Seriousness vs Laughter (at life)

Another unusual one in that I'm telling you all something you already know (even if only subconcuiously), and doesn't relate to anything in my life at the moment. It's actually in reaction to a book, which I won't name, but that brought it more to my concious attention.

It pointed out that in the face of pain, suffering and emotion, if you are sufficiently detactched from it, all you have to do to dismiss it's importance (and any efforts to emphasise it) - is to laugh at it. By not realising how serious these things are, people can protect themselves from concience if needs be. Concience is the one emotion that connects our own wellbeing to the state of others.

Being able to laugh at a bad thing does in in a small but very shallow and superficial way, make something good come out of it, because laughing is pleasant, and if you can detatch from your own emotions, and laugh at yourself, then you can cope with more severe conditions - hence desensitisation gives strength.

But... laughing at ourselves is different to lauging at others... and even though I can laugh at myself or a situation, I still recognise the seriousness behind it. I believe both seriousness and humour can co-exist, in jokes for example, but also inside. When someone's intention is to produce humour without wanting to really harm (like my uncle jokingly slagging everyone in the family off, but not seriously) - I will laugh along but with the serious intention of boosting his esteem, because the intention (purely to make people laugh) is good.