• Question: What makes us laugh?

    Asked by mwilliams to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 21 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by bsykes, kclark, annelouise372.
    • Photo: Drew Rae

      Drew Rae answered on 18 Jun 2011:

      Hi there guys. Laughing is a social action – it is a thing we do to communicate with other humans. Some people think we evolved laughter before we evolved speaking. We certainly aren’t the only animals to laugh, and all the other ones that do are animals that form groups.

      Laugher doesn’t just come from happiness – it can come from stress as well.

    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 18 Jun 2011:

      Funny things :P….
      As drew mentioned laughing is a social action that we use to communicate emotion.

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 18 Jun 2011:

      Hi mwilliams, bsykes and kclark!! Tickling makes me a laugh, A LOT! How about you?

      Drew’s got the major details covered about why we laugh. But I want to add that in addition to being a mechanism of social communication, it may also be a way to reduce stress. We laugh in reaction to certain stimuli, mostly stress (such as tickling!), and laughing serves as an emotional balancing mechanism so we can deal with that stress. So, the mantra “laughter is the best medicine” may be right on!

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Hi guys!

      We laugh at a number of different situations – often not at jokes!! (especially “Dad-jokes” …they are usually NOT funny!!). It’s generally an involuntary response that’s thought to be a way of strengthening human connections!

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