Shankar Vedantam explores why we laugh. Neuroscientist Sophie Scott found people are thirty times more likely to laugh around others than alone. Laughter signals safety and intimacy, not just humor, and babies laugh before they can speak.
Think about the last time you laughed. Was it because something was genuinely funny, or were you just being polite? Neuroscientist Sophie Scott at University College London says laughter is mostly about connection. Humor is often beside the point. Researchers have found that we are 30 times more likely to laugh in the company of other people than when we're alone. We laugh to signal that we're safe with each other, that we like each other. We laugh to invite intimacy and connection. Babies start laughing before they can speak. Our brain can tell the difference between real laughter and polite laughter almost instantly. So if you've been treating laughter like a thermometer for how funny life is, consider treating it like something else: a signal for who you feel safest with and a small act of giving to the people around you. For more insights about the science of the mind, tune into Hidden Brain on Apple, Spotify, or hiddenbrain.org.
