what is the significance of humour in life?

What is the significance of humour in life? What are the limits of humour? What do we laugh at and when should the laughter stop?

The aim of this essay is too determine the significance of humour in life. To establish what things we laugh at and discuss if there is a limit to humour. Is there a point when the laughter becomes a mockery of a serious social and political issue?
Primarily I will investigate the theories of humour and laughter, then focus on the limits of humour and if there is a point when the laughter should stop.

After reading various researches on humour I have discovered it is very difficult to define the concept satisfactorily. Goldstein and McGhee (1972:21) believe that humour cannot be defined “…for the simple reason that there is no single definition of humour acceptable to all investigators in the area”. There are sociologists and anthropologists who look at the social processes by which humour occurs and psychologists who look for the mental proces...