Laughter is contagious, which is why most TV sitcoms have a laugh monitor. Laughter is so infectious, it can even reach catastrophe levels. In 1962 in the African Tanzania, a few schoolgirls began laughing uncontrollably. Their laughter soon spread to people in neighboring communities. Schools were closed to keep others from catching the laugh bug. The epidemic subsided after six months.
hildren laugh about 400 times a day. Adults laugh an average of 15 times a day.
Laughter isn’t just about jokes and funny stories. One researcher eavesdropped on chats in malls, noting why and how often people laughed. Less than 20% of the laughter followed a joke or humorous story. Most laughter took place as people were greeting one other or saying goodbye.
Laughter sounds the same across civilizations, leading some researchers to believe that laughter helped bond our ancestors together. In fact, the sound of laughter is so common and familiar, it can be recognized if played backwards on tape.
Laughter for the Greeks
For Herodotus, laughers can be distinguished into three types]
- Those who are innocent of wrongdoing, but ignorant of their own vulnerability.
- Those who are mad.
- Those who are overconfident.
According to Donald Lateiner, Herodotus reports about laughter for valid literary and historiological reasons. “Herodotus believes either that both nature (better, the gods’ direction of it) and human nature coincide sufficiently, or that the latter is but an aspect or analogue of the former, so that to the recipient the outcome is suggested.” When reporting laughter, Herodotus does so in the conviction that it tells the reader something about the future and/or the character of the person laughing. It is also in this sense that it is not coincidental that in about eighty percent of the times when Herodotus speaks about laughter it is followed by a retribution. “Men whose laughter deserves report are marked, because laughter connotes scornful disdain, disdain feeling of superiority, and this feeling and the actions which stem from it attract the wrath of the gods.