[extropy-chat] extension of jolly good theory

[Kevin Freels]

This is a guess, but I would think that laughter is not hard-wired. Although
we may all have been in situatins that we couldn't stop laughing, it is
always in response to something that is funny. This leaves a few problems:
1.) Since culture plays a large part in deciding what is funny and what is
not, the trigger for such a response would be variable, and learned.

2.) Even within a culture, each individual has unique ideas of what is funny
and what is not.

3.) Education also plays a key role

4.) Each person is further subject to moods and other things in their
environment which may cause them to laugh or not laugh.

In other words, I can only conclude that laughter is not hard-wired simply
because some people laugh at Damien's jokes and some do not.






----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Spike" <spike66 at comcast.net>
To: "'ExI chat list'" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 10:47 PM
Subject: RE: [extropy-chat] extension of jolly good theory


> > Then came the blinding flash of insight, why it is that
> > jolly and portly go together:
> > Recall the classic spring mass system, the resonant
> > frequency being square root of the spring constant divided
> > by the mass, or (k/m)^.5 (remember that from physics 101?)...
> > Now you understand why. spike
>
> I thought of an extension of the jolly good theory.
>
> If you have had an opportunity to dissect a mammal, you
> are likely aware of the fact that all mammals are of
> similar enough design that a structure in one has
> an analog in the other.  If you find an organ or structure
> in a cat, there is an analog of that organ or structure
> in you.  The shape and size may be different, but there
> is a nearly one to one correlation.  This observation
> made in my youth is supported by the recent findings
> that mammalian genomes are all remarkably similar.
>
> Insight: if analogous structures then analogous functions.
> humans grin, chimps grin, dogs snarl.  Analogous functions,
> different meanings.  A human grin is mirthful and friendly,
> but a dog's snarl means "Back off, before I tear you a new
> asshole."
>
> A chimp's grin has a meaning about halfway between these
> two according to Sagan's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors:
> a grinning chimp is apparently saying "See my teeth?  I
> could bite you with these.  But I won't, because you are
> my friend.  Don't push your luck, hairless biped."
>
> The jolly good theory explains laughter as a natural
> frequency with the diaphragm as the spring and the
> mass of the gut as the mass.  My notion is that some
> mammals have an analogous function, even if the meaning
> is different.  Hyenas make a sound that has been described
> as laughing, perhaps as a means of terrifying predators.
> Chipmunks and squirrels make a sound that to me resembles
> laughter, possibly to warn off competitors.
>
> Nowthen, here is what puzzles me.  I have been in situations
> where I was completely unable to supress laughter, most of
> us have.  This leads me to the following questions:  Do all
> humans and human societies have laughter?  Do all humans
> have *involuntary* laughter?  Is there anything analogous
> to that in other mammals?  If involuntary laughter universal
> in humans, how does that response get hardwired to our sense
> of humor?  Should I stick with rocket science?
>
> spike
>
>
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