Laughter--What causes it?

I imagine that laughter is one of our natural body's ways to reduce stress and possibly increase endorphins (our body's feel good chemicals).
I know that I do not laugh as much as I would like to. But then, when I have the chance to see a movie such as Steel Magnolias versus Dumb and Dumber - I will always choose Steel Magnolias. Either laughter OR crying may give us the same amount of relief. I remember the first time that I saw Something About Mary -- I literally was rolling around on the floor in our living room - howling with laughter. Pulp Fiction did me the same way too - even though it is a much darker kind of humor. I remember feeling good for DAYS after watching that movie. And I have the urge to see them both again - which is not like me. Usually movies that I want to see over and over are ones like Steel Magnolias, The Dead Poets Society, Ordinary People, or the Ethan hawke/Gwyneth Paltrow version of Great Expectations and much more serious fare. I have just returned from a weekend long retreat with a large group of women, and we laughed till we cried and cried till we laughed and it was all just wonderful - rejuvenating- and renewing. I feel full of spiritual energy. I get this from my strong feeling of connectedness with other women. Something that I have had to learn in this life of mine. After growing up with my particular mother, I ALWAYS felt that women were not to be trusted. This may very well be true for some women, but I sure was certainly wrong to think it applied to all women.
I'll never forget - my father always had a subscription to Readers Digest (I think it was) and there was always a section entitled: Laughter: The Best Medicine - full of jokes and humorous stories. It may well be the best medicine for everything....what do I know???

Babs,
...Was there laughter to be found with "Dumb And Dumber"? I spent 4 dollars to rent it, because I like Jim Carrey, sit through ten minutes of it, congragulated them on their apt choice of a title, then turned the tape off, letting my money got to waste. (And I HATE to waste money! )
...Anyhoo, I believe my thinking is simular to yours. I think laughter, like crying, is a coping mechinism, available to homo sapiens. I would assume it is to offset our highly evolved ability to think, which can run you crazy. (
for lack of a more scientific term. )

Uninhibited flatulence?

Craven, did you just review "Dumb And Dumber" ?

Nah, just male behavior.


us guys love Dumb and Dumber.... male stuff, I guess...


BTW, urs laughed a lot watching that movie... guess, she saw me in some parts...

No but I was laughing at a cat stricken with the vapors.

Huh?

OHMIGAWD!...Please don't make me turn in my manhood card 'cause I didn't think D&D was funny. I'm still crazy about "The Man Show"...honest fella's!...."and now, girls bouncing on trampolines"....

Good morning, all. Super Bowl Party last night kept me from responding promptly.

Babs, I understand about the serotonin and I have also found that dopamine is involved. My question is which comes first. Do the chemicals somehow stimulate the laughter, or is it the other way around?

Hey, not one of you mentioned" My Cousin Vinny".Funny movie.

Back later. Coffee time!

Well, look who's here; about that I.M. thing(?)

Hmmmm, I would agree with Craven, only I would call humour mental flatulence; the relief of intellectual tension, via the collapse of logic.

Comment;
That's Letty for you, can't drink coffee and type at the same time; good job she's not chewing gum!

Well, Bo. Whatdaya know! Someone's here from To RON to.

Hey, I can do lots of things at one time, like laugh and type.

Nervous laughter feels so different than the kind generated by something really funny. I wonder if it's the nervous person's way of trying to trigger off their endorphins, so they feel less uptight.

Mental flatulence? So you get double relief when you think farts are funny?

Just curious. <laughing nervously>

Guffaw!
Dream; your little question brought forth a real "guffaw' (whatever that is);
Hmmm, getting rather introspective here.

Letty; chuckle, your "picture" evokes great wisdom, but "where's the 'tart'"?

UhOh! Going back and forth between "Masterpiece" and "Laughter" has validated Bo's theory. What tart?

Hey, dream.

Hmmmm, State of the Union address tonight might stimulate endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. Which one will it be? Maybe all three.

'Freud's theory was that when a joke opens a window and all those bats and bogeymen fly out, you get a marvellous feeling of relief and elation. The trouble with Freud is that he never had to play the old Glasgow Empire on a Saturday night !

The act of laughing is to make a loud noise through a hole in your face ... anywhere else and you're in dead trouble!


(Ken Dodd, British Comedian)

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF LAUGHTER