Why Do We Laugh

Why do we laugh? Where did laughter come from? Is laughter good for our health? These questions come out of my mind whenever I laugh or hear someone laughing. Laughter is to the heart. It raises spirits, eases life’s challenges, refreshes and heals. We may came from different countries, have different cultures and beliefs, but we are all human, and share the universal language of laughter. The magic of laughter is that it is contagious. We don’t need to know or understand what we are laughing about, or even why we are laughing. All we have to do is to be in place filled with laughter and soon we will join in the merriment. Laughter weaves its spell and grips us in its magic.
According to Microsoft National Broadcasting Company (July 2002), laughter is part of the human vocabulary. All members of the human species understand it. Unlike English, French or Spanish, we don’t have to learn to speak it. We are born with the capacity to laugh. What’s amazing about laughter is that it occurs unconsciously, and we don’t consciously produce laughter. That’s why it’s hard to laugh on command or to fake laugh. There are few things to consider about laughter. First, laughter is so powerful. It drags anyone, when or where ever you are. Second, laughter is another one of these non-verbal sounds. It’s typically seen as an expression of happiness, joy, surprise, and sometimes even stress. Another is that laughter has also been shown to play a very universal role throughout other cultures to facilitate social bonding. Tickling is one of the most stimuli that cause laughter. As our social world develops further, we share laughter with others in a myriad of different ways. Sometimes we even find ourselves laughing just because other people laugh, even if we don’t know why they are laughing. This demonstrates a kind of behavioral and emotional contagion involved with laughter. We all know that it feels good to laugh. We know that a good comedy can uplift our mood and that