Funny Bunny

Do you know how the Easter Bunny stays in shape? Lots of eggs-ercise!

We can only assume that we laugh because something is funny. However, there is no scientific agreement on what we find entertaining or what causes our reactions. So, if we want to understand the value of humor, we might need to dig a little further and examine what's going on in our brains.

Our frontal lobe, which is divided into two halves, is the starting point. According to the BBC , the left is the practical side, which determines if the sounds and images we're hearing and seeing are a joke or not. The right half is the creative one, and it establishes whether or not we find the joke or circumstance funny. But the frontal lobe cannot make us chuckle. The portions of the brain that control this reside deep in the subcortex. These sections of the brain are ancient in terms of evolutionary development, being responsible for primal reactions like fear, rage, and other basic reflexes. Laughter is therefore controlled by the limbic system. When it receives the indication from the frontal lobe that something is humorous, it sends out additional messages that initiate the amusement process.

Laughter, like exercise, releases endorphins, according to Scientific American . These endorphins not only give us a "high," but they also help us relax and ignore pain. Laughter also causes the release of feel-good dopamine and mood-lifting serotonin. According to Matthew Hurley, Daniel Dennett, and Reginald Adams Jr.'s book Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind , we have a powerful thirst for humor because of the emotional reward it gives us. Laughter, like drugs, stimulates the reward center of the brain. The emotional prize for understanding a joke or making sense of a hilarious situation is joy. No wonder, then, that we have a strong yearning for humor, or, as some may call it, an addiction to it.

Laughter is an inherent behavior that our genes have programmed into us. We make sounds and show emotions that originate in our primal unconscious. But, as Aristotle asked over 2,000 years ago, do we stand alone as the only creatures who laugh? The answer is no. In Laughter , Robert Provin points out that laughter is an old vocal relic that predates both humor and speech and that we share with our primate cousins, the great apes. For example, chimpanzee laughter sounds very similar to ours, yet they vocalize in both in-breath and out-breath. A new study published in the journal Bioacoustics discovered that not only apes but 65 distinct kinds of animals, mostly mammals, but also a few bird species, have their own form of laughter.

Now that we have a better understanding of humor's biological and evolutionary origins, it's time to consider why it exists. G. Neil Martin writes in his book The Psychology of Comedy that there are three main theories that attempt to explain humor. According to Plato's Superiority Theory, humor is employed to ridicule others and make fun of their perceived inferiority. To put it another way, we laugh at other people's misfortunes. Humor and laughing are a form of hostility in that they consolidate or worsen prejudice or lead to the creation of negative stereotypes. According to the Incongruity Theory, humor is generated through the juxtaposition of contrasting thoughts or behaviors. When two opposing ideas are mixed together, they undermine a more normal way of seeing the world, a situation we find amusing. Finally, according to the Relief Theory, humor and laughing are strategies to release pent-up energy. They are seen by Sigmund Freud as outlets for excess mental or nervous energy.

Whatever theory you subscribe to, it's indisputable that humor has evolved into a cornerstone of society. It can help us choose a partner, promote social connection, facilitate collaboration, signal non-threatening behavior, or create empathy with others. When humor is used in a group situation, everybody’s identity becomes more unified, which leads to enhanced cohesion. Humor is also important for increasing productivity. Volunteers who watched comedy were demonstrably better at creative thinking than those who watched horror movies or quantum physics lectures, according to a study from Northeastern University . This is due to the anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the brain connected with attention and decision-making, being activated by laughter. Another study looked at how people performed on a brainstorming exercise after a session of humor and discovered that they generated 20% more ideas than those who didn't participate in it.

The most important thing to me is to emphasize how critical humor and laughter are for our mental health. It's not as simple as listening to or repeating a list of dad jokes (for example, How does the Easter Bunny feel after hiding all the eggs? Eggs-hausted!). Humor can be a double-edged sword; depending on how we utilize it, it can be both beneficial and damaging to us and our social interactions. The Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) was created by Rod Martin, author of The Psychology of Humor , as a tool for understanding our most common humor style. He comes to the conclusion that there are four unique types of humor, the first of which is self-enhancing. People utilize it to make themselves feel better and to improve themselves in a beneficial, pleasant way. Then there's affiliative. It entails using charm to make others feel better, amuse them, and, as a result, improve relationships. The third style is aggressive. It’s defined by the use of sarcasm, criticism, and ridicule. It ultimately causes harm to others. Last but not least, there is the self-defeating style. It maintains that to gain approval from others, we employ self-deprecating humor to harm ourselves.

Needless to say, only the first two humor styles are considered positive. Increased social competence, pleasure, perceived social support, life satisfaction, and resilience have all been linked to them, according to researchers. They also bring along reduced feelings of loneliness, shyness, depression, neuroticism, social anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. In addition, they've been discovered to be efficient coping mechanisms as perceiving bad experiences less negatively (or more positively) helps us better handle stress and other major illnesses.

The good news is that developing or refining our sense of humor is easier than we would imagine. The Mayo Clinic highlights five does and don’ts to follow: make it a habit to spend time with people who make you laugh, add a few jokes to your list and keep it up to date so you may share them with others on a regular basis, make humor part of your horizon (have funny books, movies, and quotes close by), don't laugh at the expense of others, and don't humiliate yourself just to put a smile on people's faces (find healthy ways to laugh about your own situations).

One last joke? Ok. What does the Easter Bunny think of this article? It’s eggs-cellent!

Author: Esteban Polidura, CFA. April 16, 2022.?