A Laugh for a Laugh

 Someone once said “laughter is the best medicine”, but they clearly didn't suffer from the chronic condition of laughing when others cry, because trust me, it doesn't help anyone. 

There is truly no worse feeling in the world than listening to someone you care about talk about their darkest and saddest moments, only to realize you're about to start absolutely dying laughing for no logical reason. There's no reason why someone’s heartache should be humorous, but it seems to be an unconscious reaction. Which begs the question, if humans are such empathetic creatures, why do so many of us find other people's pain funny?

The article, “What's so Funny - The Science of Why We Laugh” provides an answer to this question. According to Sigmund Freud’s Theory of Release, “laughter allows people to let off steam or release pent-up ‘nervous energy’”. Essentially, we laugh in uncomfortable situations when we feel the need to release tension in the environment. Our laughter acts as a relaxing form of communication and we’ve been using it as a tool since the very first humans. Even monkeys and rats have been known to laugh in social settings, much the same way we do.

Yet tears aren’t the only human emotion that triggers our laughter. Watching another person laugh is just as likely to make us do the same. A trend on TikTok not too long ago was to film yourself fake laughing until you eventually start actually laughing. Meaning it doesn't even take witnessing another person laughing to make us laugh - we can do it to ourselves. Much like yawning, when we’re connecting with another person we begin to mirror their actions, so when they start laughing, so do we. As for why we can make ourselves laugh, it's possible that even watching our own reflection can trigger the same responses as other people. 

So the next time you find yourself laughing, ask yourself if the situation is truly funny, or if you're just reacting to your environment.