Is a person born with a sense of humor or is it learned?

Sounds like a smart kid. I’d get him involved with word play and puns, have him read books with wordplay. It’s good for the mind and the sense of humor.

I think humor is not innate except for its connection to intelligence. But finding amusement in things comes from being raised from an early age in a playful atmosphere where there is lots of laughter.

I think so too, @zenvelo. My kids all have a good sense of humor because their mom was a nut case! Aden’s mom, Corrie (my middle child,) is probably the most serious of all the kids, so I’m glad to see her deliberately instilling fun and play into Aden.

Playing with kids is so fun. When my grandson, Ryan, was about 3 he was playing with my mom. He was a travel agent. He asked Mom where she wanted to go. She said, ‘Um…take me to Miami.”
He said, “Well, I can’t take you to your Ami because I sell crystals now.” LOLLL!

Judging from this I would say that humor is innate in humans who are not in some way handicapped so that they are unable to appreciate it.

It sounds like your young Aden will have a finly tuned sense of dry wit, a form of humor I particularly adore.

^^^^And I know for SURE they get hiccups!

I’m on a roll.
Ryan, age 4, found an apron in the toy box. Put it on and was instantly transformed into The Greatest Waiter On Earth! He found a pad and pencil and came to where I was sitting, reading, and asked if he could take my order.
I said, “I’ll have a burger and fries.”
“Nope. Don’t have burgers and fries,” he said.
“Ok. Fried chicken and mashed potatoes.”
“Don’t have fried chicken or mashed potatoes.”
“A burrito??” I asked.
“Newp. No burritos.”
“What kind of place is this?” I wailed. “I can’t get hamburgers or chicken or burritos or nothin’!”
Looking at me, the idiot, he very patiently said, “This is Pizza Hut, Ma’am.”
I paused, trying to figure out how I didn’t know this, then said, “Oh. Well. I don’t like pizza.”
“Then why did you come here, Ma’am?”

I think one’s sense of humor is in the DNA but is also the product of family, environment and other factors.

I think every kid on the planet thinks farts are hilarious.

@Dutchess_III My friend’s mom lives in Miami. Her kids refer to it as “Nana’s Ami”

If you have the ability to see the absurd and find it amusing, you have a sense of humor. You can grow up in a family that has no sense of humor and still have one yourself. It helps to have a family that shares that sense and it makes family life more fun, but it’s there or not. I knew someone who explained to me why the joke I told wasn’t possible and therefore not funny. Yeah, right. That’s why it’s funny.
It’s great when kids can use their imaginations to make up absurd stories. Their senses of humor will be in good shape.

@Seek_Kolinahr One of my sixth grade boys came into the classroom and let out a loud one. The kids all reacted and moved away from him. I said, “Did you ever try to light one of those?” That was the end of that.

Personality type has much to do with humor and overall personality style.
Certain types are naturally more serious and others more easy going, humorous and flexible vs. rigid in how they show up.
It has to do with how the brain processes and certain traits/functions are dominant.
My type the ENTP extroverted, intuitive, thinking, perceiving are natural born comedians for the most part and don’t take anything too seriously, we are highly flexible, free spirited creatives and can sometimes be perceived as rather eccentric. haha

@Sunny2 Well said.
After my illness my coworkers tended to treat me like my IQ had dropped 50 points. It was a battle to prove I hadn’t changed, and in fact, was better than I was before.
Things I’d say that they would have recognized as funny before, they tended to start taking it as sign of stupidity.
For example, after my hospitalization, over Christmas break, the pipes in our house started backing up. It was two days before we could get a plumber over there. Every so often they’d just start gurgling, 4 or 5 times a day. Well, in the evening of the first day that it happened Rick and I were watching The Perfect Storm. During the storm scene our pipes started gurgling. It was the first time we’d heard them do it. I looked at Rick with wide eyes, he looked at me with wide eyes…and went and got another beer! What else you gonna do if your house is going to sink to the bottom of the ocean in Kansas!
Mildly funny, right? Well, I relayed that to my co-worker. She just looked at me and said, “There are no oceans in Kansas.”
I pretty much quit talking to anyone about anything that wasn’t work related after that.
Do farts really light?

@Coloma You forgot to mention that you are a extroverted goose.

@Dutchess_III Honk!

My mother swears I laughed when she first brought my pursed lips to her breast…so began a life-long love affair with tits, from feeding time to playtime, contented sigh.

I think it’s a mix of nature and nurture.

I think pretty much every sentient person is born with a sense of humor…but what is funny varies from person to person. Some probably have a sense of humor very outside the mainstream, so we might think that person has no sense of humor at all. Either way, it never hurts to instill a sense of fun. :)

@Dutchess_III So I’ve been told. Picturing 3 or 4 boys in a bathroom trying to prove it, is a giggle in itself, but it could be dangerous if it’s true, I suppose.

Something about….farting in a jar then slapping the lid on, then lighting it….?

It’s innate and present in all cultures.