Laughter: A Scientific Investigation

by Robert R. Provine

Do men and women laugh at the same things?
Is laughter contagious?
Has anyone ever really died laughing?
Is laughing good for your health?

Drawing upon ten years of research into this most common-yet complex and often puzzling-human phenomenon, Dr. Robert Provine, the world's leading scientific expert on laughter, investigates such aspects of his subject as its evolution, its role in social relationships, its contagiousness, its neural mechanisms, and its health benefits. This is an erudite, wide-ranging, witty, and long-overdue exploration of a frequently surprising subject.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Nonfiction, Humor, Personal Development, Academic, Sociology

258 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

Reviews

[Mellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very different from what I expected, which was an exploration of happiness and humor. The author is a neurologist who explored both positive and negative aspects of laughter specifically. I learned a lot and found the book to be very interesting. The most important thing that I learned is that laughter and other emotions are echoed by those around us and we have a greater influence on others than we realize.

The author explains that laughter, humor, and especially tickling are topics that have a very small set of research studies and that it is difficult to get funding for such studies. However, in the author's opinion these topics enlighten such vital questions as why humans can talk and chimpanzees cannot, and why walking on two legs allows both laughter and speech, and whether you can tickle your cat.

An early chapter explains that people rarely laugh when alone, often laugh during conversation, women laugh more often then men, women laugh more often when they are conversing with men, and men seek out women who they can make laugh. The author discusses the cultural implications of this, and certainly this information makes me much more self-conscious at parties.

The author covers many disorders and their effects on laughter, such as autism, split brain, laugh epidemics, kuru (the laughing death), masque manganique, Angelman disorder, epilepsy, ALS, schizophrenia, prefrontal lobotomy, Rett disorder, Williams disorder, Alzheimers, and brain tumors. The end of the book explores whether 'laughter is the best medicine.' It's clear that there is no evidence to support this hypothesis, although the author still supports increasing the laughter in life by providing ten tips.

2012 #4

[Hamza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about laughter without any joke in it. Although the scientific findings are good. They could have been presented in a more joyful way.

[Matthew Holder · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea for the book is way better than the book.

[Frederic · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a supposed scientific investigation, this book is really superficial. We learn that laughter is social, contagious and healthy, but very little about why we laugh. There are chapters on tickling, African laughter epidemics and diseases that cause laughter-like symptoms, but no insight into the situations that create laughter. Disappointing.

[awfullyperson]

A solid contribution. Provine followed his curiosity about laughter and made some intelligent insights - laughter is a social signal, laughter is contagious, laughter is how infant babies signal joy, etc.

Its a heady book. Provine isn't a novelist, and so the writing is dense and academic at times. He often throws is non-sequiturs that go without illustration, like he just wants you to know that he's done his homework. Its an intellectual read for sure. You're bound to learn something useful.

Provine suggests that most studies in laughter are flawed. Everyone from Freud to your favorite podcaster is merely engaging in their opinion on what produces humor. This book isn't asking that question. Instead, its a dive into the psyche that asks about our physiological reactions and what laughter means as a social phenomena. This coming from Provine- a guy who studied birds - is educational.

Not an pleasurable read, but an enjoyable one if you're someone who wants to know why people laugh.

[Beth Hawks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is exactly what the title says, a scientific investigation into laughter. If you are not a scientist, it is not the most enjoyable reading. If you are, you'll appreciate the validity of the research.

[Clivemichael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging exploration including numerous lol moments. Fascinating study.

[Kylie Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

⭐️1.75/5⭐️ I had to read this for my social psych seminar class and it was such a dry book, with one or two interesting chapters.

[Jesús Páez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neuroscience for dummies; we need more approaches onto exploring the human condition, and this is a good step onto that sidewalk

[lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently reading as research for a dynamic media project.

More review of the book to follow. I've been reading it on and off since I picked it up in 2000. I'm a little less than half-way through now, but I'll have to back track and review some of the beginning chapters as a refresher.

So ... for class ... I'll be setting up my own taxonomy of laughter, mapping laughter to potential triggers in real life, deciphering when laughter is socially acceptable and when its not, investigating the concepts of projection and receipt of laughter [ laugh targeting ], create a mental map of laugh pathing [ laugh tracks ], and then eventually my project will most likely include audio triggering in a physical space, spotlights, a stool with a glass of water in some sort of vague stage-like space ... or not. Too early to tell at this point.

[Mixter Mank · Rating 2 out of 5]

For such a compelling subject, I unfortunately often found myself disinterested. There's an inordinate amount of attention dedicated to periphery topics, such as operas that have transcribed laughter, chimpanzees, bipedalism, and tickling. I was also troubled by the disregard for social gender bias in the findings about gender and laughter. The few highlights can be found in the chapters on abnormal and contagious laughter.

[Charlie George · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book got a bit of hype when it first came out. Scientific American liked it, NPR, etc. I never saw what the fuss was about. While it was competently written, I recall disagreeing with many of his hypotheses about the social context of laughter, which was disappointing and ultimately unsatisfying.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting ideas, and some very interesting facts (man is the only animal that laughs, really laughs...monkeys do something similar but it's not the same). But all in all I kind of felt like this was a book written by a professor to show his students how to write up a research project. Maybe I just had trouble with the style. The content was very interesting.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provine delves into all the aspects of laughter: how we developed laughter biologically, why some people laugh more than others in social situations, how laughter is noted in musical scores, various neurological disorders involving laughter, and all kinds of other stuff. I thought it was a really interesting (and sometimes even humorous) read.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat tedious, but useful to read if you're doing research in humor. FYI: laughter more often follows non-funny statements than funny ("see ya later!" "hahaha!"). (read: laughter just as much a social signal as involuntary response to funny stuff.)

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

although I read this in hardback from the library I acquired it for all the references.
useful for clowns, public speakers, and laughter yoga leaders.
I'm going through with a highlighter and loving it even more the second time!

[Ludo Buret · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Laughter, is no joke matter. Finally a serious book about the funny side of life. Facts, theories, and even some tips about better living through laughter. A joy to read!" Joseph Ledoux, author of The Emotional Brain

[Devorah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read and illuminates things we may have noticed but not understood. How laughter "works" physiologically, the difference between humor and laughter, giggling, how the sexes laugh differently, inappropriate laughter, and more. Wonderful information.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very analytical and academic, somewhat dry (oh, irony).

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most interesting stuff was in the first few chapters (discussion of language, physiological reasons for laughter etc.)

[Stvt · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I generally enjoyed the explanation of the laughter related studies, statistics, anecdotes, theories, etc., the author's writing style was tiresome.

[Othman · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting read

[Pradnya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed account of the various aspects of laughter related issues.