Eli5 how do babies find things funny ? Like a peckaboo?
In: 6
Peekaboo is funny to babies because they are yet to develop a concept of object permanence.
When someone who is looking at you brings a hand in front of their face, you can no longer see them, but you mind knows that they are still there. That’s why peekaboo isn’t funny to you. Now imagine a person actually vanishing and appearing in front of you, that would be something! That’s what babies see.
I went down the rabbit hole on this when I saw my baby laugh at our dog doing something strange (I think she got up on two legs.) It caused me to realize there’s something innate about humor because we weren’t laughing but it was funny to us.
From what I learned laughter formed from an evolutionary perspective as a way to signal something unexpected but non-threatening.
Latest Answers