The Hierarchy of Humor

[Protoclown]

Max, I saw you mention in another thread that recognition humor is lower than a pun, and I know I've seen in the past where you have mentioned where certain types of humor fall, on the low or high end of a scale. I believe I've heard several people (not necessarily you) state that sarcasm is either the highest or one of the highest forms of humor.

But I'm wondering where all of this stuff comes from. Is there actually some sort of clearly defined hierarchy of the different forms of humor that has been established?

Wouldn't most humerous responses be far too situational anyway to classify into any sort of ranking system?