Why Do We Like Dumb Jokes?

​We all love dumb jokes. Don’t try to deny it!

We pretend to hate the jokes. We groan theatrically when we hear the punchline. We pretend to slap the person who made us sit through the dumb joke. The joke-teller laughs loudly at our indignation, knowing that the real joke was tricking us into being momentarily interested in a joke before realizing that it was gonna end in such an obnoxiously cheesy manner.

But seriously, we all love the dumb jokes. The dumb jokes bring us together. The dumb jokes are the jokes that everyone in the group can understand. People can smile at a witticism by Oscar Wilde, but they will never laugh as uproariously as when Moe smacks Curly in the head with a two-by-four.
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​I have sat at many a table where I was the only person who could not speak French or Korean,… or at least could not speak those languages well.

What broke the ice? A dumb joke.

I needed jokes many times in my life that were dumb enough and simple enough that I could tell them with my poor French language skills. I also needed the jokes to be funny enough that even the people struggling to understand me could laugh.

The dumb jokes did the job.

Even now hearing third graders snicker about reading “Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid” is oddly comforting. Even the toddler who is only three months out of diapers will think it’s hilarious to point at his younger still-diapered sibling and laugh “Poop! Poop!”

And if you think our ancestors were above it all, you will be in for a surprise.
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The dick jokes people have found in old Anglo-Saxon literature are legendary.

​(LOL, you think the joke is about a penis but it’s actually about an onion! Lol!)
The ancient Europeans had a lot of jokes like that.

​It’s a key. You know, for a lock?

LOL.

You laughed though, didn’t you? You laughed here, and now, in 2023. You laughed at a joke that someone wrote in the 10th century.

Just remember that! If you ever accidentally time-travel back to England in the late 960s AD, you can still chat with the locals if you know a few dumb jokes. Preferably jokes about dicks.
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It’s a weirdly comforting thought.