What evolutionary purpose does humor serve?

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Maybe this doesn't really belong in philosophy, but I don't know where else to put it. I'm wondering if anyone can think of a good reason for humans to have developed humor in the context of survival. Any ideas?

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maybe because laughter helped to reduce the stress-level of early man?

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I was thinking that too, and also specifically as a social lubricant. A way of bonding, and of defusing tense social situations.

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It helps us get past the existential angst. Very Happy

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I had thought that it might have been diplomatically effective -- thus prolonging life in some circumstances.

I hadn't thought about the stress-relief part -- good point. If humor (and laughter) prolong life then there is more time to reproduce, more children to infect with your sense of humor, etc...

Still, it seems so, I don't know.

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FreeDuck wrote:

I had thought that it might have been diplomatically effective -- thus prolonging life in some circumstances.

True. I was thinking more generally than that. Like, community A is humorless. They bicker and fight and don't get anything done. They don't get enough food, they aren't united enough to fend off outside threats, and they die off. Meanwhile, community B knows how to wield humor effectively, and they function well and get enough food and defend themselves and flourish.

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you can also apply that same train of thought to relationships and procreation

Funny guy makes wife feel good- they have kids

not funny wife makes husband feel bad- they DONT have kids.

The chemical seratonin , wich is released when people laugh, is related to some important brain functions as well.. cant remember what it is though.

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It prevents folks from spending all of their time weeping.

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Before the invention of the toothbrush, laughter gave the teeth an opportunity to get some fresh air.

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What do you call a prehistoric animal with a squint?

Do-you-think-he-saurus.

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shewolfnm wrote:

you can also apply that same train of thought to relationships and procreation

Funny guy makes wife feel good- they have kids

not funny wife makes husband feel bad- they DONT have kids.

The chemical seratonin , wich is released when people laugh, is related to some important brain functions as well.. cant remember what it is though.

Maybe, but I'm thinking in distant times folks had kids whether the wife was happy or not.

I think I'm starting to confuse humor with laughter. Laughter seems to me almost like crying or other emotional outbursts -- instinctual. But humor, the ability to make something funny that isn't already, that's something different. I'm trying to imagine the first person who came up with a humorous observation. Was it a witty quip, a slapstick situational imagining, a humorous insult?

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Lord Ellpus wrote:

What do you call a prehistoric animal with a squint?

Do-you-think-he-saurus.

No. You've got five more minutes.

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you mean.. sort of like a story teller?

and WHY people decided to make things funny?
not the act of laughing itself?

ok, yeah. I misunderstood . I thought you ment laughter alone.

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Oh, I'm not sure I clarified it in my own mind what I was talking about so no worries.

Yeah. I'll bet it was a storyteller!

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Five minutes?.........

OK.......What does a caveman use to chop down trees? A Dino-saw.

Why are cavemen so popular with today's young adults?
They love to go clubbing.

How many cavemen would it take to change a lightbulb?
None, Cavemen didn't have lightbulbs.

Do I have to go to bed now?

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>throws tomatos<

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I bet you get all the ladies, Lord E.

Maybe that's it. The funny man got the most poontang. Definitely an evolutionary advantage. But what about the funny woman?

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You see, I was just trying a theory of mine about the purpose of humour.

I now firmly believe that children use humour against the grown ups, in order to annoy them and ensure that said children get sent to bed early, thereby maximising on the regenerative power of sleep.

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sozobe wrote:

FreeDuck wrote:
I had thought that it might have been diplomatically effective -- thus prolonging life in some circumstances.

True. I was thinking more generally than that. Like, community A is humorless. They bicker and fight and don't get anything done. They don't get enough food, they aren't united enough to fend off outside threats, and they die off. Meanwhile, community B knows how to wield humor effectively, and they function well and get enough food and defend themselves and flourish.

That makes even more sense. Part of cooperation in general.

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Theres a really good series of displays at the National Indian Museum about this. The Igloolik Innuits have a series of phrases that mix the meanings of the words for "laughing" and having sex" , as if they could be interchanged. Laughing was important to them, so was sex.

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What evolutionary purpose does humor serve?

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