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The Tricks of Laughter
Laughing, chuckling, cackling, giggling--it has many names and remains the most enigmatic aspect of human behavior. Emma Bailey studies a very peculiar habit.
"Calling yourself an evolutionary biologist and not even knowing what laughter is for is really funny.
Here's another date for your diary: May 4 (Sunday), World Laughter Day. Described by its creator, Dr. Madan Kataria, as "a very favorable day for the entire planet," it will be highlighted by groups of people from all over the world getting together to have a good laugh.
Kataria, who introduced this annual event 10 years ago, says we need more laughter in our lives to combat the global rise in stress levels, loneliness and depression. But that's silly, isn't it? Certainly that weird squealing sound we occasionally make cannot be the solution to such serious problems.
If aliens came to our planet and walked among the crowds of earthlings, they would notice that the low hum of speech is constantly interrupted by bursts of louder speech, and that these exhalations split into "ha-ha" fragments. Perhaps they would wonder what the purpose of this strange habit is. If we ask ourselves what causes intense laughter, the answer is obvious: it is a reaction to something we think is funny. However, one scientist, Robert Provine, who has been studying the nature of laughter for almost 20 years, says that humor has surprisingly little to do with laughter. On the contrary, it rather underlies such lofty issues as self-awareness and the development of speech, language and social behavior.
Provine is a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland in the United States, and author of Laughter: A Scientific Study. Early in his research, he realized that you can't put real laughter in the lab, because once controlled, it immediately disappears. So Provine collected his data by being around groups of people in public places, eavesdropping on their conversations, discreetly noting when they were laughing.
Consider the plot.
Over the course of a year, Provine accumulated 1,200 laughter stories - story is defined as the comment immediately preceding the laughter and the laughter itself - which he sorted into speaker (the person telling the joke), listener (the person to whom it is addressed), gender and pre-laughter commentary.
Analysis of these data revealed three important facts about the nature of laughter. First, it is related to relationships. Second, it appears in the process of speech, interrupting the conversation. Third, it is not consciously controlled. "Laughter represents the message we send to others, and it almost disappears when we are alone with ourselves," says Provine. - And it's not our choice. Ask someone to laugh, and they'll either try to fake laughing or say they can't laugh on command."
With these findings, Provine challenged traditional models of laughter--which he believes put too much emphasis on humor--and what people tend to take about it. For example, we tend to think we know why we just laughed. "You might say, 'I laughed because I was embarrassed,' or 'I laughed because it was funny,'" says Provine, "but those are all consequential explanations. Those are not the reasons for your laughter."¹
Perhaps most surprising is that Provine finds that only 15 to 20 percent of the daily comments that precede a laugh are remotely funny. "Laughter usually follows the comment," he says. - "Just observe it in your own life and you'll see that most of the laughter is like a laugh track from the world's worst comedy.
The fact is that we don't consciously control our laughter. It is supposed to be deeply embedded in our nature, programmed by our genes rather than instilled by our environment. Indeed, studies of the play behavior of higher primates show that they had a much longer duration of real laughter than we do.
Chimpanzees laughed while playing "war games," although their sounds differed from those produced by humans because of a different structure of the speech apparatus. Instead of bursting out a single exhalation into the "ha-ha"-sound that characterizes our laughter, the chimpanzees' laughter was similar to a gasp. A recent study of orangutans showed their greater resemblance to humans. A team of researchers monitored the play behavior of 25 individuals between the ages of 2 and 12 at four primate research centers around the world.
"In particular, we analyzed the facial expressions they make during collective play," says Marina Davila-Ross, PhD, of the University of Portsmouth. - It's a relaxed expression when they open their mouth and show their upper row of teeth. It's very similar to the human expression of laughter."
The researchers found that if one orangutan displayed this expression, its playmates would often reproduce the same expression in less than half a second. The rate at which this imitation occurred showed that these expressions were involuntary, in other words, the laughter was contagious. "In the case of humans, imitation is a mechanism that allows us to better understand our social partner, helps us cooperate and make social connections. It is now clear that imitation was formed before the human species," Davila-Ross reports.
Richard Wiseman, professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and organizer of the Laughter Lab (an Internet-based experiment in laughter psychology that involved more than 350,000 people from 70 countries), agrees that laughter is contagious because it helps us bond more strongly with each other. "We are social animals, so laughter is a very useful communication tool, since we are able to feel what those around us are feeling. Laughter is contagious because it helps us communicate and empathize with others," he says.
The fact that we share the laughter trait with higher primates suggests that our ancestors developed it once before separating from chimpanzees 6 million years ago. But it may have evolved even earlier. A study at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA, found that even rats produce squeaks similar to laughter when they play or when they are tickled, although the common ancestor of the rat and humans lived 75 million years ago.
It is difficult to say for certain whether the rat's "laughter" has the same evolutionary roots as the human's, but the fact that it is induced by tickling suggests a close relationship, because, as Provine puts it, "Tickling is the oldest and most verified inducement of laughter. One of the earliest ways in which parent and child laugh and play together is through tickling.
For chimpanzees, tickling is common and remains an important social interaction throughout their lives. Chimpanzees who have been trained in sign language regularly discuss tickling with each other. Laughter and tickling go side by side - the former seems to be a reflex reaction to the latter. It's like the same reaction you get when you get tapped on the knee with a hammer.
Studies of tickling (the preferred scientific term), though few in number, should tell us more about the nature of laughter. For example, we all know that we cannot make ourselves laugh by tickling ourselves. But could some mechanism tickle us?
The tickling mechanism.
To get to the bottom of this question, a team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, created a mechanical tickling machine equipped with a robotic arm and wiggling fingers. They found that their subjects laughed back at the machine just as hard as they did at the experimenter. This suggests that a successful tickle does not depend on a bystander, but only on something else that does not apply to you.
Provine believes that this discovery delves even further into a more complex question than that of laughter. "By considering not our own nature, we discover a way of evaluating ourselves," he explains. - We struggle with a neurological mechanism, both our own and someone else's. Tickling reveals this neurological mechanism to the public."
The discovery that laughter can be used as a tool to explore other aspects of our behavior has been one of the most rewarding aspects of his research for Provine. Perhaps his most important observation concerns the development of speech, a critical event in our history that occurred sometime after we separated from chimpanzees.
Provine believes that the development of speech and uprightness are causally related. He came to this conclusion after analyzing the differences between chimpanzee laughter and human laughter. "It occurred to me that, basically, the human 'ha-ha' came about as a result of the development of breath control, which didn't happen in chimpanzees," he explains. We hold our breath to lift heavy objects, and four-legged animals must do the same when moving to hold their bodies when all four of their limbs hit the ground. When our ancestors stood on two legs, the thorax was freed from these mechanical needs, enabling the development of speech.
"People say that the ability to be bipedal is necessary for carrying infants and for controlling objects in front of the body, but what has not been addressed is that uprightness was necessary for the development of speech," Provine concludes.
Breaking with traditional theories that laughter is a mechanism associated only with humor, and finding its premise in the beginnings of human nature such as speech and sociality, Provine only emphasized how ancient the nature of laughter is. It has existed as long as there has been joking, an activity you see in mammals from rats and squirrels to chimpanzees and humans. An activity that most likely produces the labored breathing or shortness of breath that accompanies this play.
Ultimately, this is a response to feelings of social connectedness, you don't see anything like this in reptiles simply because they are not gregarious animals like mammals. Like a lot of things that make us feel good - food or sex, not to mention the rest - these are behaviors that are at the core of who we are as animals. So, yes, perhaps we should laugh more often to boost our well-being. Perhaps World Laughter Day is not such a silly idea at all.
Emma Bailey, writing editor of Focus magazine.
Ask the expert
Robert Provine, professor of psychology and neurobiology at the University of Maryland, USA.
Why do we laugh?
Laughter is relationship-oriented. We laugh much more often when we are surrounded by people rather than alone. Media is commonly thought of as a social stimulus, so when you watch TV, you laugh at the people in the box. But when you're alone with yourself, not reading, not watching TV, the laughter becomes less frequent.
Why does the urge to laugh and cry sometimes come at the same time?
Laughter and crying are closely related neurologically and evolutionarily. They both appear as signals of change in human behavior. We're pretty good at suppressing them, but it's hard to elicit them on command. In addition, they pathologically occur together, one of the most common symptoms of psychopathology and neuropathology being unexpected laughter and crying. However, an important difference between the two is that laughter is a highly social phenomenon, whereas crying is not. A loner is capable of crying, but almost never laughing.
Why do women laugh more when talking to men?
Women laugh most with men they find interesting or attractive. And men like women who laugh in their company. This shows up in the columns of dating ads. Women tend to ask for a good sense of humor, and men tend to emphasize its presence. But laughter isn't planned - it's a genuine signal and hard to fake. A woman doesn't think, "I want this man to like me, so I'm going to laugh a lot." It just happens. If you learn to read laughter, you can understand what people are really thinking about each other.
How is humor related to laughter?
Humor involves strong linguistic and cognitive components that overlap with earlier laughter structures. Perhaps the oldest joke, and the only one you can assure both children and chimpanzees of, is the fictional tickle, where you act as if you are going to tickle and say something along the lines of "I'll tickle you," and then you don't tickle. Humor is a more cognitive level of play that has evolved recently. If you look at humorous wrestling, that's exactly where it came from. Adults don't usually play catch-up and tickle each other. They have a conversational game that looks like an exchange of pleasantries.²
Make yourself laugh appropriately.
The health benefits of a good laugh
It has long been known that laughter and humor are good for you. Laughter makes us feel good, which is why we pay comedians. When people were asked how they felt after a great laugh "to the point of colic," most of them said, "I feel much more relaxed." In recent years, a number of studies have emerged showing the specific ways in which laughter has surprisingly beneficial effects on our health.
Endorphins
The mere expectation of laughter increases by 27% the production of beta-endorphins, natural painkillers.
Effects on the cardiovascular system
A good laugh causes an increase in heart rate, the equivalent of 10 minutes of rowing or 15 minutes on the exercise bike.
Stress Hormones
Laughter lowers levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, produced by the adrenal glands, which are located in the upper part of the kidneys.
Breast milk.
Laughter enhances the healing effects of breast milk, infants with breastfeeding eczema experience mild symptoms if their mothers have laughed for several hours before feeding them.
Blood vessels.
Laughter is associated with healthy blood vessel function. It causes the inner walls of the blood vessels - the endothelium - to align, enlarging or expanding them to increase blood flow.
Immune system.
Laughter also increases immune system antibodies, such as immunoglobulin A, which helps fight upper respiratory diseases.
Top five tips to help you laugh more
"Hang out" with great company.
The more people you have with you, the more laughter there will be around you and the more likely you are to join one or another group of laughing people.
Increase interpersonal contact
Increasing one-on-one and face-to-face interactions with members of your friendly company increases the likelihood that you will laugh.
Create a relaxed atmosphere
Worry and anxiety kill laughter, so light some candles, put on some music and sit down with your friends for a good laugh.
Be prepared to laugh.
You probably won't be able to believably laugh of your own volition, but you can lower your laughing barrier more by expecting to laugh.
Tickle
This is the oldest inducement to laughter. But be careful, the pleasure of tickling depends on who is doing it - it's best not to tickle people you don't know.
"The Laugh Lab" is a scientific search for the funniest joke in the world. Final Report
Introduction
In September 2001, we launched one of the largest and most unusual scientific experiments in the world. The goal of this project was to find the funniest joke in the world and the answer to an important question from the psychology of humor.
"The Laugh Lab" was implemented as part of Britain's Year of Science and was the largest scientific research on humor ever undertaken. Over the past twelve months, we asked people from all over the world to share their favorite jokes and rate, using the special "Laughmeter" listed below, how funny other people's jokes were.³
"Laugh Lab" captured the public imagination-we received over 40,000 jokes and nearly 2 million ratings. In fact, the experiment was so successful that it recently won a Guinness World Record Award, and the book "Laugh Lab," which includes all of our results and the best jokes, was published Oct. 3 by Random House.
All of the data collected during the year have been stored in the Laugh Lab computers. In December 2001, we published some of our preliminary results - now we have analyzed all the data and are pleased to announce our final conclusions.
Winning Joke
After much careful research, we are proud to announce the winning joke. This joke received more ratings than the others.
Drumroll...
A couple of New Jersey hunters were in the woods when one of them fell to the ground. He didn't seem to be breathing, his eyes rolled up. The other hunter quickly pulled out his cell phone and called 911. Gasping, he told the operator, "My friend is dead! What do I do?" The operator in a calm soft voice said: "Just calm down. I can help. First, make sure he's dead." Silence, then a shot was heard. The guy's voice returned to the line, and he asked: "Okay, now what?"
This winning joke came from Gurpal Gosall, a 31-year-old psychiatrist from Manchester, UK. He told Laugh Lab the following:
"I like this joke because it makes people feel better about themselves and reminds them that there's always someone who does stupider things than they do."
So why does this joke play so well? Dr. Richard Wiseman, the psychology professor behind the Laugh Lab project, said:
"This joke is interesting because it works in many different countries. It attracts men and women as well as young and old. Many of the jokes presented have received high marks from certain groups of people, but this one had real universal interest. In turn, we find jokes funny for many different reasons-sometimes they make us feel superior to others, reduce the emotional impact of anxiety-inducing situations, or surprise us with some incongruity. The hunter joke contains all three elements - we feel superior to the silly hunter, we understand the ridiculousness in his misunderstanding of the operator's words, and the joke helps us laugh at our worries about our own mortality."
In second place.
Second place went to the joke that topped the list when we announced our preliminary results in December.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went camping. After a good dinner and a bottle of wine, they settle in for the night and go to bed.
A few hours later Holmes wakes up and pokes his faithful friend.
- Watson, look at the sky and tell me what you see.
- I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes, - answered Watson.
- And what conclusion do you draw from it?
Watson thought for a minute.
- Well, from the point of view of astronomy it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and probably billions of planets. In terms of astrology, I observe that Saturn is in the constellation Leo. Turning to the science of time, I conclude that the time is approximately 15 minutes past four. Meteorologically, I assume that tomorrow will be a beautiful day. Theologically, I can see that God is omnipotent and we are a small and insignificant part of the universe... And what does it tell you, Holmes?
Holmes was silent for a minute.
- Watson, you are an idiot! - he said. - Someone has stolen our tent!
The joke was sent by Jeff Anandappa, from Blackpool, Britain. We soon informed Jeff that his joke had given way to a joke about hunters, and here was his reaction:
"I can't believe I was beaten in the final. I could have been a contender... I demand a rematch and I warn you, this time I'm going to fight dirty. Have you heard the joke about the actress and the bishop?"
The "league table" of humor.⁴
We asked all Laugh Lab participants to tell us what country they were from. We analyzed data from the ten countries that rated the most jokes. The following "Tournament Table" lists the countries in order of how funny they thought the jokes were:
Funniest:
Germany
France
Denmark
UK
Australia
Republic of Ireland
Belgium
USA
New Zealand
Canada
Nevertheless, interesting differences emerged among the nations concerning the jokes they found funny.
People from Ireland, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand expressed a great preference for jokes involving wordplay, such as:
Patient: "I've got a strawberry stuck."
Doctor: "I have cream for that."
Americans and Canadians preferred jokes in which there was a sense of superiority-either because the person seemed stupid or the other person forced the appearance of being so, for example:
Texan: Did you come from?
Harvard graduate: I'm from where we don't end sentences with prepositions.
Texan: Okay, where are you from, donkey?
Finally, many European countries like France, Denmark, and Belgium have enjoyed jokes that have something incredible about them, such as:
A sheepdog came to the telegraph office, pulled out a blank form and wrote:
"Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof."
The clerk studied the paper and politely told the dog, "There are only nine words here. You can send another woof at the same price."
"But," the dog replied, "then it wouldn't make sense at all.
Also, these European countries enjoyed jokes that gave special meaning to such topics as death, illness, and marriage, which often make us feel anxious. For example:
A patient says, "Doctor, yesterday I made a Freudian caveat, I was having dinner with my mother-in-law and wanted to say, 'Can you serve me butter?' But instead I said: "Stupid cow, you've completely ruined my life."
Interestingly, Germany was an exception. Germans don't express a great preference for jokes of this kind--which may well explain why they ranked first in our humor league table--they have no particular preference; they tend to find a wide range of jokes funny.⁵
Dr. Wiseman left this comment:
These are very interesting results - they suggest that people from different parts of the world have fundamentally different senses of humor. Humor is vital to communication. The more we understand how peoples' cultures and histories influence our sense of humor, the greater our ability to communicate effectively will be.
The best jokes from different countries
The following are the best jokes from various countries:
Britain's Best Joke:
A woman and her baby get on the bus. The driver says, "That's the ugliest baby I've ever seen!" Angered, the woman sits in the back of the bus and says to the man next to her, "That driver just insulted me!" The man replies: "Go over there and tell him off - go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."
Best U.S. joke:
U.S. data turned out to be a bit odd. Dave Barry is a well-known humorist whose columns are printed in many American newspapers. In January 2002, he had the pleasure of devoting an entire article to the Laugh Lab. At the end of that article, he encouraged readers to share jokes that just end with a twist:
"My privates are biting the weasel."
Regardless of weasels, however, the best American joke was.
One day a man and his friend are playing golf on the local course. One of them is about to put the ball in the hole when he sees a funeral procession on the road next to the course. He stops midway through the swing, takes off his cap, closes his eyes and bows in prayer. His friend says, "Wow, that's the most profound and full of feeling moment I've ever seen. You are truly a kind man." The man then replies: "Yes, we've been married for 35 years."