How did Julius Caesar spit on Brutus before dying?
“Ehh thu, Brute” – (received on what’sapp)
Laughter is a unique, incredibly healthy human experience, which apart from releasing happy chemicals, reminds us not to take life or ourselves too seriously.
As Jorge Garcia puts it, “I definitely try to mix humour into whatever I do. Mixing humour and harsh reality is a very human behaviour; it’s the way people stay sane in their daily lives.’’ and Lord Byron said, “I always laugh when I can. It is cheap medicine”.
Laughter can make people seem warm or authoritative, cooperative or ineffectual, or just plain obnoxious. It is so basic to humans, we barely notice it.
Everyone can laugh!
Everyone has the capacity to laugh, even children born deaf and blind. Babies laugh long before they acquire speech. Children laugh easily and often, but adults may forget to use it in their daily lives. You have your own personal signature when you snort, cackle, chortle, or have a wild, weird little giggle; a response to certain external or internal stimuli.
Laughter can be an emotion of relief, mirth, joy, happiness, embarrassment, apology, confusion, nervous laughter, paradoxical laughter, courtesy laugh, or even evil laughter.
Robert R. Provine, Ph.D., a behavioural neurobiologist at the University of Maryland in Baltimore recalls the bizarre outbreak of contagious laughter in Tanganyika in 1962. What began as an isolated fit of laughter (and sometimes crying) in a group of 12 to 18-year-old schoolgirls rapidly rose to epidemic proportions. It eventually infected adjacent communities and the epidemic was so severe it required the closing of schools for six months.
It is a dramatic example of the infectious power of laughter – something that many of us may have experienced in our own lives. The laugh tracks of television situation comedies to stimulate contagious laughter in viewers are an instance. Laughter thus, is a powerful and pervasive part of our lives.
Like small talk, laughter plays a somewhat similar role in social bonding and strengthening friendships. Tickling has also long been the trigger that creates laughter, something even the ancients knew, says Provine. Even rats laugh when tickled!
Humour can be learned. Ferret out a few simple items, like photos or comic strips which help you chuckle. Hang them up at home or in your office. When you need added humour boost, turn to funny movies or comedy albums.
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Share a laugh. Browse through your local bookstore or library. Don’t laugh at the expense of others. Use your best judgment to understand a good joke from a bad or hurtful one. Laughter is indeed the best medicine!
How does laughter help?
Turn the corners of your mouth up into a smile and then give a laugh, even if it feels a little forced. Once you’ve had your chuckle, take stock of how you’re feeling. You will find your muscles a little less tense and feel more relaxed or buoyant. That’s the natural wonder of laughing at work.
Feeling rundown? Laughing more might just be the best medicine, helping you put that spring back in your step. There is a physiological change as we stretch muscles throughout our face and body; our pulse and blood pressure rise, and we breathe faster, sending more oxygen to our tissues. “Like a mild workout, the effects of laughter and exercise are very similar”, says Wilson, a pioneer in laughter research.
Yet, aside from a general appreciation that laughter is the best medicine and associated with humour, we know little about laughter itself. Provine avers that most studies have been small and not well conducted and with obvious bias. “It’s not really clear that the effects of laughing are distinct from screaming”.
Numerous studies of people in pain or discomfort have found that when they laugh they report that their pain doesn’t bother them as much. For instance, a study might show that people who laugh more are less likely to be sick. But that might be “because people who are healthy have more to laugh about”.
So it becomes very hard to say if laughter is actually an agent of change or just a sign of a person’s underlying condition. Does actually the act of laughing make people feel better? A good sense of humour, a positive attitude, and the support of friends and family might play a role, too. But laughter certainly isn’t hurting.
“I certainly wouldn’t want people to start laughing more just to avoid dying – because sooner or later, they’ll be disappointed,” someone said tongue-in-cheek.
One study showed that people who are able to laugh – rather than being embarrassed or angry in certain situations – tend to have fewer heart attacks and better blood pressure. Says Stuber, a researcher, “Parents can teach their kids to see the funny side of life – simply by seeing it themselves”.
Even ‘forced laughter’ gets people to crack up, says Kim McIntyre, a Laughter Club leader in Orlando. “Ninety percent of the time, when we start out with forced laughter, people start laughing,” she says “Pretty soon, there’s an overwhelming amount of genuine laughter. Your ear hears it and you start laughing.” When it comes to relieving stress, more giggles and guffaws are just what the doctor ordered.
A good laugh has great short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn’t just lighten your load mentally, but induces physical changes in your body. Laughter can: Stimulate many organs, activate and relieve your stress response and soothe tension in the short term. Long-term effects include improving your immune system, relieving pain, increasing personal satisfaction, improving your mood and enhancing your sense of humour.
“If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.” said Robert Frost, and Sean O’ Casey opined, “Laughter is wine for the soul – laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness – the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living.”
Natural health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola opines, “If you want to communicate with someone from across the globe who speaks a different language, all you have to do is laugh.” Laughter is a form of communication that’s universally recognised, and has deep importance to humankind. Even today our brains are wired to smile or laugh when we hear others laughing.
“Yet, laughter is a largely involuntary response. The critical laughter trigger for most people is another person, not a joke or funny movie”.
While there’s no one joke that makes everyone laugh, Neuroscientist Sophie Scott found that one of the best tools for making people laugh in her lab is a clip of “people trying not to laugh in a situation where it would be highly inappropriate to do so”.
Laughter represents an enjoyable tool to even help counteract age-related memory decline in older adults.
Note the proliferation of Laughter clubs worldwide. So let’s laugh and be healthy and wise.
A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.” The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?” The boy takes the quarters and leaves. “What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”
Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?” The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over!”
~~~
Alia Bhat, a Hindi film actress was asked ‘Should women have boyfriends after forty?’ and she actually replied, ‘frankly speaking No. I think 40 boyfriends are more than enough’
~~~
Kid: What’s a man?
Dad: Man is one who loves unconditionally, cares about you and protects you.
Kid: When I grow up I will be a man like mom.
~~~
And finally, from a Whatsapp message:
I heard you failed in English?
Who telled you?
it is unpossible
i sawed the result yesterday,
I passed away.
Hope you don’t faint at this, just laugh!
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A.Radhakrishnan
A.Radhakrishnan is a Pune-based freelance journalist, poet, short story writer who likes to make friendship and make people laugh.[/column]