What is the meaning of laughter, seriously?

[Narz]

What do humans laugh whereas no other animal can?

Serious, semi-serious and completely non-serious responses, all welcome

- Narz

 

[dannyevilcat]

Well, why do cats purr when their happy? Probably lots of animals have wierd unique ways of showing it, ours is just one of many.

 

[animepornstar]

well, all jokes are a way to amuse oneself at someone else's expense. honestly, they are.

 

[Perfection]

What about heyenas?

 

[TheDS]

That's not a laugh, that's a roar or something.

A laugh is a muscle spasm. There's more to it, of course, but I don't remember it all. Maybe if you went to whatis.com or something....?

 

[jdd2007]

i have wondered about that too. how did comedy arise. imagine a chimp swinging and then his buddy slips on a BANANA. hilarious. it starts having a spasm. WHY?

 

[Sir Lance Alot]

Originally posted by dannyevilcat
Well, why do cats purr when their happy? Probably lots of animals have wierd unique ways of showing it, ours is just one of many.

Cats purr because of blood vessals in their neck vibrating, they also when their in pain or suffering.(I know some things)

 

[TheDS]

Hiccoughing (proper spelling of hiccupping) is also a spasm of the same muscles used in a good laugh. That is why if you have the hiccups and start to laugh good, they will be interrupted by incessant hiccups. You can also start hiccupping if you laugh too hard too long, though it's not an everyday kind of thing for most people.

I remember seeing something on TV (like DSC or something) that asked why people think things are funny, and I know it had something to do with the brain trying to understand something that didn't make sense and instead of ignoring it (like it often does with illogical stuff), it has a different reaction.

 

[dannyevilcat]

Originally posted by Sir Lance Alot


Cats purr because of blood vessals in their neck vibrating, they also when their in pain or suffering.(I know some things)

I think you're full of balogna, dude. Every cat book I've read states that why cats purr is still a mystery, but it's typically associated with contentment, and nothing has been shown to disproving this belief. Trust me, a cat does not purr when he's in pain or suffering. (You need to relearn some things.)

 

[Paalikles]

@dannyevilcat: I think you might be on to something. I would not expect blood vessels to make such a sound if/when vibrating. And I remember reading information in some books on cats stating that purring of cats is a mystery.
(however - books might lie)
(cool picture to go vith your signature )

@laughter in general: I know there are an incredible amount of things I don't know. This is one I guess. It would be fun if someone would deliver a serious answer to this.
Anyways. Man does a lot of things that animals do not (or at least man has not figured out that animals do yet). Laughter might be one of them.
just my 2 Fanatikans worth

 

[Aphex_Twin]

I remember reading that the cat purrs when it vibrates certain vocal chords (or a similar instrumend) on low frequencies making a sound which rather than being heard is felt.

And laughter. Laughter happends when the brain reacts in an unusual way to an apparently usual stimuli. Second, a person laughing at a thing he/she remembers is generally considered a moron.
Third, laughter is a mean of socializing.

Ever wonder why people usually laugh in groups ? When a "higher ranking" member of a group laughs it triggers more laughter from the other members of the group. Finally, laughter is used for releasing tensions locked in the mucles. There is a lot of theory on this subject...

Try this experiment: Record a tape with someone laughing and play it out to some friends. You will immediatly notice they will also start laughing...

 

[gerryandersson]

Humans are animals to.

 

[Paalikles]

Originally posted by gerryandersson
Humans are animals to.

Some more than others....

 

[trader/warrior]

i have seen a TV show were they said that laughter originally was a mating ritual.