Summary

The article “The Link Between Happiness and a Sense of Humor” by Arthur C. Brooks begins with a joke. This is followed by the author’s explanations to why the joke was successful and how the readers’ brains reacted to it. 

Brooks argues that finding humor in life is an essential part of being happy. This ties in with the title of his article. After he describes the six components of having a sense of humor, Brooks explains that enjoying funny things improves the quality of life. He gives the example of a study in which a group of senior citizens was exposed to daily doses of humor, while another was not. The results showed that the senior citizens who consumed humor reported an increase in their quality of life and a decrease in loneliness and pain. 

Brooks draws attention to the fact that humor can be either positive or negative and that people sho...