Why We Laugh - By Janet Spencer
Are you a quiet giggler? Or can you let loose with hearty laughter? Your ability to laugh may mean more than you think.
Picture this cartoon: A man is watering his lawn just as an attractive blonde walks by. As he ogles her, he accidentally turns the hose on his dowdy wife, who is sitting on the porch.
Men usually think the cartoon is funny. Women do not. And there’s good reason for the difference in opinion.
We start finding things laughable – or not laughable – early in life. An infant first smiles at approximately eight days of age. Many psychologists feel this is his first sign of simple pleasure – food, warmth and comfort. At six months or less, the infant laughs to express complex pleasures – such as the sight of Mother’s smiling face.
In his book Beyond Laughter, psychiatrist Martin Grotjahn says that the earlier an infant begins to smile and laugh, the more advanced is his development. Studies revealed that children who did not develop these responses (because they lacked an intimate, loving relationship) “developed a schizophrenic psychosis in later life, or simply gave up and died.”
Are you a quiet giggler? Or can you let loose with hearty laughter? Your ability to laugh may mean more than you think.
Picture this cartoon: A man is watering his lawn just as an attractive blonde walks by. As he ogles her, he accidentally turns the hose on his dowdy wife, who is sitting on the porch.
Men usually think the cartoon is funny. Women do not. And there’s good reason for the difference in opinion.
We start finding things laughable – or not laughable – early in life. An infant first smiles at approximately eight days of age. Many psychologists feel this is his first sign of simple pleasure – food, warmth and comfort. At six months or less, the infant laughs to express complex pleasures – such as the sight of Mother’s smiling face.
In his book Beyond Laughter, psychiatrist Martin Grotjahn says that the earlier an infant begins to smile and laugh, the more advanced is his development. Studies revealed that children who did not develop these responses (because they lacked an intimate, loving relationship) “developed a schizophrenic psychosis in later life, or simply gave up and died.”
Adult laughter is more subtle, but we also laugh at what we used to fear. The feeling of achievement, or lack of it, remains a crucial factor. Giving a first dinner party is an anxious event for a new bride. Will the food be good? Will the guests get along? Will she be a good hostess? All goes well; the party is over. Now she laughs freely. Her pleasure from having proved her success is the foundation for her pleasure in recalling the evening’s activities. She couldn’t enjoy the second pleasure without the first, more important one – her mastery of anxiety.
Laughter is a social response triggered by cues. Scientists have not determined a brain center for laughter, and they are perplexed by patients with certain types of brain damage who go into laughing fits for no apparent reason. The rest of us require company, and a reason to laugh.
When we find ourselves alone in a humorous situation, our usual response is to smile. Isn’t it true that our highest compliment to a humorous book is to say that “it made me laugh out loud”? Of course, we do occasionally laugh alone; but when we do, we are, in a sense, socializing with ourselves. We laugh at a memory, or at a part of ourselves. ....
Laughter is a social response triggered by cues. Scientists have not determined a brain center for laughter, and they are perplexed by patients with certain types of brain damage who go into laughing fits for no apparent reason. The rest of us require company, and a reason to laugh.
When we find ourselves alone in a humorous situation, our usual response is to smile. Isn’t it true that our highest compliment to a humorous book is to say that “it made me laugh out loud”? Of course, we do occasionally laugh alone; but when we do, we are, in a sense, socializing with ourselves. We laugh at a memory, or at a part of ourselves. ....
Overflow is shown
Ok, here's FLV video! Larry King; Queen_80_larry.flv
And here's SWF video!
~american-dream.swf~
~american-dream.swf~
You know what to do here -> press the Play button to listen to the recording.