Throughout history, people have been poking fun at the past. From ancient battles to the more modern conflicts, they’ve somehow found a way to add a dose of humor to the darkest of times. Dark humor is an acquired taste. Not everyone appreciates it. However, some might be surprised to learn that a love of dark humor can be linked to higher intelligence. That’s according to this research paper.
If you love a good, twisted meme and making fun of the times that came before us, you’re in for a treat. The Instagram page darkhistorymemes has over 150 thousand followers, all looking to satisfy their sick sense of humor and inject some fun into history. Keep scrolling for some of Bored Panda’s favorite memes from the page, and don’t forget to upvote yours.
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The might of the sabre-toothed tiger has not been lost with the passage of time, only condensed. Cat owners around the world will attest to this.
If you can laugh at comics, jokes or memes about death, disaster and destruction, you might just have a dark sense of humor. Also known as Black Humor, Dictionary.com defines it as “a form of humor that regards human suffering as absurd rather than pitiable, or that considers human existence as ironic and pointless but somehow comic.”
The dictionary also notes that “Black humor is a kind of comedy that jokes about serious or depressing topics, such as hopelessness, suffering, or death. The ‘black’ in ‘black humor’ refers to the dark or depressing subject matter that is central to such comedy.”
Not entirely true. During the Victorian Age spice mixes/curries began to gain popularity...only they were still rather difficult to source, making them something of a luxury product. It was mainly the wealthier classes, or the gastronomically adventurous, who could enjoy these spices with a degree of regularity. Moreover, the quality of spice mixes were not the greatest--most British spice retailers weren't entirely au fait with preparation and mixing of their wares. (An addendum: I have learnt that staying up at 1am to correct history memes is an unwise life choice.)
Very off topic, but it's funny how just making their portraits smiling makes them look so "modern." Honestly, some of these look like my friends in old-timey clothes. Makes the tragedies that some of their lives became actually sink in even more.
A study published in the journal Cognitive Processing found that someone’s reaction to dark humor might very well indicate their level of intelligence. The Austrian researchers said dark humor purveyors may have higher IQs, show lower aggression and resist negative feelings better than those who don’t like twisted jokes.
156 people took part in the study. 76 females and 80 males, with different levels of education. Each person was shown 12 cartoons depicting various types of dark humor. The cartoons came from German artist Uli Stein’s "The Black Book". The participants were asked if they understood the jokes and whether they found them funny. They also did some IQ tests and had their mood and aggressive tendencies assessed.
At the end of the study, there were three groups of people. “The first group was of average intelligence, with ‘moderate’ levels of aggression. They reported a moderate appreciation of black humor. A second group with high levels of aggression were rated as average in terms of both intelligence and their ability to comprehend the black humor. However, this group appreciated such humor the least of the 3 groups,” reported Psychologist World.
“The final group reported the highest appreciation of black humor. This group was found to have higher verbal and nonverbal intelligence levels, but had the lowest levels of aggression amongst the 3 groups.”
Remember, it's burn the cottages and ravish the women, not the other way around.
Palau has never committed a war crime. It's only existed since 1994 and has a population of 21 thousand people.
Psychologists say humor can be an effective coping mechanism. Even in times of war. Researchers interviewed about 50 former Vietnam prisoners of war. Their study found that the POWs they were suffering from almost zero mental illnesses. And that they had their sense of humor to thank. "Through the creation of humor in a well-defined system of social support, these fiercely independent men learned to rely on their own power and to draw a sense of mastery from each other," noted the paper.
My favorite, though lesser-known story of Diogenes: Diogenes was in the audience of a lecture being given by Plato. Plato had a cup on a table, and used it to illustrate his theory of Forms. He said that this cup was a mere copy of the Form of a cup, which was perfect and gave the earthly cup its "cup-ness" - its defining attributes. Diogenes asked where this ideal cup was, as it couldn't be seen. Plato, tapping his finger on his head, said that Diogenes didn't have the (enlightened) eyes to see this ideal cup. Diogenes asked if he could look at the cup on the table, to which Plato relented. He looked at it and asked, "Where is the Form of the emptiness that is inside the cup?" Plato was a bit taken aback by this, and took some time to consider the question; but before he could answer, Diogenes walked over to him, tapped his finger on Plato's head and said, "I think you will find the emptiness is in here."
A separate, more recent study looked at how Israeli terror attack survivors benefited from humor. “Results suggested that benign styles of humor were associated with survivors’ lower levels of trauma-related symptoms and also had a buffering effect for the spouse,” said the researchers.
Reminds me of the Encyclopedia Brown story where he's called in to determine the authenticity of a sword engraved with "First Battle of Bull Run." Hint, hint!
There's evidence that different types of humor have different effects on our mental health. 686 Italians took an online survey post-Covid. The results were used to investigate the relationship between different comic styles, depression, anxiety, and stress. The study found “irony was positively associated with anxiety and stress. Wit was a protective factor associated with anxiety, while sarcasm was positively related to depression.”
just googled it, here's the translation: Arise, children of the Fatherland Our day of glory has arrived Against us the bloody flag of tyranny is raised; the bloody flag is raised. Do you hear, in the countryside The roar of those ferocious soldiers? They’re coming right into your arms To cut the throats of your sons, your comrades! To arms, citizens! Form your battalions Let’s march, let’s march That their impure blood Should water our fields.
Don’t feel guilty if some of these dark history memes made you laugh. There’s no need to apologize. As the evidence shows, you might be doing yourself and those around you a favor. And your mental health could benefit. On top of that, you might even be classed as a genius. Does your dark sense of humor help get you through the day? Let us know in the comments.
skipped all those ig because I'm sitting here on my computer at 2 am cackling as I read these history memes lol
Ah yes, the Holy Roman Empire that was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire
my grandfather was responsible for the downing of 40 German airplanes during WW2.................................... Worst mechanic the Luftwaffe ever had.
History is told through the eyes of the victor. As such they are always the heroes who were righting a wrong
Yeah especially this awesome dude who fought like hell named OSAMA BIN LADEN! It was all good when he was killing Russians right?
Poll Question
Do you enjoy memes that add humor to historical events?
Yes, they are hilarious!
Sometimes, it depends on the meme.
No, I don't find them funny.
I haven't seen any such memes.
What do I think? I think it's pretty darn stupid to put your website's watermark on every meme when you didn't make any of them.
Oh man, history PLUS dark humor?? I'm fixin to dive on in! (No I haven't gone thru them yet and the comments below are now making me go wehhhh... should I?...)
I'm thinking the poll results show that no one who doesn't like historical memes bothered to read this post.
After the first few they just got terrible.
Load More Replies...What do I think? I think it's pretty darn stupid to put your website's watermark on every meme when you didn't make any of them.
Oh man, history PLUS dark humor?? I'm fixin to dive on in! (No I haven't gone thru them yet and the comments below are now making me go wehhhh... should I?...)
I'm thinking the poll results show that no one who doesn't like historical memes bothered to read this post.
After the first few they just got terrible.
Load More Replies...