Laughter

As I sit here listening to people laugh around me, and I realise now how animal-like the human laugh can be, and how it is used to not only mark status in a group but to show support to a leader.

The leader makes a funny statement and laughs raucously and in doing so calls for support form his followers. Then he is joined by a chorus of laughter, even if what was said was not funny. The followers then share the rapture to mark their subservience to the leader and bolster the leaders ego. Each has their own style of laugh that marks out their individuality, and they use the volume of their laughter to not only show support to the leader, but also shows their status in the group.

The worst part about the expereience is to hear people who were not in the same location and were not involved in the original joke, weakly joining in with the laughter from afar, and trying to suck up to the leader. It's like they are asking permission to belong to the gang, like they are offering their aliegence if it will be accepted, and more often than not they are rejected by the core group.

Each laugh's definition is either the same as the leader's to show kinnship or of a distinct form to mark him as someone who is different and has his own status, but it is still subservient to the leader.

I'm sure this is something like can be seen in the animal kingdom, in a species such as Apes or Hyenas, and this drags man down to a lower level than he should hold. It's like a animal gang showing to the rest of the group who is the boss. Heaven help those do not join in the laugh as they have either no status at all, or mark themselves at odds to the group and an ememy to be picked on at a later date.

Humans eh? what a bunch!

 

 

Is laughter the best medicine?

 

12/09/14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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