A Cheezle in a mousetrap In an advert for Cheezles (a cheese flavoured snack) two mice are discussing the risks of trying for a Cheezle. One says “It’s worth a crack, Nigel”. Nigel apparently tries for the Cheezle, and there is the crack of a mouse trap, and the other mouse says “Nigel? Now the original ad was, most people would agree, very funny, even if my exposition lacks something.

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However it deals with something which could be considered tragic, the death of the unfortunate Nigel. Humour is strange, almost beyond belief. The tragic is often funny. Death is a constant theme in humour.

Disfigurement is also a common factor. Atheist Guide To Reality Pdf. Other factors are sexuality, criminality, embarrassment.

From a different point of view, it’s about surprise and conflict, and a certain discontinuity. But I think that it is impossible to define humour. Juvenile seagull. It obviously doesn’t see the humour in this situation. It is probably the only human trait which might be totally absent in ‘lower’ animals.

I don’t know of any case where a human trait is totally absent in animals, but it may be merely that I haven’t come across humour in animals. It is my contention that no trait in humans is not demonstrated to a lesser extent in ‘lower’ animals. Maybe there is a chimp snatching another chimp’s plaything and then sniggering when his victim can’t find the toy. The Internet has anecdotal evidence that animals can demonstrate humour, but nothing too convincing. Or maybe I didn’t search for long enough to come across any in-depth studies. Animals show joy, a certain self-awareness, disappointment, anger and many other supposedly human traits. They can learn, remember and generally demonstrate that they share our attributes, maybe to a lesser extent (though I feel that for many animals it is not much lesser than humans).