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What you may not know about laughter

(photo by Jim Wilson, Creative Images)

Laughter, it can be said, is a symptom of joy. And it can often be a source of happiness–laughing makes us feel good.

But this we already know.  Here are some things you might not know about laughter:

  • there are 40 to 50 qualitatively distinct kinds of laughs with distinct meanings
  • female laughter might have evolved as a way of influencing the moods of surrounding males
  • laughter is social—people are 30 times more likely to laugh in group situations than in solitary ones
  • laughter signals a shared understanding of the world, so it’s foundational to interdependence and intimacy and like-mindedness

Learn more about laughter in this Ode Magazine article: “How laughter evolved and how it makes us human

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