jtotheizzoe:

Learning to Laugh

Short film explores the science of why we chuckle, chortle, snort and guffaw

Sophie Scott likes to trap people in an anechoic chamber and make them laugh. But she’s a cognitive neuroscientist, so it’s not creepy.

Laughing is one of our most natural emotions, emerging in our first months of life. Dr. Scott explains how it spreads and what triggers it.

Earlier this week, we learned that we don’t necessarily laugh because things are funny. It’s a far more complex social communication device, one that’s truly infectious, and that may be a core method of sharing positive emotions between humans.

(↬ @vaughanbell)