Why we
laugh
Not being funny, but there is a
lot more to laughter than joking
around, finds David Robson
W
HILE there is infection in disease
and sorrow, there is nothing in
the world so irresistibly contagious
as laughter and good-humour.” So wrote
Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol. He was
in London in the 1840s, but these words ring
true in any time or place. Laughter is one of
humanity’s few universal traits. Even in the
time of covid-19, many people have found
that a good chuckle has helped them cope
with the stresses, uncertainties and
interminable lockdowns.
It is surprising, then, that psychologists
and neuroscientists were once reluctant to
devote serious attention to laughter, with
many believing expressions of mirth to be
less important than those of unhappiness or
despair. “Psychology still has a lot of catching
up to do to balance out what is known about
negative emotions with positive ones,” says72 | New Scientist | 18/25 December 2021