Why do humans laugh? How does our brain determine what’s funny and what’s not?
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Like most things with the brain, we don’t know.
It seems to be a social thing. We laugh because other humans laugh and joking and laughing are a way to build relationships. Remember, humans ability to communicate (and teach) is our biggest evolutionary advantage.
There does seem to be a part of the brain that has the job of predicting what will happen next. This is to anticipate danger and such, yes, but also during conversation you are planning your response. So what happens is that you hear the set up to a joke, and your brain starts to predict what will happen in the rest of the joke. But then the punchline is unexpected and it trips up what your brain predicted. And for some reason, we find that dissonance funny. Of course, context matters a lot and the difference between an unexpected joke and an unexpected scare is all about that context.
Current thinking is laughter is an evolved behavior to help humans living in groups get along – this was very important as living in complex groups is one of the reasons humans are such successful animals.
It’s not yet known *exactly* what’s happening in your brain that causes you to laugh though.
Laughter is communicating a kind of “all clear” signal, letting everyone around you know that things are ok, you’re ok, etc…
Humor has evolved over the years to tickle the brain’s sense of itself, it’s safety, it’s understanding of the world, and many more things.
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Evolutionary Predationist here: It’s little-known, but “humor” is actually a stress response. Specifically, it’s a response to situations which cannot be easily classified among “known stressors”, such as predators, environmental hazards, or the like.
When presented with an unfamiliar or unexpected condition, the mind doesn’t immediately “know” how to react. This is a form of stress, but as the stressor is unexpected, the mind hasn’t developed a specific, situation-appropriate response.
Socially-based creatures have actually evolved a ‘catch-all’ response to such unexpected stressors. This response typically manifests as a distinct, involuntary vocalization which alerts all nearby members of the ‘pack’ to the occurrence. Greater numbers allow the group to analyze the event in greater safety. Among humans, this vocalization is well known as laughter.
Comedy is essentially the art of manipulating this stress response in such a way as to be considered pleasurable. Furthermore, I’m talking completely out of my ass. I’m a musician. There’s no such thing as an “Evolutionary Predationist”.
“A joke is an uncomfortable truth told… ” Anyone know this quote? I can’t recall it
God has a sense of humor, and if we’re made in God’s image, we, too, have a sense of humor, even the darkest souls among us.
What makes me laugh isn’t just a brain reaction to stimuli. I’m aware that I am more than my brain and my response to something humorous. There’s something in our soul that allows us to feel pleasure from laughter. It makes our body, brain, heart and spirit happy for reasons beyond, “1 + 1 = 2”.
Laughter is something we are literally born with, outside of brain damage that inhibits that natural birth right.
9/10 times it’s a choice.
Most here are touching on the knee-jerk reaction aspect (1/10). But like any other evolved emotional response, it’s something you choose to entertain or not to entertain. Lots of pessimists, optimists, and clowns out there. How you behave in any moment is up to you.
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