It is well known that laughter makes people kinder, sincere laughter is a sign of kind soul and cheerful people are always nice people. During the loud infectious laughter a person works more 80 muscle groups. Laughter improves digestion and circulation, and 3 minutes of laughter replaces 15 minutes of gymnastics. This is a powerful means of activating the nervous and endocrine systems. Doctors say that in order to be healthy, one must laugh at least 3 times a day: before breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Such a case is described in medicine. A very rich man fell ill incurable disease. Doctors tried on him all the latest achievements of science, but were forced to admit the impotence of medicine. And before sending the patient to live last days in the circle of relatives, they advised him not to lose heart and laugh more. Laugh as much as his condition allows. The millionaire was well aware that his days were numbered, but he ordered to buy video cassettes for him with all the famous comedies and spent whole days watching TV. He watched films that he did not have time to watch in his entire life. past life. And ... laughed! The result exceeded all expectations. The man doomed to certain death has recovered!
If this example sounds incredible to you, consider the data the scientists write about.
.When we laugh, our brain receives more oxygen due to the increased blood circulation at this time.
Laughter helps oxygenate the body.
.During laughter in the human body, the production of stress hormones slows down and the release of endorphins into the blood increases - “hormones of happiness”.
Laughter makes a person happy.
.A laughing patient not only improves his mood, but also weakens pain.
Laughter can replace analgin.
.Often, people suffering from inexplicable fears, finding themselves in a threatening environment, begin to breathe quickly and superficially, aggravating their condition.
Laughter helps to get rid of obsessive fears and serves as a relaxant.
.A stomach ulcer, gastritis and other unpleasant diseases, which are based on nervous tension and the suppression of negative emotions, need laughter therapy.
.Even from a simple smile on our face, muscles begin to contract, which, in a calm state, make our appearance gloomy and unfriendly.
Laughter replaces facial gymnastics, smoothing out wrinkles. He keeps us from getting old.
Do you know that in the manner of laughing you can determine not only your character, but also the characters of your girlfriends?
Look closely, perhaps their laughter will reveal more about them than all other observations.
.If a laughing woman touches her lips with her little finger, it means that she likes to be the center of attention.
.Does your friend cover her mouth with her hand while laughing? So she is timid and not very confident in herself.
.A girl who, laughing, touches her face or head with her hand, can be called a dreamer and dreamer.
.Laughing, do you throw your head back? Obviously, you are trusting, gullible, you have a broad nature.
.If a girl wrinkles her nose when she laughs, it means that her feelings and thoughts often change. She is emotional and capricious.
Laugh. Defensive reaction brain
Text Pavel LEKAR
Do you know what laughter is? No, of course I'm sure that you have a lot of experience of uncontrollable laughter. You may even be good at making others laugh, but that's not the point. Laughter is emotional reaction, characteristic only of man, not a single animal has so far been seen doing this activity. So what exactly is going on in our minds when we respond with laughter to the jokes of the world around us? Why what seems funny to one may bring tears to another? And most importantly: what is the meaning of laughter, why do we need it? To be honest, these questions are still one of the most interesting mysteries.
Smile, the boss loves idiots.
It is obvious that laughter always coexists with positive emotions (hysterical laughter will not be taken into account), and it has a peculiar predecessor - a smile. With a smile, everything is more or less clear: this is a way of mimic communication that allows you to show others that a person is satisfied, his soul is good and even fun (of course, if the smile is sincere, and not the American grin on duty).
Many social animals use facial or other signs that perform the same function as a smile. Even a person sometimes, looking at the muzzle of his beloved dog, can immediately understand that he is pleased. However, there is no direct mimic equivalent in animals. For a long time it was believed that monkeys knew how to smile, they sometimes built grimaces that looked very much like a smile. But it was later proven that the monkey "smile" is actually an expression of fear and tension.
By the way, when we studied the videos of people riding the steepest roller coasters, they found that on the frightened human faces often there is the same, escaping from the subconscious, a strained monkey "smile". A normal smile, which is associated with pulling up the corners of the mouth, is strongly associated with positive centers in the brain, it has even been proven Feedback with these centers. If you force yourself to smile, and despite the worst mood, you can force yourself to keep a smile on your face for 5-6 minutes (it will not be easy), you will definitely feel that your mood has improved.
Why are we laughing?
Laughter, unlike a smile, is a much more incomprehensible phenomenon. Just think what a violent and illogical reaction this is! According to its mechanism, these are just sharp deep breaths and numerous rhythmic exhalations. At the same time, the process is accompanied by a powerful emotional outburst, and sometimes it can even get out of control of consciousness (remember, can you always keep from laughing).
To try to understand the essence of laughter, let's analyze what makes us laugh. As a rule, this is not just some good event. Only small children are able to laugh at the fact that they were given candy or taken to the zoo. For some reason, an adult person does not laugh on the day the salary is paid (although he often smiles). Laughter in us is caused by phenomena that are somewhat strange, paradoxical, surprising. When you are told jokes about Stirlitz and Vovochka, these are not happy messages at all, but they are always descriptions of some unexpected, original situations.
There is a theory that laughter is a kind of defense mechanism for the brain, which turns on when it encounters something illogical and incomprehensible. Evolutionarily, it arose like this: people who, at the moment of encountering a paradoxical situation, did not lose heart, but, on the contrary, expressed positive attitude proved to be more successful in solving the problems that arose. Therefore, such a reaction has become entrenched in human behavior, we can say that a sense of humor (all according to Darwin) has become an evolutionary advantage. So, when you are faced with another stupidity that fate presents you, laughing is to save your brain from stress.
Assigned: laugh three times a day after meals
Until now, no one can explain exactly how laughter is born and what specific changes it causes in the human body. However, the fact that these changes have a beneficial effect on health has long been a proven fact. Even the stern philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote that laughter gives a feeling of health and activates everything vital. important processes, contributes to the achievement of harmony of soul and body. Now all these statements are confirmed by scientific data.
On the one hand, laughter can be seen as a kind of gymnastics for the body. During laughter, 80 muscle groups are actively working, including the muscles of the face, abdominals, and diaphragm. Laughing, we breathe especially deeply, renewing the supply of oxygen in the tissues, straightening the lungs, freeing the airways. It has been proven that unrestrained laughter for five minutes not only relieves depression (which, in general, was clear even without research), but also has beneficial effect on the activity of the heart and lungs. Swiss physiologists have somehow calculated that one minute of laughter is equivalent to a forty-minute jog!
On the other hand, laughter has a very strong effect on our consciousness and has many non-obvious effects. One of the first researchers medicinal properties laughter was the American neurologist William Fry. His test subjects were students to whom Fry told jokes, after which he compared their blood tests. It was found that the number of antibodies in the blood increases sharply from laughter - that is, some activation of immunity was manifested. More recent studies also confirm that the immune system funny people better resists, for example, the influenza virus. But Austrian psychologists believe that laughter is perhaps the best therapy for stroke patients.
Laughter Yoga
Today "laughter therapy" has become so popular in Western countries that you can even talk about several different clinical schools. For example, adherents of "gelotology" not only make their patients laugh, but also let them listen to recordings of someone else's laughter. There are also specialized laughter therapists (maybe it would be better to call them "medical clowns") who will entertain you individually, adjusting to your sense of humor. There is even a whole teaching called the yoga of laughter, which takes the subject of giggling so seriously that it is no longer a joke.
In total, there are more than 800 clubs in Europe and America who like to improve their health with the help of laughter. You are unlikely to find laughter therapists in our hospitals, but if you also want to heal in this pleasant way, feel free to start amusing yourself and others. Here side effects there is nothing to be afraid of.
Let's try to figure out what nervous laughter testifies to.
Nervous laughter is one of the most interesting speech signals used by a stressed person. Firstly, it both relieves stress and masks the degree of anxiety experienced. I'll give you an example. Watch teenagers in the process of courting a member of the opposite sex. Remember when you yourself were a giggling teenager? Nervous laughter performs almost the same function as whistling or talking to yourself while walking through a cemetery or a dark alley. Whistling calms a frightened person. Nervous laughter performs the same function in relation to those who find themselves in an uncomfortable position.
In addition, nervous laughter helps buy time before you say something. It gives the person a little extra time to think and prepare a safe response. It is not surprising that there are people who always start laughing or giggling before entering into a conversation. Laughter helps them determine their reaction to what is being said. I'll give you an example. A person may laugh before answering a question.
As evidenced by nervous laughter. At the same time, nervous laughter is disarming when the situation becomes tense. A person can use well-timed laughter to defuse accumulated tension. In addition, laughter is a human reaction that is easy to imitate. Therefore, it can be used to hide stress from the casual observer. Nervous laughter may indicate that the topic under discussion is very important or painful for the speaker, and may indicate evasiveness or even deceit.
Nervous laughter helps buy time before you say something.
The verbal symptom of sighing has two main interpretations. Firstly, constant sighs during the conversation indicate that your interlocutor in this situation feels sorry for himself and may be depressed. I do not mean to say that he suffers from clinical depression and needs the services of a psychiatrist. Perhaps now he would like to distance himself from the situation or just end it and move on to another issue. A single deep breath after prolonged resistance or obvious aggressive behavior says that the internal emotional or cognitive battle is over. The person is ready to give up and accept the point of view of the interlocutor. Investigators often become witnesses of such sighs. After them, the suspects are ready to confess. This behavior is called "acceptance". The person no longer resists the truth or reality of the current situation.
Developments
Humans have one amazing emotion that prolongs youth, improves mood and, as recently discovered, helps to cope with pain. This emotion is laughter. Other primates can laugh too, however, only humans can do it from the heart. Some experts believe that in the process of evolution speech was based on laughter.
The definition of this concept suggests that laughter is a reaction to funny words, gestures or physical actions(for example, tickling). This reaction includes involuntary movements of the muscles of the face and body, certain sounds, and changes in the rhythm of breathing. Laughter is our response to unconventional, deviant fun situations.
The neurophysiological centers responsible for laughter are located in the "ancient" part of the cerebral cortex, which is found in many animals. This suggests that the ability to laugh is not unique to humans, animals have similar ways of expressing joy. About 10 years ago in the journal Science, Professor Jake Panksepp published an article in which he claimed that many small animals can also laugh. According to the professor, they laugh a little differently than people do. Monkeys and dogs do this by making puffing sounds, while rats squeak very loudly. high notes, frequency up to 50 kilohertz. The presence of a "sense of humor" in rats was previously confirmed by researchers at the University of Washington.
There are many theories about the origin and function of laughter. He does not need to learn, it is an inborn reaction, like sneezing. It is important to note that the ability to laugh is present in those animals that live in groups. There is a theory that Laughter is an emotional component of the herd instinct: seeing someone in an absurdly hilarious situation makes us laugh. For those who have made a mistake in any business, laughter is a good chance not to lose status in the group.
Another theory suggests that laughter, in both humans and animals, is a way of communicating with large groups relatives. Indeed, it is better for a person to laugh in a group than alone. Loud laughter can immediately attract big number tribesmen and helps to unite the group. Laughter can be a protective reaction of the body, which helps relieve stress. In situations prolonged stress(for example, during exams or during problems at work) we try to joke and laugh more often. However, laughter in such situations is most often tense, which is why it is called "nervous" laughter. Yet, according to experts, laughter has a much more favorable effect on a person than if he kept everything in himself, not releasing tension.
Recently, scientists have discovered something else interesting: laughter and a sense of humor help endure pain. Professor Robin Dunbar of Oxford University and his colleagues asked a group of volunteers to watch a film, after which they experimentally measured their pain sensitivity. One group watched for 15 minutes comic video, another group was shown a short film about a golf competition. After that, ice was applied to the hand of each of the volunteers. Very cold objects in prolonged contact with the skin do not provoke any danger, but cause some pain. Volunteers who watched funny video were able to endure contact with a cold object longer.
Thus, the experimenters came to the conclusion that a sense of humor and laughter help a person endure pain and cold. Nonetheless, intellectual jokes, despite the satisfaction that they can bring, did not affect a person's pain threshold in any way. However, clownery, situational comedies and wacky humor have proven to have an analgesic effect. Such humor, according to scientists, causes a sharp increase in the amount of endorphins in the blood (proteins that are produced by brain cells and which cause feelings of pleasure). These same substances are also produced during other bright and pleasant emotions, for example, during falling in love.
Professor Dunbar put forward the theory that Laughter helped our prehistoric ancestors not only cope with the difficulties of cave life, but also express warm feelings towards their relatives. The scientist intends to continue the study of humor and laughter.
Classifications of theories of humor
Theory of incompatibility
These theories suggest that humor arises from an understanding of the incompatibility between the listener's expectation and what happened, the result. The following, proposed by Patricia Keith-Spiegel, can also be included in this category of theories of humor.
Theory of incongruence. Humor arises from the collision of heterogeneous and poorly consistent with each other ideas or situations that go beyond the usual forms of behavior.
Theory of ambivalence. A person is funny when he experiences dual feelings. Unlike the theory of incongruence, where ideas and perception are in the foreground, this theory focuses on feelings. It's about about the interchange of pleasure and pain.
Configuration theories. Humor arises when elements that at first seemed unrelated to each other suddenly add up to a certain unified picture.
The most famous adherents of such ideas include I. Kant (1966) and A. Schopenhauer (1993).
I. Kant wrote: “laughter is an emotion arising from the unexpected transformation of intense expectation into nothing” (i.e. when pronouncing keyword, "salts" of the joke, our premonition about the expected continuation is not fulfilled). witty joke must contain something that we first take for truth, mislead us, and the next moment turn into nothing (a mechanism that includes the reaction of laughter).
A. Schopenhauer proposed the “Theory of the Absurd”. Laughter arises from the recognition of a discrepancy between physical expectation and the abstract representation of some thing, person, or action; it is a concept that goes back to Aristotle. Success in recognizing the absurd, the awareness of the discrepancy between the concept and the real object is, according to Schopenhauer, the cause of laughter. BUT absurdity is not always funny. (Schopenhauer A., 1993)
G. Hegel approached the analysis of wit as a form of thought. Wit, in his opinion, "grasps the contradiction, expresses it", brings things into relation to each other, makes the concept "shine" through the contradiction, but does not express the concept of things and their relations (in contrast to the usual representation, which grasps the difference and contradiction , but not the transition from one to another). Thus, the “luminous contradiction” between essence and appearance is that common thing that is inherent in everything witty. However, the essence of the nature of the "luminous contradiction" remained unsolved (Hegel G., 1929).
Theory of hostility
These theories say that the fun lies in finding a sense of superiority over something, or in overcoming an obstacle, or aggression, attacking some object. Patricia Keith-Spiegel identified a similar group of humor theories:
Theory of superiority. Laughter occurs when we feel less stupid, ugly, unhappy, or weak than those around us.
Similar theories go back to Plato (1990), partly Aristotle (2000) and M. T. Cicero (1994) and found support in the works of A. Schopenhauer (1993) and T. Hobbes (1964).
Plato considered humor to be a negative phenomenon, because this feeling is based on malice and envy, especially laughter caused by the misfortune or failure of others, or mockery of those who are lower in position. (Plato, 1990)
Aristotle recognized that there is a hint of malice in laughter, considered it ethically undesirable. But those who never joke themselves and who dislike the jokes of others, he considered savages. “Funny is some kind of mistake or ugliness that does not cause suffering and harm, such as a comic mask. It is something ugly and ugly, but without suffering.
T. Hobbes developed the views of Plato and Aristotle that laughter is directly related to achieving superiority over others. Since a person is in a constant struggle for power with his own kind, and modern norms of human behavior do not allow physically destroying their rivals, superiority can be expressed with the help of other feelings, for example, with the help of humor and wit. In his opinion, laughter is an expression of sudden triumph, which comes from a sudden sense of superiority over others or over one's past. “All actions and speeches, arising or appearing to proceed from rich experience, knowledge, prudence or wit, are objects of veneration. For all these things are power."
Theory of release.
These theories teach that the funny is the result of the release of psychic energy and by freeing the person from some limitation. Patricia Keith-Spiegel has named a similar group of humor theories as détente theories, i.e. the function of humor in this case is seen as relieving stress and tension.
The most famous of these theories belongs to Z. Freud (1997), who declared that humor saves mental energy. Freud associated the pleasure of witticism with the saving of "energy expended and expended in delaying or suppressing" some content. Freud distinguished 3 types of humorous situations and their corresponding energies that can be discharged in laughter:
1. discharge of energy and displacement is associated with wit
2. discharge of mental energy and is carried out with the help of comic
3. discharge of emotional energy and corresponds to the actual humor.
Wit is an expression of unconscious aggression and sexual impulses that are usually repressed. Such jokes are an expression of libido.
Comic - non-verbal fun, such as a clown performance. Mobilization of mental energy and in anticipation of what will happen is not justified and a discharge occurs.
Humor is a test negative emotions, and the perception of funny elements allows you to express them.
Humor, as one of the ways to discharge, transforms negative feelings into something directly opposite - into a source of laughter. The role of humor in this case is reduced to the protection of the human self, since it allows you to maintain self-control, dignity and self-control in exceptional (extreme) conditions.
Protection of the Self is achieved, according to A.N. Luk, due to the devaluation of the object to which humor is directed by laughter (Luk A.N., 1977). This understanding of humor in psychology dates back to Z. Freud, for whom humor was "a means of obtaining pleasure, despite the painful affects that precede it." Humor "suppresses the development of this affect, takes its place" (1997). Moreover, the pleasure of humor arises in these cases from “saving affective costs” (Freud Z., 1997)
“Humor can be understood as the highest of these protective functions,” wrote Z. Freud, since humor does not hide from consciousness those content of ideas that are associated with painful affect.
Freud's ideas found followers. D. Flagel: the release of energy and, associated with humor and laughter, is associated with the destruction of social prohibitions. M. Choisi: laughter is a defensive reaction against the fear of prohibition. A person, in his opinion, with the help of laughter overcomes fear of his father, mother, authorities, sexuality, aggression, and so on. Laughter is thus equated in its social significance with art, neurosis, alcoholism. E. Chris believed that comedy is not just a means of releasing energy and, but also a return to childhood experience. (Dmitriev A., 1996)
Thus, each of these concepts emphasizes one aspect or one kind of comic, leaving others in the background.
Other theories of humor.
The considered classification is based on the allocation of one aspect of the comic, but when creating theories, scientists rarely limit themselves to using only one criterion. V. Raskin also offers his own semantic theory of humor (which will be discussed below), noting that all three groups of theories (theories of incompatibility, hostility and release) are well described by the semantic theory of humor.
G. Spencer wrote that strong emotional shocks lead to the accumulation of excess nervous energy and. The wave of energy seeks an outlet and is first of all released through those muscles that, due to their small mass, have little inertia: the muscles of the mouth, facial muscles, speech apparatus, and respiratory muscles. If these channels are not enough to discharge the nervous energy, then other motor channels are used, and the whole body begins to twitch in convulsions. Such is the mechanism of laughter caused by simple feelings. Laughter at the perception of the comic Spencer explains differently. Comic necessarily means some kind of incompatibility, but this incompatibility must be downward. In other words, in a comic situation, we expect something big, but we find something small. This is the downward incompatibility. Otherwise, if instead of the expected small, an unexpectedly large one is found, then there is a feeling of surprise from upward incompatibility. (Spencer G., 1905)
T. Lipps deduces the "law of mental congestion", which is the basis of all surprise and interest. Its essence is as follows: we expect one value, but suddenly another value arises that does not correspond to the given situation; this substitution arouses interest because of its unusualness, contributes to the concentration of "psychic energy and" or, in other words, creates a "psychic blockage", the release from which, as a rule, is laughter. This approach can be attributed to both incompatibility theories and release theories. (Dzemidok B., 1974)
In addition to the theories mentioned above, Patricia Keith-Spiegel also highlights theories of surprise. They say that a necessary, but not sufficient, element of a humorous situation is suddenness or surprise.
D. Locke wrote that wit lies in the convergence of ideas and in their association, fast and varied, which gives a feeling of pleasure. J. Edison, later clarifying Locke's views, noted that not every combination of ideas can be witty, but only unexpected. In addition, wit can be based not only on the similarity of ideas, but also on their opposite. (Locke D., 1986)
G. Gefding considered the basis of all forms of the comic to be the contrast that arises "because two thoughts and two impressions suddenly collide, each of which in itself evokes a feeling, but in such a way that one destroys, which builds the other" .
Semantic theory of humor
This theory was proposed by Victor Raskin (Raskin V., 1985) and developed after him by Salvatore Attardo (Attardo S., 1994).
According to the ideas of these authors, the humorous effect occurs when two independent contexts suddenly cross at the point of bisociation, when two contexts a, completely alien to each other, begin to seem associated to us - this is how cognitive dissonance arises, which is compensated by the reaction of laughter.
According to cognitive theories, our memory stores information in the form of structures that V. Raskin and S. Attardo called scripts. A script is a structured description of the typical features of an object. Raskin believes that the basis of the humorous effect is the clash of contexts, and not the simple linguistic meaning of a. According to this theory, the humorous effect occurs if the following conditions are met: a) the text is incompatible, partial or complete; b) the two parts of the text are opposite in a certain sense e. Raskin believed that "any humorous text will contain an element of incongruity and an element of resolution" ("Any humorous text will contain an element of incongruity and an element of resolution"). The difference between Ruskin's theory and previous ones is that he gave the concept of opposites a universal semantic meaning. Attardo discussed with Raskin and argued that this theory fell under the category of incompatibility theories. The result of this discussion was their joint work "General Theory of Verbal Humor" (1991).
Classification of theories of humor B. Dzemidok
Another classification of philosophical theories of the comic was proposed by B. Dzemidok (Dzemidok B., 1974, Ivanova E.M., 2007). First, he divides the theories of the comic according to the significance for them of the role of the subject or object of the comic. All concepts are divided into 1) objectivist (the focus is on the objective properties of the comic object); 2) subjectivist (they define the comic as the result of the subjective abilities of the individual) and 3) relational (they consider the comic as the result of the relationship between the objective properties of the object and the subjective abilities of the individual).
Secondly, Dzemidok classifies theories according to the principle that is supposed to determine the essence of the comic in them:
I. Theories of negative quality; in psychological terms - the theory of the superiority of the subject of a comic experience over the object. (Similar theories are put forward, for example, by Aristotle and Hobbes).
II. The theory of degradation (for example, the theory of Bain).
III. Theory of contrast (Kant, Spencer).
IV. Theory of contradiction (Schopenhauer, Hegel, Chernyshevsky).
V. The theory of deviation from the norm (Gros, Obouin).
VI. Theories of mixed type or theories of intersecting motives (Bergson, Freud).
As shown above, if you classify theories of humor by focusing on any one feature, then you will be left with a number of theories that will fit into several categories. That is, most philosophers do not confine themselves to isolating a single criterion, but do more or less full analysis various characteristics and properties of the comic. Therefore, when singling out in theory only the leading principle of explaining the comic large volume interesting ideas remains unattended.
To designate some principle that is most essential for explaining the comic in a particular theory, Dzemidok introduces the concept of motive and emphasizes that many theories are characterized by the presence of not one, but several motives. He highlights in separate group theories of intersecting motives, however, and in many "one-sided" theories, the authors are not limited to one motive. Dzemidok identifies the following motives: the motive of negative quality, superiority, degradation, contrast, contradiction, deviation from the norm, as well as the motive of unfulfilled expectations, visibility, surprise, etc. By analogy, other motives can be distinguished: for example, the motive of originality, automatism, discharge of energy and, the influence of subconscious representations.
Combining available data into a consistent concept is becoming one of the most actual problems in the theory of the comic. The approach proposed by Dzemidok makes it easy to compare different concepts without losing their originality, and can also be productive for building a new, more complete theory of the comic.
So, for example, Aristotle, when explaining the essence of the comic, uses the motives of superiority, negative quality, degradation, deviation from the norm (ugliness, ugliness, error). In addition, we can talk about the motives of imitation and play.
