Is laughter a learned expression?
Researching the history of variations on comedy, it seems to be that laughter in some instances is a conditioned response?????
However, I have children, and as infants, they would laugh at unexpected surprises, out of what seemed like pure delight or pleasure of the moment...when would laughter become a conditioned response?
e.g. as humans, pain tells us that we should not do something again, pain hurts, and when we feel pain we would normally not laugh...throughout time, this was not a laughing matter for others to experience pain or degradation, it was a learning experience. Now, in this time, people laugh at others when they are in pain, or are being dehumanized in some manner....is this a conditioned response, indoctrination, or am I missing some devolving process of humanity. Are we not growing, but instead devolving into simpler forms via dehumanization, and desensitization of the human condition?
tragedy+time= comedy...why does this invoke such a reaction? We are not associating as to what has happened, for any value now, these occurrences are being repeated over and over and over, without a natural response (avoidance) ...
laughter is a reaction, not a conditioned response, to an unexpected event, which is why some people laugh at the most inappropriate times
I believe our natural responces have been conditioned out of us and not into us.I think people laugh at others pain or misfortune because they have been subconsciously taught to.It results in a conditioned denial of the natural loving responces in us that causes people to react inappropriately.
Likewise laughter can become a conditioned responce when it's presenting natural occurrence has been taught to be suppressed.
Severely neglected children are born with natural responces but can be conditioned through the impact of that neglect neglect to neither laugh nor cry.Depending on the environment and society in which we live our natural responces can be quite subtly but powerfully confused by the practises we see in others around us.This has a knock on effect and over time without realising it we respond like sheep following the other sheep.Deep down in peoples conscience they may have an inkling that thier responces are not the right one's but they are so conditioned to believe what they see that they do not dare to allow thier responces to flow and be expressed naturally..
Likewise laughter can become a conditioned responce when it's presenting natural occurrence has been taught to be suppressed.
Severely neglected children are born with natural responces but can be conditioned through the impact of that neglect neglect to neither laugh nor cry.Depending on the environment and society in which we live our natural responces can be quite subtly but powerfully confused by the practises we see in others around us.This has a knock on effect and over time without realising it we respond like sheep following the other sheep.Deep down in peoples conscience they may have an inkling that thier responces are not the right one's but they are so conditioned to believe what they see that they do not dare to allow thier responces to flow and be expressed naturally..
Nah. It is a complex expression representing many forms of perceived pleasure, joy, release of tension, and develops over the years, becomes constrained, conditioned, and sometimes even disappears.
Laughter is good medicine, the ancestors knew this; how?
Today it is well tested, laughter, mirth does promote health and longevity!!
Laughter is good medicine, the ancestors knew this; how?
Today it is well tested, laughter, mirth does promote health and longevity!!
our consciousness is set up to see things separately. But there are some impressions that we take in that fall on negative and positive halves of our centers at the exact same time. In order for us to resolve this conflict, a special device was created and that device is laughter.
If a person is already in a higher state of consciousness, there is no conflict. And no need for laughter. The whole is seen as one.
Example: Christ never laughed.
If a person is already in a higher state of consciousness, there is no conflict. And no need for laughter. The whole is seen as one.
Example: Christ never laughed.
As you said for yourself, laughter is an extension of smiling, which is a basic instinctual response of an infant to show happiness and acceptance, by which these are returned to it, ensuring security.
There is a great truism about comedy - within each comic moment lies a centre of real tragedy. Some have said that this is why Jewish comedians are so good - they have generally seen and experienced tragedy to a great degree. Russians can be very good at it, too, for the same reason.
The reason people laugh at others in strife is because, in one way, it is a relief that they themselves are not in that position. If I can stand and laugh at Herman as he falls into the ice covered river, I know that I can go home to my family. This sort of thing is why there is such a black humour streak in combat veterans - they have learned to laugh at tragedy as a way of not having it fully impact on them.
I pride myself on one thing - I have been known to enter a room full of cancer patients and have them laughing within one minute - not at others, but just at some offbeat humour and warm-heartedness, which makes them feel like humans again instead of walking dead pariahs.
On the other hand, I have a strong streak of that masochistic humour of the veteran, which sometimes drives others crazy.
I guess we are just products of our environment, and you may be right in saying that perhaps we are becoming dehumanised in some ways - blame television and movies.
There is a great truism about comedy - within each comic moment lies a centre of real tragedy. Some have said that this is why Jewish comedians are so good - they have generally seen and experienced tragedy to a great degree. Russians can be very good at it, too, for the same reason.
The reason people laugh at others in strife is because, in one way, it is a relief that they themselves are not in that position. If I can stand and laugh at Herman as he falls into the ice covered river, I know that I can go home to my family. This sort of thing is why there is such a black humour streak in combat veterans - they have learned to laugh at tragedy as a way of not having it fully impact on them.
I pride myself on one thing - I have been known to enter a room full of cancer patients and have them laughing within one minute - not at others, but just at some offbeat humour and warm-heartedness, which makes them feel like humans again instead of walking dead pariahs.
On the other hand, I have a strong streak of that masochistic humour of the veteran, which sometimes drives others crazy.
I guess we are just products of our environment, and you may be right in saying that perhaps we are becoming dehumanised in some ways - blame television and movies.
Laughter is a release of emotion....so many times you see it as a response to something funny. But have you ever had the experience where a group of people are struggling with a problem or working really hard and suddenly there is a moment of insanity where everyone starts laughing over something small or insignificant. Like all of a sudden everyone realizes that what they are stressing over is insignificant in the big picture. That realization is linked to the emotion of relief (not everything we're doing is that important even though we get caught up in our importance) so it triggers a release of that faultily percieved notion of our own self-importance and our small minded worlds taken too far. Laughter is a bonding experience inwhich we realize and connect to our shared humanity. that's why so many comedians say they had a lousy childhood or live with their pain everyday and comedy keeps them sane. If you think back on their routines it is usually grounded in theirs or another's stupidity, pain, shame or lack of progress. It's funny because we've all been there...thinking we're so special and we could never be that stupid...BUT WE ARE...and that's what's funny.