Incomplete Thoughts on the Human Problem: Humor - Part 1

I'm starting to believe that our problem as humans is that we have been programmed to enjoy and reinforce (through laughter) two fundamentally opposing directions - Pleasure from new experiences and connections with those we determine are equal or above us & Pleasure from avoiding new experiences and disconnections with those we determine are below us.

Our compass has no north...

Let's start with the established theories on Laughter & Humor:

There's Icongruity Theory,
We laugh and go in the direction of those that surprise us and we admire. We believe they are better than us, or at least as good - Those beings challenge what we expect and give us something completely different. We enjoy and go in the direction of those who challenge and teach us something new - we are inferior, or at the same level. We experience a laugh reward when we bond with a higher being because we are now safe (we've learned something new).

But then there's Superiority Theory,
We laugh and go in the direction of those that don't surprise us and we condescend. We believe we're better than them - These beings confirm what we expect and give us what we've always known: We are safe and strong, as long as another is in danger and weak. We hate and ignore those who we believe are below us - we are superior. We experience a laugh reward when we see someone else hurt.

And still there's Relief Theory,
We laugh when danger is relieved and we become safe. A bear is attacking you? You run away from the bear? You laugh and experience the pleasure that laughter brings, so as to reward and reinforce the preservation of your life.

Further description, one page here: http://people.howstuffworks.com/laughter5.htm

I think that the evolution of our Laugh Function was in this order:

1. tickle laugh (bonding with others = connecting with people creates pleasure)
2. Relief laugh (bonding with experience of safety = disconnecting with bad experiences creates pleasure)
3. Superiority laugh (bonding with others and experiences of being safe due to perceived superiority of something else = discconnecting with people and experiences creates pleasure)
4. Incongruity Laugh (Bonding with others and experiences that teach you that you're not superior to something else, and you can learn = connecting with people and experiences creates pleasure)

The most evolved is #4

I'm posting incomplete thoughts. It's late. Feel free to expand upon these...

I'll continute later.