Why Do We Laugh When Someone Falls Down

Why Do We Laugh When Someone Falls Down

Monkeys laugh their asses off when another Monkey falls down. I guess, Humans get it from the Monkeys. Old time comedy movies (i.e. Charles Chaplin) and Vaudeville shows always have skits where someone falls down and it gets big laughs. Jerry Lewis always got laughs from falling down.

Our brain has evolved from Jesters in Roman times. Seeing the Jesters fall down and especially if they hurt themselves, made the Romans laugh out loud. Allen Funt of Candid Camera made a living on the TV show by getting us to laugh at people smashing into things, falling down, falling off high places, etc. etc. Me and my Grandmother's favorite "The Three Stogies" had us peeing in our pants by beating the shit our of each other.

Today we don't laugh so easily when someone we know falls and gets hurt (politically correct). Because of that there aren't many of those shows left. Now, we laugh at butt jokes and fart jokes. A huge laugh will always happen when someone gets a pie in the face (can you spell Soupy Sales).

Sooo, why did the brain from higher species and Humans, evolve to laugh at those stupid things? Many theories exist:

"Reacting with laughter when we see someone fall down might just naturally be in our brains. Some neurologists suggest the presence of mirror neurons — neurons that fire inside an observer’s brain that mirror those of someone else performing an action — could make us feel as if we are the ones that are falling or acting silly. Our brains recreate the brain activity of the person who’s actually falling and provoke us to laugh."

"The more psychological distance from publically humiliating situations we have, the more likely we are to laugh out loud. In a 2010 study, psychologist Peter McGraw at the University of Colorado explains seeing others getting hurt is funny when the viewer doesn’t feel empathy for the victim. The guys on shows like Jackass always get hurt, yet this is highly comedic because we distance ourselves from them and don’t empathize with their shenanigans. Meanwhile, if we know the victim, these misfortunes aren't at all funny. Here, closeness increases feelings of threat and insecurity because we simply become too close for comfort."

My theory is that the stress of living (especially in the world today) requires the brain to get some relief. Laughing is a fabulous release. Laughter is the elixir of a good life. If the brain ran out of laughter;

We All Would Be Taking Prozac