I love to laugh, to crack jokes, and tell stories. Who doesn't though? It seems as of all of humanity is wired to laugh and joke around.

But as a society, why do we joke?

We live in a world full of pain and tragedy. Hell, you can't even talk to somebody without hearing of something bad having happened. As a species, we are prone to create disaster and despair, and thus, we spend all our lives attempting to make something good in the world. Most of the time, we succeed, and we lead long, healthy lives. Other times, people end up wrecking havoc. Whether through sowing disorder through a terrorist attack or breeding hate in some fanatical group, these people cause the rest of society to stand still in shock and horror at what the worst of humanity is capable of.

So we laugh.

We don't laugh because these horrors are humorous, but rather to make us feel better. We joke to hide our own feelings, our anger, and feeling of just helplessness. We laugh because we have to laugh in order to carry on. Humor is a shield we use in order to brace this large and scary world.

But comedy is more than just a shield to be used for protection. In fact, it is also a weapon. Chris Hardwick (from The Nerdist) puts it the best (BE WEARY OF LANGUAGE):

"For example, how many times have you used Hitler as a punchline? Probably more than a few. It's not because you think genocide is funny. It's because you're devaluing a piece of s**t who deserves to rot..."

While very graphic, Hardwick makes some excellent points. Comedy is both our sword and our shield that we use to keep the evils of the world at bay. This is why we joke, why we (as a society) push ourselves to laugh at adversity.