A lot of laughter comes from relief. “Boy, am I glad it’s not me who tripped on the stairs or had a soda blow up in my face.” I took a class in college, but all I got out of it besides that fact is knowledge of some truly bizarre Renaissance plays.
Laughter can also be a nervous reaction having nothing to do with humor. It’s like when cats do that “displacement grooming”, while they figure out what just happened.
I think it’s compensation for being aware of our own mortality. What I don’t understand is sleep. Being unaware of our environment for a significant portion of time each day doesn’t seem like a good way to survive.
Watterson commented on how much he liked the visual of Hobbes’ long walk away from Calvin, giving a strong sense of time, and how this was part of the advantage of long Sunday strips.
Charles Barr Premium Member over 2 years ago
A lot of the time, Calvin doesn’t make sense.
BE THIS GUY over 2 years ago
It’s neither funny or scary, but it is necessary.
dadthedawg Premium Member over 2 years ago
Hobbes…..the philosopher.
codycab over 2 years ago
The true answer is because laughter is the best medicine.
Templo S.U.D. over 2 years ago
always thinking of the hard-to-answer questions
Concretionist over 2 years ago
One of my favorites — but then, I almost studied for a degree in Philosophy… before I got smart and got a degree in math.
(yes, that’s a joke… but also true)
C over 2 years ago
It’s funny when it happens to someone else
orinoco womble over 2 years ago
Humour is definitely a survival tool. Without it things become too much to handle.
Alexander the Good Enough over 2 years ago
Aye. Very often these days we laugh lest we cry…
Zykoic over 2 years ago
Life is God’s absurd humor.
Susan00100 over 2 years ago
Hobbes is right; it’s healthier to laugh at things that make no logical sense.
Today’s politics, for example!!
Imagine over 2 years ago
If we couldn’t laugh we would explode from the absurdity.
GeorgeInAZ over 2 years ago
Quite profound! A makes some wonder about randomly selective evolution.
jvo over 2 years ago
Both, It is funny and scary, both.
If not we would be too terrified to cope.
Its just me over 2 years ago
That’s too deep for a sunday.
Walrus Gumbo Premium Member over 2 years ago
And at other times Calvin & Hobbes make more sense than reality itself.
admiree2 over 2 years ago
The Hobbes Defense Mechanism Theory. Yet it still cannot be found in the Journals of Psychology.
djtenltd over 2 years ago
@Charles Barr- And isn’t it amazing that Hobbs always seems to make more sense than Calvin?
Purple People Eater over 2 years ago
A lot of things about evolution don’t make sense.
Prey over 2 years ago
I laugh in the face of adversity – gets me beat up a lot.
Dancing Fox Premium Member over 2 years ago
MS72 over 2 years ago
Yeah, sometimes, a little scary. Don’t get on the FreeFall ride.
rossevrymn over 2 years ago
Laugh or cry, you choose, if you can.
sandpiper over 2 years ago
I’m with Hobbs on this one. If we couldn’t recognize absurdity and laugh about it, our tear ducts would be much more well developed.
vaughnrl2003 Premium Member over 2 years ago
I don’t know how to react to this.
Redd Panda over 2 years ago
Humans want things to ‘’make sense’’, they seldom do.
More Coffee Please! Premium Member over 2 years ago
I love this one!
Otis Rufus Driftwood over 2 years ago
Heavy stuff for a Sunday strip, as per usual.
dmostroff over 2 years ago
Read Arthur Koestler’s “The Act of Creation”
Katzen1415 over 2 years ago
A lot of laughter comes from relief. “Boy, am I glad it’s not me who tripped on the stairs or had a soda blow up in my face.” I took a class in college, but all I got out of it besides that fact is knowledge of some truly bizarre Renaissance plays.
John9 over 2 years ago
I used to laugh to keep from crying. For the last 13 months it’s all tears.
wconer over 2 years ago
Careful Calvin… where there be Tigers, there be “Death in the Tall Grasses” !!
delennwen over 2 years ago
“With all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.” —Jimmy Buffett
mistercatworks over 2 years ago
Laughter can also be a nervous reaction having nothing to do with humor. It’s like when cats do that “displacement grooming”, while they figure out what just happened.
Calvins Brother over 2 years ago
Sometimes, you just shake your head instead.
WCraft Premium Member over 2 years ago
Things that don’t make sense? Since 2020 I’ve been laughing non-stop!
KEA over 2 years ago
I think it’s compensation for being aware of our own mortality. What I don’t understand is sleep. Being unaware of our environment for a significant portion of time each day doesn’t seem like a good way to survive.
BiggerNate91 over 2 years ago
The first panel might be one of the most iconic C&H shots of all time.
mindjob over 2 years ago
Don’t forget, what’s funny and absurd to us may be deadly serious in the alternate universe(s)
kab2rb over 2 years ago
Calvin is right both ways. I know a man who does Sunday class material and he likes to poke fun at himself and others, not in a mean way.
suelou over 2 years ago
I often wonder why we react differently to thing being clean and “in order” than to things being a dirty mess….
Stephen Gilberg over 2 years ago
Ever notice how characters in comedies almost never laugh, yet TV comedies tend to include the sound of an audience laughing?
Jabroniville Premium Member over 2 years ago
Watterson commented on how much he liked the visual of Hobbes’ long walk away from Calvin, giving a strong sense of time, and how this was part of the advantage of long Sunday strips.
Fuzzy Kombu over 2 years ago
It’s both.
hagarthehorrible over 2 years ago
The furball understands the world better than most of us. Sometimes I feel Bill created Hobbes as an alter ego.
kathleenhicks62 over 2 years ago
check with the people that have no sense of humor.
christelisbetty over 2 years ago
It’s why kleptomaniacs don’t laugh at puns…they take everything literally.
Angry Indeed Premium Member over 2 years ago
Hobbes’ philosophical musings are lost on Calvin.
edeloriea14 over 2 years ago
There are moments that “Calvin & Hobbes” reminds me of “Pogo”. (For the philosophical moments.)