The Laugh Heard 'Round the World

by Rubel Shelly

    An experiment was conducted in Britain to find the world's funniest joke. It was, if you will pardon my use of the term, a very serious study done by Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire. More than 40,000 jokes were judged, and nearly 2,000,000 ratings were submitted by persons around the world.

    Dr. Wiseman discovered that people in different parts of the world have different tastes in humor. People in Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand prefer jokes involving word plays. Canadians and Americans gravitate to jokes that have a character who is made to look stupid. The Germans, who are not notable for their sense of humor, had no distinctive preference in jokes.

    But enough suspense! Here is the joke that won first place across lines of geography, gender, and age . . .

    Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services.

    He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?"

    The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard.

    Back on the phone, the guy says: "Okay. Now what?"

    All right, don't groan! That was the winning joke, after all. But what does it have to do with you and me? What's the point for our duties today?

    All of us would be wise to include a dash of humor into our workplaces and classrooms. Several studies have shown that organizations able to integrate fun into work have lower levels of absenteeism, increased productivity, and greater job satisfaction. The same research says that leaders with a sense of humor build higher levels of team spirit and have a far better chance of getting through crisis situations and organizational change with positive outcomes.

    Working hard shows commitment and responsibility; humor shows you are human and are willing to break down barriers. So maybe that bumper sticker we've all seen isn't such a bad motto: "Work hard. Play hard."

    "A cheerful heart is good medicine," says the Bible, "but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22). So perhaps we should all lighten up a bit. God is honored by healthy laughter as well as by fervent prayer.

Posted: 01/15/2003
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200301/20030115_laugh.html

(c) 2003 Rubel Shelly <FaxOfLife@woodmont.org>. Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly's "FAX of Life" printed each Tuesday. See <http://www.faithmatters.com> for previous issues of the "FAX of Life."

(c) 1996-2006, Heartlight, Inc.