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Humor can act as a safety valve. Humor sometimes prevents catastrophic detonations of unchecked hostility. It can tide us over rough spots and help make life bearable. It is one of the highest psychic functions and the sine qua non of the civilized man. Humor has its role in sexuality. Used tactfully and sparingly, humor can be an adjuvant in psychotherapy.12, 14 Bergler's excellent monograph1 reviews theories on the role of humor and wit in psychic development and in interpersonal relationships. There are many examples showing how humor is intimately related to the unconscious and how it is similar to dreams and mental mechanisms. Humor tells us about the individual: how he sees himself, how he believes others see him, and how he actually is.
The extraordinary paragnost Jacques Romano,24 who knew Mark Twain, once commented that many of Mark Twain's humorous writings were really a defense against his being overwhelmed by melancholy. Incidentally, Mark Twain himself had many telepathic experiences.5 In my studies of such gifted paragnosts as Gerard Croiset, who has employed his psychic abilities for the solution of various crimes; Joseph Dunninger,3, 4 world-renowned telepathist; Henry Gross, successful Maine dowser;21 and Jacques Romano, I noted that they all had a keen sense of humor. These sensitive, energetic, supremely selfconfident gentlemen of proven psychic accomplishments all had delightful repertoires of humorous experiences and jokes, which seemed to provide them with a necessary respite from the serious, demanding