Why Humor Allows Us to Overcome the Tragedy of Life And Death
Or why life and death are one big cosmic joke.
When I was studying at the university, we had to read a collection of short stories and pass an exam about it. One story we had to read was about a woman who was walking at night and suddenly got hit by a very small meteorite.
A Cosmic Prank
If I remember the story correctly, she was fine, and the whole thing was just a nuisance. She just continued walking. In the exam, the professor asked me to comment on the meaning of that story. I was never good at interpreting literature, but I said something along the lines:
I guess the author was trying to make the point that the whole thing is a joke, our lives are at the end of everything one big cosmic joke. Out of all the possible things that could potentially kill you, you could also get hit by an unlikely meteorite.
The credit is not totally mine, I think the story actually mentioned that the meteorite was a prank made by the universe. What surprised me was what my professor said next: You think life is a joke? Have you ever experienced a tragedy?
