get into the why.

           According to that same article, humor has been shown to have a plethora of benefits socially, such as making others feel good, growing intimacy between two people, and even helping to deal with stress. If humor has the ability to make people feel better and grow closer with others, why do people even doubt its benefits?

           Staying in the social realm of humor, one big benefit of it is how it’s viewed by potential mates. One article, by Gil Greengross, describes the importance of humor in relationships and its role in attracting mates. “There is abundant cross cultural evidence,” Greengross states, “that shows that being funny makes you more desirable as a mate, especially if you are a man.” Logically speaking, it makes sense that humor is a desirable trait for people to have. As stated earlier, it allows people to connect more and become more amicable towards one another.

           Now, the health aspect of humor. According to an article by Ultius about the ramifications of humor, the author discussed health benefits. Ultius states, “one study in Japan showed that humor reduced allergic reactions in patients, while another showed that humor causes an increase in certain molecules in the mouth that help to fight bacteria and the like from entering the body.” Humor is not only healthy physically, but it is healthy mentally. Ultius also mentions how laughter allows people to deal with tough situations better, such as “family situations that may be difficult for a child to cope with, like divorce.” Humor is such an important trait to have, as it has social and health benefits. This is why we must keep it in the world, and not try to alienate it as a problem and remove it.