Needless to say, X (still Twitter in many people’s minds) is brimming with comedy gold, as some users manage to present the joys and struggles of everyday life in a more amusing way than some stand-up comedians do. But whether it’s said comedians or posts on X, or anything else, for that matter, that lifts up your spirits, as long as you’re laughing, the source doesn’t really matter.
The reason why it’s important to laugh is because it can have numerous benefits to our well-being. In a recent interview with Bored Panda, a linguist and humor scholar, Dr. Don Nilsen, pointed out that laughter and smiling are important on a daily basis because they are medically and psychologically restorative. “Like pets, family members, friends, music, and even sleep, laughter and smiling restore the body and mind.”
While many things can make us both smile and laugh, the two expressions don’t necessarily convey the same feeling or state. “Robert Provine says that most laughter is not a response to jokes or other formal attempts at humor.” Dr. Nilsen noted, discussing the reasons why we laugh. “Salvatore Attardo adds that laughter may be caused by all sorts of non-humorous stimuli—tickling, laughing gas, embarrassment—and can be triggered by imitation (watching other people laugh). Giles and Oxford list seven causes of laughter: humorous, social, ignorance, anxiety, derision, apologetic, and tickling. Jodi Eisterhold discusses the ‘principle of least disruption,’ which ‘enjoins speakers to return to a serious mode as soon as possible.’
“Because smiles can sometimes evolve into laughs and laughs can taper off into smiles, some people think that laughter is merely a form of exaggerated smiling. However, smiles are more likely to express feelings of satisfaction or good will, while laughter comes from surprise or a recognition of an incongruity.”
“Laughter is our response to the perceived absence of sense in the world surrounding us,” suggested Dr. Jure Gantar, an expert in theory and criticism of comedy, laughter, humor, and wit, delving deeper into the incongruity-based emotion. “When we laugh, we relate to others who we are not. Because our identities differ, the negative space of our identities differs as well. There are a few issues on which most people agree, but no views that everyone shares. That is why our sense of humor is the fingerprint of our mind.”
In Dr. Gantar’s opinion, each time we laugh, we reestablish ourselves as rational beings. “This means laughter is as important for our daily lives as any other mental act. Laughter may often be involuntary, but it always indicates our ability to reflect,” he claimed. “If I can paraphrase Descartes: ‘I think; therefore I laugh’.”
The co-founder of the International Society for Humor Studies, Dr. Don Nilsen, pointed out that, in some people’s eyes, laughter is more of a public event, while smiling is basically a private one. “Guiselinde Kuipers says that ‘to laugh, or to occasion laughter through humor and wit, is to invite those present to come closer.’ She says that laughter and humor are like an invitation, in that their aim is to decrease social distance’,” he noted.
Dr. Nilsen continued to expand on the thought of laughter being a social phenomenon. “That’s why ‘getting the giggles’ never happens when we are alone,” he said. “In contrast, people often smile when they are reading or even when they are having private thoughts.
“Smiling is not contagious, but laughter is. That’s why radio and television comedy performances often have a laugh track. Furthermore, people cannot tickle themselves because the cerebellum in the lower back of the brain somehow sends an interfering message to the part of the brain that controls laughter,” the expert explained.
During the interview, Dr. Don Nilsen told Bored Panda about a study carried out by Anthony Chapman, in which he compared the actions of a group of children who knew they were being observed with a group who did not know they were being observed. “The children who knew they were being watched laughed four times as often as did those in the other group. However, they smiled only half as much. Anthony Chapman concluded not only that laughter can be good or bad, depending on the situation. But he also concluded that humor is both the cause for laughter, and the result of laughter. That’s why humor and laughter are so closely associated.”
“The reason that some people find a joke or an anecdote funny, while others might find the same joke or anecdote offensive, is mainly due to embodiment,” Dr. Nilsen suggested, explaining that people differ regarding many aspects, such as their gender, age, ethnicity, and ability, and that can influence the way they view certain types of humor or jokes. “In addition to that, we might be intellectual, physically active, or not. And we might be conservative, progressive or not,” he said.