Knee-slapping in Seattle

Is Seattle the "Least Funny City" in America?  A 2008 on-line article (I'll leave the author anonymous) so claims, quoting from GQ Magazine:

“It’s rainy and progressive and almost kind of European,” GQ observed. “It’s Norway on the Pacific. Norwegians should design wind farms and plan the health care system, but they may not roast people at the Friars Club.”

The on-line author did deny claims that we Seattleites had absolutely no sense of humor.  He gave ten examples of jokes we found funny, such as:  "Knock, knock. Who’s there? Seattle Washing. Seattle Washing who? Seattle, Washington."

As a Seattle resident with Norwegian roots, I respond "we are not amused."  Well, actually, oddly enough, we are amused.  And although I wonder how familiar this guy actually is with us benighted Northwest Corner dwellers, reading his article made me wonder -- what, really, is "humor"?

Intensive middle school level research (Wikipedia) into the sources of "humor" uncovers a revealing description by a psychologist named Peter McGraw:  "humour only occurs when something seems wrong, unsettling, or threatening, but simultaneously seems okay, acceptable or safe."  Although McGraw is a contemporary professor at the University of Colorado, his description simply elaborates on the long-appreciated understanding that humor -- when we think about it -- usually arises from some apprehension of incongruity. 

Humor may well be our way of dealing with the sense of discomfort we feel when we sense the incongruity, a way of releasing the tension.

My pondering of this question -- even before I read the "Least Funny City" article -- began this morning when regarding the behavior of one of my cats.  A cat is a repository of almost every virtue to which we humans aspire (but usually fail to achieve).  But cats do not have a sense of humor.  Not even a glimmer of one.

Nor do other animals.  Dogs may at times appear to find life funny, but that's just because of the way they open their mouths when they pant. 

Cats and other animals are similar to Biblical characters.  "Jesus wept," declares the shortest verse in the Bible, but nowhere is it recorded that Jesus roared with laughter.  It's even harder to imagine Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, or even St. Paul indulging in self-deprecating wit.  They all, like my cat, took life seriously, and understood exactly what life demanded of them.  They saw no ambiguities to be reconciled.  Something that was "wrong, unsettling, or threatening" was simply that -- wrong.  It was never simultaneously "okay, acceptable or safe."

Despite being a Scandinavian Seattleite, I find life generally funny.  I think I have a sense of humor not much different from that of a guy in Brooklyn or Dallas.  I suspect my fellow citizens in the Northwest Corner find Donald Trump at least as hilariously funny as do our contemporaries elsewhere.  But if we nevertheless appear humorless to our fellow Americans, maybe it's simply because -- like Ezekiel -- we are convinced that we have discovered all the ingredients of a life that's both virtuous and satisfying, right here where we live.  Good is good, and bad is bad.  Where's the incongruity in that, huh?

And to return to our anonymous author's on-line article -- as I mentioned, he lists ten favorite jokes enjoyed by us Norgies in the Northwest Corner.  We do have a sense of humor. And they aren't all "knock knock" jokes.

Question: How many Seattleites does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: One.

I rest my case.