Alice+Andre-Clark

When you hear a funny joke （which we hope happens often）， something odd happens. The corners of your eyes crinkle1）. Your nostrils flare2）， and your lips pull back to show your teeth. Your breath comes out in short bursts， five times a second， while your voice makes "ha ha ha" sounds. You're laughing！

There are many kinds of laughs—belly laughs3） and chuckles4） and guffaws5） and giggles6） and nervous laughs and unkind laughs. Your laugh is distinctive， like your voice. But even though no two laughs sound exactly the same， we all know laughter when we hear it. Laughs in Kazakhstan are pretty much the same as laughs in Kentucky.

We usually don't decide to laugh. When you hear a good joke， you don't think， "Now I'll raise my lip and say 'hee-hee'." It happens automatically.

Babies laugh long before they can talk. And laughter is hard to fake. In experiments， people can tell a real laugh from a fake laugh two times out of three.

All this tells us that laughter is hardwired7） into our brains. But why do we do it？ And are we the only ones？

當你聽到一則有趣的笑話時（我們希望這種事情經(jīng)常發(fā)生），會發(fā)生一些奇妙的事情。你的眼角泛起皺紋，鼻孔張大，嘴向后咧開露出牙齒。你以每秒鐘五次的頻率急迫短促地向外呼氣，并發(fā)出“哈哈哈”的聲音。你笑了！

笑有很多種——開懷大笑、暗自竊笑、縱聲狂笑、咯咯傻笑、緊張的笑和不懷好意的笑。和你的嗓音一樣，你的笑聲也是獨特的。不過，盡管沒有哪兩種笑聲聽起來是完全相同的，但只要一聽到聲音我們就都知道那是笑聲。哈薩克斯坦的人笑起來跟肯塔基的人笑起來幾乎沒有什么差別。

通常，笑不是由我們自主決定的。當你聽到一個有趣的笑話時，你不會想著：“我現(xiàn)在要張開嘴說‘嘻嘻了?！蹦阕匀欢坏鼐托α?。

嬰兒早在會說話之前就會笑了。而且，笑很難偽裝。在諸多實驗中，人們都有三分之二的幾率可以將真笑和假笑區(qū)分開來。

所有這些都告訴我們，笑是人類大腦固有的功能。但我們?yōu)槭裁磿δ?？我們是唯一會笑的生物嗎?/p>

The Laughing Zoo

If you tickle8） a rat， it will make a squealing9） sound so high-pitched10） that humans can't hear it （though other rats can）. Scientists are pretty sure that this is rat laughter. Rats like to spend time with other rats that laugh a lot， and with people who tickle them. Many social animals， from mice to chimpanzees and even penguins， make laugh-like squeals or pants11） when they're play-fighting or being tickled， and sometimes when they want to avoid a fight. Animals can't tell jokes， so what are they laughing at？ In animals， laughter is a way to tell others "It's OK！ This might look like fighting， but we're just playing！" That's an important message for social animals to share. In play fights they practice biting and chasing， which might seem threatening. But if everyone is laughing， it stays friendly.

For both people and animals， laughter feels good. When you laugh， your body relaxes and your brain releases chemicals that make you happy. This is your brain's way of saying， "That was great！ Do that again！" Your brain likes you to explore and take risks. But it also wants you to be OK. So when it senses a little fear followed by immediate relief， it says， Great！ And that triggers a laugh.

Humans are more complex than mice or chimpanzees， and so is our laughter. We still laugh at tickling and chasing， but we also laugh at jokes and puns12） and even clowns in funny shoes.

Just as we enjoy running and jumping to flex13） our muscles， hearing a joke is a fun way to flex our mental muscles. Jokes help us think creatively and see things in new ways. They also help us think better by making mistakes fun. That's important！ If you want to do great things， you have to be prepared to make a lot of mistakes and not let them get to14） you. Jokes give us lots of practice at being flexible， thinking in new ways and correcting ourselves quickly. And the brain rewards this mental play with laughter. It feels so good that we like to do it again and again. Tell me another joke！

Of course， jokes aren't the only things we laugh at. Some people laugh when they're nervous. It's a way of releasing tension， so we don't explode15）.

Laughter can sometimes have a dark side， such as when we laugh at other people's mistakes or accidents. This laughter is not always kind. Why do we do it？ Maybe because we're always a little bit worried about doing something wrong ourselves. When someone else goofs16）， it can be a relief—at least it wasn't me！

Practical jokes17） set up this kind of laugh. They put other people into situations where we can laugh at them， which can be tricky—if the person has a good sense of humor， he or she may be able to laugh at the joke along with you. But often practical jokes make people mad.

Surprisingly， most of the time when we laugh， it's not because someone made a joke or did anything silly. In fact， when researchers at the University of Maryland followed people around a mall and counted all their laughs， they discovered that most laughs happen in ordinary conversations. People laugh after saying things like， "I'll see you guys later" or "There you go！" But why？

These everyday laughs fill pauses and help people read each other. Even friendly chatting is full of small moments that could sound rude if you take them the wrong way—laughs keep everything friendly. People also laugh after saying something that might sound a bit odd or new or contrary. The laugh says， "I'm just playing with this idea， it's OK" or "I'm not mad". They help the conversation move along. Sometimes， laughter simply shares a happy mood. When you laugh it makes your friends laugh too. And laughing feels good. So go ahead and spread it around！

Laughing uses lots of muscles and fills your lungs with oxygen—it's actually quite good exercise. It relaxes your body and relieves stress. Being in a cheerful mood boosts your immune system， so you can fight off sickness more easily. Patients in hospitals even report that funny books and movies help them feel less pain—though when scientists tested this idea， they found that scary movies work just as well.

Laughter can even help you be brave. It is a potent18） weapon against fear and things that scare us. If you can laugh at the monsters under the bed instead of being paralyzed19） by fear， you'll have a big advantage. All together now： riddiculus20）！

And laughter can help you learn. You may have noticed that it's much easier to remember a funny story about George Washington than a list of battles he won. Humor gets you to pay attention and think， and rewards you with a good feeling. All that adds up to a stronger memory.

So laughter can make you happy healthy and smart—what are you waiting for？ Oh， a joke？

動物的笑

如果你胳肢一只老鼠，它會發(fā)出一種長而尖的叫聲，聲音尖到人耳都無法聽到（但其他老鼠可以聽到）。科學家們相當肯定這就是老鼠的笑聲。老鼠喜歡跟其他愛笑的老鼠待在一起，也喜歡跟胳肢它們的人待在一起。從老鼠到黑猩猩，甚至包括企鵝在內(nèi)的許多社會性動物在打鬧、被胳肢或是有時想要避免打斗時，都會發(fā)出類似于笑聲的尖叫聲或喘息聲。動物不會講笑話，那么它們在笑什么呢？在動物當中，笑是這樣一種方式，它能向其他動物傳達出如下信息：“不要緊的！也許這看上去像是在打架，但咱們只是在鬧著玩呢！”對社會性動物而言，傳遞這樣的信息很重要。它們在打鬧中練習撕咬和追逐，雖然這些舉動看似頗具威脅性。但如果大家都在笑，一切就仍然是友好的。

無論是對人還是對動物而言，笑的感覺都很好。當你笑的時候，你的身體呈放松狀態(tài)，且大腦會釋放出令你愉快的化學物質(zhì)。大腦是在用這種方式告訴你：“太棒了！再來一次吧！”你的大腦喜歡讓你去探索和冒險，但它同樣希望你安然無恙。所以，當它感到一絲恐懼，而這絲恐懼隨即煙消云散時，它就會傳達出“太棒了！”的信息，而那就會讓你笑起來。

人類比老鼠和黑猩猩更為復雜，人類的笑容也是如此。在被人胳肢或是追逐打鬧時，我們也會笑，不過，笑話、俏皮話甚至是穿著滑稽鞋子的小丑也同樣能令我們發(fā)笑。

如同我們喜歡跑跑跳跳來活動我們身體的肌肉一樣，聽笑話是一種活動我們精神“肌肉”的有趣方式。笑話有助于我們進行創(chuàng)造性思維，并從新的角度看待事物。它們還能使犯錯變得饒有趣味，從而有助于我們更好地進行思考。這一點很重要！如果你想做成大事，你就必須做好要犯很多錯的準備，并不讓那些錯誤影響你的心情。笑話為我們學會靈活應變、從新的角度思考問題以及迅速糾正自身錯誤提供了大量的練習機會。大腦用笑來獎勵這種智力游戲。這種感覺是如此的愉快，所以我們笑完之后還想再笑一次。再給我講個笑話吧！

當然，不是只有笑話能讓我們發(fā)笑，有些人在緊張的時候也會笑。笑是一種釋放緊張情緒的方式，這樣我們就不會情緒失控了。

笑有時也會有陰暗面，比如我們在別人犯了錯誤或是出了意外時的笑。這種笑就不總是善意的了。我們?yōu)槭裁磿@么做呢？也許是因為我們總是有些擔心自己會做錯事。當別人出錯時，它能讓我們感到寬慰——還好不是我！

惡作劇帶給人們的就是這種笑。它們將別人置于被人嘲笑的境地，而這種情形可能會很微妙——如果對方富于幽默感，他/她可能就會跟著你一起笑。不過，被惡作劇捉弄的人通常都會很生氣。

出乎意料的是，大多數(shù)時候我們并不是因為有人開了一個玩笑或是做了什么傻事才笑。實際上，馬里蘭大學的研究人員在跟隨人們逛商場并將他們的笑進行統(tǒng)計之后發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們在日常會話中笑得最多。在說完“再見”或“拿去吧！”這類話之后，人們都會笑一下。但這是為什么呢？

這類日常一笑可以填補對話的間隙，幫助人們更好地理解彼此。即使是在友好的聊天過程中也充滿了這種小瞬間——如果你理解有誤，那么有些對話聽起來就會有些失禮——而笑使這一切都保持友好的狀態(tài)。人們在說了一些可能略顯怪異、新潮或與別人意見相左的話之后也會笑。這時的笑表示“這個念頭我只是想想而已，沒什么的”或“我沒瘋”。笑有助于讓談話繼續(xù)進行下去。有時，笑純粹是在傳播一種快樂的情緒。當你笑起來的時候，也會讓你的朋友笑起來。笑讓人感覺良好。所以行動起來，讓大家都笑起來吧！

你在開玩笑嗎？

人在笑的時候需要調(diào)動許多塊肌肉，并使肺里充滿氧氣，笑其實是一種很好的運動。它使人放松身體，緩解壓力。保持心情愉悅可以增強你的免疫系統(tǒng)，這樣你的病就更容易好起來。醫(yī)院里的病人甚至聲稱，搞笑的書籍和電影能幫助他們覺得不那么疼痛。不過，科學家在驗證這個說法時發(fā)現(xiàn)，恐怖片也同樣奏效。

笑還能給人壯膽。笑是對付恐懼和令我們感到害怕的事物的有力武器。如果你能對床下的怪物一笑置之，而不是被嚇得不能動彈，你就大大占了上風?，F(xiàn)在大家跟著我一起說：真可笑！

笑能提高人的學習能力?；蛟S你已經(jīng)注意到了，記住有關喬治·華盛頓的一則趣聞遠比記住他所打贏的戰(zhàn)役的名單更為容易。幽默的事物會引起你的注意和思考，并帶給你一種愉快的感覺，這一切都能使記憶變得更加牢固。

如此說來，笑能讓你快樂、健康又聰明。你還在等什么呢？哦，是在等著聽笑話嗎？