Why Do We Laugh? 😆

Morning Chucklers!

Laughing is kinda… weird.

I mean, think about it, when someone says something mildly funny…

Suddenly you show your teeth.

And quickly force air repeatedly out of your mouth, over and over again!

So… what actually is laughter, and why do we do it?

Ok, it all starts with your abdominal muscles…

These things:

They start by contracting or squeezing over and over again.

This pushes air out of your lungs and makes your breathing go “huh huh huh”.

Which can come out as a snort, wheeze or:

Ok, but WHY do we do it?

Well, here's the thing…

We're not the only species that laughs.

In the late 90s some smart scientist dudes did an experiment on a rat to figure out if they laughed.

They set up an ultrasonic recorder right next to it (basically a big fancy microphone)…

And then they started tickling the rat with a feather!

Ya, really.

And surprisingly, the recorder picked up little signs of what sounded like…

Rat laughter!

But it's not just rats…

No, no.

At LEAST 65 species of mostly mammals were also found to “laugh” similar to we do during play.

Including Chimps, Elephants, Dolphins and even some birds like Parrots!

The scientists think the ability to laugh is probably something we’ve shared with other animals for many tens of millions of years.

Maybe as a way of saying:

Lol.

But, the thing is, human laughter is a little different.

As we laugh for many different reasons.

When were:

Laughter in humans has taken on more uses as we've become more social.

(Since splitting from our less social monkey ancestors)

Slowly becoming something not just used in play.

But also within day to day speech!

Just… try not to laugh TOOOO much LOL.

It may start to hurt...

Stay Cute,
Reece, Henry & Dylan 🌈

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