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I recently watched Chris Rock's latest HBO special titled Kill the Messenger. His routine, as that of numerous other comedians, highlights his understanding of human nature including evolutionary-based sex differences (e.g., his observation that being broke is a much more serious problem for men in the mating market). Stand-up comedians are not bound by the constraints of political correctness, thus permitting them to discuss otherwise delicate topics. I also recently viewed George Carlin's classic and brilliant anti-religion skit. I often catch the Colbert Report, and always walk away thinking that Mr. Colbert must be a member of Mensa. I can provide countless additional anecdotal examples of brilliant and insightful comedians. Funny guys appear to be highly intelligent notwithstanding the fact that some might argue that Andrew Dice Clay serves as the exception to this observation! Why is humor such a desirable personal trait to possess? Furthermore, why do women place greater importance on humor in a prospective mate as compared to men? Finally, why do male comedians greatly outnumber their female counterparts? The inimitable and at times acerbic provocateur Christopher Hitchens addressed this issue in his January 2007 article in Vanity Fair titled Why Women Aren't Funny.
In 2006, I was invited to give a talk at the University of New Mexico's evolutionary group. During my meeting with the graduate students, a doctoral student (Gil Greengross) described a fascinating study that he was conducting with Professor Geoffrey Miller. If memory serves me right, they were planning to attend comedy clubs to measure comedians' level of humor (how funny they were) as well as their intelligence. They predicted a positive correlation between the two constructs. I don't think that the study in question has been published yet, but related works have been appearing in the literature. See for example the recent study by Daniel P. Howrigan and Kevin B. MacDonald published in Evolutionary Psychology wherein they did find the postulated positive correlation between intelligence and humor. I also highly recommend the paper by Matthew Gervais and David Sloan Wilson on the evolution of laughter and humor published in 2005 in the Quarterly Review of Biology.
The general idea is that humor is a proxy for intelligence, the latter being a sexually selected trait. Humans ascend the social hierarchy in part because of the size of their brains rather than due to their brawn (albeit in some settings such as in male prisons, brawn is a valuable trait to possess hence the obsessive focus on building muscles within the prison yards). Whereas both men and women desire intelligent mates, there appears to be a greater importance placed on intelligence when it comes to female mate choice. Not surprisingly then, men engage in lekking behavior (sexual signaling within a specified physical space) by putting on a full display of their comedic talents.
Hence, to the extent that Steven Colbert is an attractive man, much of his desirability stems from his large brain as displayed via his quick wit and comedic charm. Of course, being tall, handsome, and rich do not hurt his mating value albeit I believe that he is married. Sorry ladies!
Source for Image:
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_5580
