Many of these signs may be funny for one person but not so much for another. However, according to experts, puns and wordplay automatically draw laughs because of how our brains are wired. 

“The same words having dual meanings violates our understanding of language, causing incongruity,” neuroscientist and author Dean Burnett wrote in an article for BBC Science Focus. “But there are no harmful outcomes, and our brains not being relentless logic machines means we can accept two interpretations at the same time.”

As Burnett further explains, humor is usually derived from things or events that are “surprising” or “wrong in some form.” However, there must be a resolution without negative consequences. 

“Humor is essentially our brain going ‘This isn’t how things usually work… but I’m okay with it!’” Burnett summarized. “It may sound frivolous, but the neuroscience of humor is no laughing (gray) matter.”

Let’s shift gears and talk about our sense of humor and how it affects the people around us. Self-deprecating humor, for one, makes a person more likable because it shows comfort in one’s own skin. It also has therapeutic benefits, according to author and educator Kendra Cherry. 

“Gently poking fun at the things that bring you down can take the hurt and stress out of them,” Cherry wrote in an article for Very Well Mind. “It won’t make those challenges vanish, but it can make them easier to deal with.”

However, this type of humor has quite a dark flip side. Here’s an explanation from psychologist and professor Chloe Lau: 

“Maladaptive humor styles are positively associated with negative psychological outcomes, including spitefulness, loneliness, sub-clinical psychopathy and Machiavellianism, and parental rejection,” Dr. Lau told Forbes in a 2022 interview.

We compiled some self-deprecating jokes in a previous article. Check it out and maybe use it as a practice to not take yourself too seriously. Here’s one example: 

“I just realized that my life can’t fall apart if I never had it together in the first place.”

On the flip side, you have self-enhancing humor, or the ability to laugh at oneself. But, according to researcher Julie Aitken Schermer, this can also be a double-edged sword. 

“People who engage in that type of humor can cheer themselves up by thinking about positive or funny events [and] experiences,” Schermer told Discover Magazine. “Beyond that, people who use self-enhancing humor are less likely to show signs of depression, loneliness, and poor relationships with others.”

Having a liking for dark humor can mean two things, experts say. According to counseling psychologist Namratha Dinesh, it allows us to have a better handle on a serious situation. 

“Research shows that dark humor enables the individual to assess the situation through cognitive reappraisal and convert the threatening circumstance into something easier to manage,” Dinesh wrote in a LinkedIn article.

Conversely, it could also mean having a dark personality. Psychologist Alberto Dionigi also spoke with Forbes, stating that people with these personality traits may use humor differently. 

“Machiavellians, being unscrupulous and intimidating, may use humor as a means of manipulating others.”

But regardless of what type of humor you’re into, we can all agree that laughter can be the best medicine. And in a literal sense, according to research. 

A study by the University of Maryland revealed that laughing may help prevent heart disease. Researchers found that laughter’s ability to alleviate mental stress also prevented the impairment of the endothelium, a barrier that protects the blood vessels.

"The ability to laugh - either naturally or as learned behavior may have important implications in societies such as the U.S., where heart disease remains the number one killer," said Dr. Michael Miller, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Maryland. 

"We know that exercising, not smoking, and eating foods low in saturated fat will reduce the risk of heart disease. Perhaps regular, hearty laughter should be added to the list."