Discussion: Arthur C. Brooks' view on humor

Your exam task asks you to discuss briefly Arthur C. Brooks’ view on humor in the article “The Link Between Happiness and a Sense of Humor”.

Brooks believes that happiness and humor are connected. In the first half of the article, Brooks mainly backs up his ideas with scientific facts that are hard to argue against. For example, he believes that “consuming humor brings joy and relieves suffering” (l. 16) and he supports his idea with the help of a study provided by the Journal of Aging Research:

At the end of the experiment, the people in the first group reported feeling 42 percent happier than they had at the beginning. They were 35 percent happier than the second group, and experienced decreases in pain and loneliness. (ll. 18-21)

Brooks also believes that having a sense of humor does not necessarily mean being a happy person. He backs up this idea with the results of an experiment “p...