The Evolution of Laughter

You’re a caveman and it’s dark outside. You and your caveman buddy are chowing down on the remains of a mastodon when suddenly, beyond the perimeter of firelight, you hear the unmistakable growl of a saber-toothed tiger. As a reaction to danger, your friend leaps headfirst into the stinking wooly mammoth remains, while you take a stick from the fire at hurl it at your would-be attacker. The stick’s glowing embers frighten the tiger and it runs away into the night. Your body is pumping with adrenaline, but as relief settles in and your friend emerges from the massive corpse, you look at each other and laugh. Thousands of years later, researchers will say that your laughter was the first of its kind.

In The Beginning
Doctors and scientists say that world’s first laugh was likely a gesture of shared relief at the passing of danger and indicated trust in one’s companions. This also points to the idea that the purpose of laughter is connected to creating and strengthening human relationships. Researchers say that laughter occurs when people are comfortable with one another, and the more laughter there is, the more bonding that occurs within the group. This bonding-laughter-more-bonding loop, combined with the desire of wanting to be part of the group, is likely another reason why laughter is often contagious.

Employee See, Employee Do
Ever notice in a meeting, that when your boss laughs, so does everyone else? Studies show that this isn’t just because they’re brownnosers. It’s because bosses and leaders tend to use humor more than their subordinates, as controlling the laughter of a group is a way of exercising power via the emotional climate. Laughter evolved to change the behavior of others. Like when you’re about to get in a fight, if you make a joke, the risk of confrontation may lessen if others join in. Or you could get punched in the face, depending upon the joke’s effectiveness.

What Laughter Has Become
Many researcher who have studied laughter the way an animal behaviorist might study a dog’s bark or a bird’s song, believe that laughter has become a social signal—sometimes a welcoming sign, and sometimes a threatening one, depending upon the type of laughter. Studies have proven this by showing that you’re 30 times more likely to laugh in a social setting than when you’re alone. This even holds true, if you’re whacked out on nitrous oxide, or laughing gas. In short, if you want to laugh, find some friend instead of huffing all the whipped cream. Or at the very least, share it.