“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart
in her husband's lap.” That was the world’s oldest recorded joke, first told in 1900 BC
in what is now southern Iraq. Obviously, toilet human was just as popular back then as always.
The joke itself may not be very funny now, but in 1900 BC it would have caused people
to crease up with laughter. But why? How come when we’re told a joke or when someone falls
over or when we’re just in an awkward situation – this strange gargled, grunting noise comes
out your mouth? What on earth is laughter and why do we do it? Let’s find out.
Laughter is the most universal form of communication. Unlike language which can just as easily divide
people, laughter brings people together. And unlike language, everyone in the world understands
laughter. And when I say everyone I mean everyone, because human beings are born with the ability
to laugh, we don’t learn to laugh, it’s a basic human instinct.
Laughter is powerful, it can create powerful bonds between individuals. Laughter is often
a part of the human mating ritual as well. And some people even believe laughter can
heal you. Oh, and laughter can also be a force for evil, but we’ll get to that later.
One of the most surreal aspects of laughter is that, apart from fake laughter, we don’t
decide when to laugh, it just comes naturally. This is strong evidence that there’s a good,
causational reason why humans laugh - such a natural and instinctive trait doesn’t
just come along by accident.
But here’s the kicker. What if I told you that laughing has nothing to do with a person’s
sense of humour? When we laugh it’s not just because the other person told us a joke
that fits in with our taste in comedy, in fact we laugh for a completely different reason.
Laughter isn’t about humour, it’s all about being social, it’s about fitting in
and accepting others.
In a study that was carried out over a ten-year period it was observed that most laughter
does not follow a joke. In fact, the researchers observed that when a joke is told the person
telling the joke is much more likely to laugh that the recipients of the joke. The vast
majority of laughter actually follows simple statements and questions such as “Hey John,
where ya been?” and “How did you do on the test?”. They don’t sound particularly
funny and that’s because they’re not. In these situations, people laugh, not because
the statement is funny but because it helps to strengthen social bonds.
Laughter is a means of acceptance of what the other person is saying – a way of demonstrating
that you’re both “on the same page”, without having to use a single word. Laughter
is a way to show the other person that you appreciate what they’re telling you. It
can demonstrate that you like someone and is sometimes used to diffuse awkward situations.
You’re thirty times more likely to laugh when other people are around than when you’re
alone. Which just goes to show that laughter is much more about bonding than humour. You’re
also more likely to laugh when you’re with your friends as opposed to strangers. Because
you’re more inclined to bond with your friends.
It’s believed that laughter evolved from the panting behaviour of our primate ancestors.
If you tickle an ape or gorilla, they will produce an exuberant panting noise. That noise
is a primate’s version of laughter. But not all animals laugh, so far we’re only
aware of two animals that laugh, apes and rats. But there may be others that share this
ability, so get out there and start tickling random creatures.
It’s believed the reason that primates evolved the ability to laugh is because it was an
effective means of communication and a way to strengthen bonds with their fellow beings,
long before the inception of language.
Apes can often be seen tickling each other whilst playing, all the while laughing, although
from our perspective it would appear to be joyful panting. If you’ve ever observed
this behaviour you will notice that before long the entire troop of apes will be merrily
panting in unison. This is because laughter is incredibly contagious.
In fact, a great way to make someone laugh is just start laughing yourself. Although
this works remarkably better if your own laughter is real, not faked. The human brain is unbelievably
good at telling the difference between fake laughter and real laughter.
Laughter is so contagious that in 1962 in Tanzania there was a laughter epidemic. It
all started when three girls started laughing in a school in Kashasha. Before long the entire
school was erupting in fits of laughter. It was so bad that the school had to close. The
laughter soon spread to neighbouring villages and before long it had affected hundreds of
people. The laughing plague lasted for a staggering eighteen months after is started. In total
over a thousand people were infected with non-stop laughing for days on end and people
reported symptoms such as pain, flatulence, attacks of crying and random screaming. Laughter
sure is a powerful thing.
But with great power comes great responsibility. For laughter can be used for evil. It’s
true, there’s a dark side to laughter. Remember when bullies would laugh in the playground
whilst causing another person upset and misery. That’s because scientists believe there
are two kinds of laughter. The first is spontaneous laughter, that’s the kind when we laugh
with our friends or when someone tells us a joke. The other kind of laughter, non-spontaneous
laughter, includes fake laughter, nervous laughter and evil cackling, the kind of laughter
you might hear from a villain in a James Bond film.
Psychologists believe that this kind of laughter is used to show superiority and dominance
over another. When militants and gangs attack people they have often been witnessed to laugh
whilst doing it. But why? Someone being violently attacked is certainly no laughing matter.
It’s believed that laughter is used in such circumstances to form a bond between the attackers
and to exclude the victim, making them feel isolated and therefore frightened. Laughter
helps to assert the attacker’s dominance and makes them feel more powerful.
So to summarise, when we laugh we are accessing and utilising an ancient evolutionary communication
system, that not only helps to create relationships with other humans but to also maintain and
strengthen them. We can also use it to regulate emotions, show dominance over others and even
to create fear.