much can probably be said on this topic

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh.” Ecclesiastes 3:4

I think that probably sums it up. Lent would probably not be as much of the right “season” for laughter. I also think maybe laughter is more of thing to keep in private, for those in serious positions. Certainly small children seem to naturally laugh.

We would expect people to not be laughing as much at a funeral, for example.

Ascetics have said the gift of tears is a good thing: a sincere sorrow for sin (for one’s own sins, or that of others?). This would probably seem to exclude laughter at times. Frequently I remember a spiritual writer asking something like, arguing against people laughing: “people will be judged one day, and you can laugh?” Perhaps a bit excessive, but I guess a spiritual attitude might tend towards less laughter?

Regarding the example of Bezos, sometimes laughter is used to break up too much seriousness, which can be helpful for thinking clearly; I think this is probably the function of the laughter in that serious business conversation.

The “unwise” (fools?) might tend towards laughter to excess; this doesn’t mean the wise tend towards never laughing though.

Personality is also a factor; some people are more melancholic, others are “joyful saints”. Some people are scarred by tragedy and keep a kind of humorless silence in response, while others’ lives are something of a festival and so they are naturally joyful which they might express through humor.

I suppose clergy for example are entrusted with a serious profession related to the fate of souls forever; that might tend to “sober” up an individual who reflects on the gravity of such a responsibility entrusted to them, and might tend to have them laugh less. We would also hope to see such people take a responsibility seriously and laughing and joking around too much might make us concerned they don’t take their position seriously.

Of comedy, of course there are classes of “purer clean” jokes, and “dirty or sinful” jokes.

I suppose the archetype of a “wise guy” figure like in literature seems like a person who is stoic and neither given to emotional outbursts of laughter or crying.

There are some people who have trouble taking things seriously and humor can be a distraction for them.