Have you ever found something funny and everyone around you is silent?

Have you ever laughed at a joke and there is total silence around you? Or worse, told a joke, laughing hysterically throughout, only to find your listeners half-asleep? "Getting" a joke is sometimes easy, sometimes a challenge, and sometimes it never happens. But, why? What is it that determines what you find funny and what your neighbour does not? What follows is a brief analysis of the differences between one person to the next, and how this affects their sense of humor.

If we can determine what is involved in "getting" the joke, then we can ascertain where some people might fall short, thereby not "getting" it.

Finding something funny:

• One needs to be able to appreciate the humorous situation, by spotting incongruities.
• One must be in the "right state of mind" to feel free enough to laugh.
• One needs to be close enough to the situation to understand why it would be funny, but not too close.