Re: Bernard Manning has died


"aquachimp" <aquachimp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1182845609.719247.326610@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A certain poster here has a sig link leading to a rather good blog
that ones featured an article (I think form NY Times) on why we laugh.
I've not been able to find it again, but I have found.

http://men.webmd.com/features/why-we-laugh

Note, that we are 30 times more likely to laugh in company than alone;

....

That may depend on the individual. "Friends" is reputedly among the
mot popular sit-coms ever, but I've never succeeded in watching
one past the first canned laugh. Ever.

....



that most laughter is *not* in response to a joke or humour ("humor
and laughter are not inseparable.")

....

Laughter can be a way of social bonding Chimpanzees laugh a lot
....


and that;
"Laughter does have a dark side, When gangs or groups of militants
attack someone, they are often reported to laugh while doing it. It's
the sinister aspect of laughter's power to form group cohesion.
Sometimes, those bonds can be used to exclude or persecute others."


<quote>

Laughter Epidemics
In some cases, laughter can in fact become literally contagious. History
is dotted with accounts of laughter epidemics. In 1962, in the African
country that is now Tanzania, three school girls began to laugh
uncontrollably. Within a few months, about 2/3 of the school's students
had the symptoms, and the school closed. The contagion spread, and
eventually affected about a thousand people in Tanzania and neighboring
Uganda. There were no long-lasting effects, but it shows how responsive
people can be to seeing another person laugh.

</quote>

I'm sure there was at least one Monty sketch on this - one on
a secret weapon in WW1 - and maybe another one.

However - despite the claim that " History is dotted with accounts of
laughter epidemics", only one - this one seems to show up in Google
and I can't recall reading about any others.

<quote>

Dying Laughing

According to Provine, there is some historical evidence that tickling
was used as a method of torture and execution in centuries past. In one
reported and exceedingly bizarre technique, a victim was tied up and
the soles of his feet were covered with salt. A goat was then brought
in to lick the salt, causing intense tickling. If kept up for long enough,
the stress and exertion of laughing -- and squirming -- could have
eventually brought on cardiac arrest or a brain hemorrhage.

</quote>

The details about the goat and the salt add that extra touch of authenticity
somehow.


michael adams


.

Relevant Pages

  • GREAT HINDU WAY OF LIFE - LAUGHTER
    ... Was laughter a way of Hindu life? ... But we ceased to laugh on the advent of Islam. ... Humour and satire served the West to combat evil. ... A comic tradition, however, cannot grow unless there is a tradition of ...
    (soc.culture.indian)
  • Why people laugh
    ... Theories of humour ... So why did they laugh? ... Laughter illustrates his point. ... In many jokes, the teller ...
    (soc.culture.african.american)
  • Re: ot: indiana univ sorority snot
    ... World U.S. N.Y. / Region Business Technology Science Health Sports ... Did that alleged joke make you laugh? ... Laughter, a topic that stymied philosophers for 2,000 years, is ...
    (alt.fan.letterman)
  • Pentagon to families: Go ahead, laugh (NBC)
    ... When the stress of the war in Iraq becomes too severe, the Pentagon has ... Learn how to laugh. ... James "Scotty" Scott. ... where we definitely need a lot of laughter in our lives." ...
    (rec.music.artists.springsteen)
  • Re: Strange LISP: [ http://www.newlisp.org ]
    ... > Raffael Cavallaro schrieb: ... As you know that Common Lisp has a longer ... > history and many clever people to maintain it. ... > times there are also people who laugh about that curios thing. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
Loading