1 July 2021, Somewhere in the Metaverse - UplandDood (@Just1Dood)

Hahahaha...Hehehehe...Bwahahaah...

It has been said that Laughter is the best prescription. Do you agree?

My dad and I used to subscribe to a monthly magazine called Readers Digest. Have you heard of it? If you have not, I highly recommend that you borrow from someone who has a subscription or read some at your nearest library. Every issue has titles of the most attention-grabbing articles that I know of. Don't take my word for it. Get one and judge for yourself.

Laughter - the best medicine

If you are familiar with Reader's Digest; what do you do once you received it? For me, the first thing I do when I receive one is to go to the section called, "Laughter is the best medicine". Once I have flipped the pages to that particular section, my eyes will be glued to those one or two pages. This is where I'll get my monthly dose of jokes compilation by Reader's Digest. Needless to say, it is my favorite part of the magazine.

Doctor UplandDood's Laughing Theory

Humans are the only living creatures with the ability to laugh. Alright, smartass, laughing hyenas do not count. They can't help but laugh and it's not by choice. It's not as if they've heard a good joke and laugh. Tickle them? (Read the following paragraph as to why I'm a cynic to tickling animals). Tickled or not, hyenas are already laughing before you start. If you are stubborn enough to attempt it, I can almost certainly guarantee that they'll sink their razor-sharp teeth into your arm. No laughing matter.

I know of at least one research that says Apes laugh too when scientists tickle them. I disagree for the same reason as above. How do you know it's laughing? Did the Ape tell you "Hey, Mr. Scientist, stop tickling me, puleezzz... you're killing me. Hahahahaha...hehehehe...Ohhohoho... Stop it. Stop it!" Or maybe these scientists told the Apes jokes? Right. You get the point. Scientists need to get funding, I get it.

Why do we laugh?

Without going into any scientific references, I will share from personal experience why we laugh.

Social Motivation

We laugh because there is a social reward for doing so. Here is a simple example.

Most of my readers here are probably of the age where they have dated, been dating, or married. Remember the time when you were dating? Love is blind, right? (seems to be the theme of a few of my articles, LOL. You'll have to read my past few articles to understand this statement).

I'm sure one peculiar behavior you'll remember is that you'll laugh at any jokes that your partner tells you. Right, even if they're not funny at all. In fact, you'll laugh even when it's not a joke. Your partner will say, "Hey, I'll go grab a cup of coffee to share. Be right back." Your response, "hehehe...okay!" I can't explain it. It seems to be built into your DNA (yah, yours, not mine. LOL). By doing that, we are signaling to the other party that I like you. I feel comfortable with you. I want you to like me too. When you return with that coffee, I'll still be here. I once heard it said that "laughter is the shortest distance between two hearts."

This applies to social gatherings too. Just observe. People laugh in small groups gathered at parties. It's a broadcast of I want to be accepted.

Defense Mechanism

This is my theory. Did you notice that sometimes when we are in fear, we laugh? Have you thought about why that is so?

I can share with you another simple example.

When we are on a roller-coaster ride, right after the highest point and it goes on a steep drop, our body screams, "Oh no, we're all going to die!" but guess what our mouths do? We laugh! "Hahahahaha...we're going to die!" Doesn't make sense, does it? Unless of course, we are trying to fool the fella (Ahem...boyfriends or girlfriends, maybe?) sitting next to us that, hey, I'm no coward. I'm not gonna scream and cry on a roller-coaster ride. I'll rather die laughing than admit my fear.

I'll venture further to make a guess that it's also part of our body's defense mechanism kicking into action. It prevents us from going into shock and passing out. That wouldn't look good at all because you'll still be sitting slumped over in your seat with vomit all over the place after everyone has alighted at the end of the ride.

Need to Laugh

Somehow, when I receive the Reader's Digest magazine, I instinctively go to the Laughter is the best medicine section. This behavior carries over to when I read newspapers. I go to the funnies section first. I'm not sure if you have the same inclination or urge.

It felt like there's an invisible force that attracts our funny bones to these sections. A need for these funny bones to be tickled. I'm unsure if that's wired to our DNA or it's something that's learned. One thing I do know is that I felt good after laughing.

Could it be that laughing does something to our body? Maybe it releases a hormone that makes us feel good? As I said earlier, I'm not going into the scientific aspect of laughing and why we laugh. I'm only gonna share what I experienced and what I have observed.

(Note: Your observations may be different. If you disagree with mine, then you can write your own scientific paper on laughter then. Read.cash would be a good platform for that.)

UplandDood's Prescription

Is laughter the best medicine? I think so. It helps us from looking like fools on roller-coaster rides and watching horror movies. It also helps us to make friends. Best of all, laughter makes us feel great.

I believe laughter not only makes us feel great but also makes us healthier. My observational proof is this:

• Grumpy, negative, always complaining, sad people are prone to sicknesses. We can also safely say that they hardly ever laugh.

• On the other hand, good-humored, positive, always contented, happy people are healthier. We can also safely say that they laugh more.

Simple correlation.

Final Thoughts

We now have a decision to make. Make the world a better, healthier place. Have fun. Make yourself laugh. Make others laugh. Laugh at others but be confident and secure enough to also laugh at yourself. Go spread some laughter today.

Thank you for reading. Do share your thoughts on laughter in the comment section below. What makes you laugh?

Stay safe and see you in the next article.

Sources:

Header: Unsplash.com - National Cancer Institute

Image 1: Unsplash.com - Mika Baumeister

Image 2: Unsplash.com - Chris Slupski

Image 3 Unsplash.com -Marija Zaric

Thank you again for dropping by. Have fun with English. Remember to share your experience in the comment section.

Do drop by to say hi at my following addresses. I promise I'll be at home :)

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