Robert R. Provine - Laughter: A Scientific Investigation

Praise for Laughter: A Scientific Investigation

Life without laughter would not be worth living, yet science is just beginning to study this striking human trait. Robert Provine, the worlds expert on the psychology and biology of laughter, has written a lively and fascinating introduction filled with provocative insights and surprising discoverieswritten with the warmth and light touch that the subject deserves.

Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works

A beautifully written bookwritten with panache and humor.

V. S. Ramachandran, co-author of Phantoms of the Brain

Provines well-written, often amusing and always fascinating expos presents laughter in all its complexity and with all its contradictions.

Scientific American

Readers may laugh out loud. Full of questions that tickle a readers curiosity.

The Dallas Morning News

Laughter is no joking 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

[Provines] fascinating book covers everything from the evolution of homo sapiens laugh-producing vocal-cords to the engineering of the first laugh tracks in the 1950s. This is one of those rare books that actually changes a readers perception of his surroundingsand a reminder to readers that theres always a little more to notice in day-to-day social exchange than we ordinarily let ourselves see.

Seattle Union Record

It is hard to overstate how overdue Provines book is, or how good it is. A masterful job of collecting fascinating anecdotes. A joy to read.

James W. Kalat, author of Biological Psychology (seventh edition)

A groundbreaking, fun-to-read anthropological study of laughterfresh and revealing.

Booklist

Crisply written and often hilarious.

Evening Standard (London)

Robert Provines investigation of laughteris a model of constructive scientific thinking.

The Times (London)

PENGUIN BOOKS

LAUGHTER

Robert R. Provine has authored more than fifty research articles concerning developmental neuroscience and animal and human behavior. His findings on laughter have been featured in dozens of articles worldwide, appearing in The New York Times, Newsweek, The Daily Telegraph, New Scientist, The Observer, Discover, and the Los Angeles Times.

R OBERT R. P ROVINE

PENGUIN BOOKS

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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,

a member of Penguin Putnam Inc., 2000

Published in Penguin Books 2001

Copyright Robert R. Provine, 2000

All rights reserved

Illustrations on by Tom Dunne

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE HARDCOVER EDITION AS FOLLOWS:

Provine, Robert R.

Laughter : a scientific investigation / Robert R. Provine.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN: 978-1-101-65925-0

1. LaughterPsychological aspects. I. Title.

BF575.L3 P76 2000

152.43dc21 00-038227

Designed by Jessica Shatan

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.

To Helen

A good-humored cast of characters contributed to this 10-year project of studying and then writing about laughter. I am particularly grateful to Yvonne Yong, Kenneth Fischer, Lisa Greisman, Tina Runyan, and Bernie Fischer, my energetic undergraduate research students, who contributed many of the observations and analyses presented in this book. I thank Kim Bard at the Yerkes Primate Research Center for making her chimpanzee charges available for studying and assisting in data collection.

I have intellectual debts to many teachers, students, and colleagues, but most of all to Viktor Hamburger and Rita Levi-Montalcini, who, many years ago, taught an embryonic graduate and postdoctoral student at Washington University (St. Louis) about the ways of the developing nervous system, and a life in science. They may not immediately recognize their influence, but its there. And Barry Commoner freed me to graze at the interdisciplanary buffet of the university by providing me with a Junior Fellowship from his Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Washington University. In more recent years, my colleagues at the University of Maryland Baltimore County have provided intellectual stimulation, friendship, and support.

I am deeply grateful to Robert Deluty and James Kalat, who read the entire manuscript and made many valuable suggestions. Steven Pinker and Judith Rich Harris read major portions of the text and contributed to its readability. Thanks also to Charles Catania, Sheri Waldstein, Carlo Di Clementi, Marilyn Demorest, William F. Fry, Charles S. Harris, and Tom Benjamin, who commented on selected chapters. My editor, Rick Kot, offered good taste and sound advice throughout. I am also grateful to my agents, Katinka Matson and John Brockman, who helped to turn an idea into a book.

My greatest thanks go to my wife, pianist and musicologist Helen Weems, whose finely trained ear extends to prose. Helen read the entire manuscript, made invaluable comments at every stage of writing, and was a constant source of support, kindness, and laughter. This book is dedicated to her, with love and gratitude.

An Introduction