When & Why We Laugh

When & Why We Laugh

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Season 1, Episode 12 , Segment 5

NASA, Grandma Rodeo, The Enigma Code, Letters, Laughter

Episode: NASA, Grandma Rodeo, The Enigma Code, Letters, Laughter

  • Feb 24, 2015 10:00 pm
  • 25:42 mins

(1:19:08)  Guest: Scott Weems, neuroscientist at the University of Maryland and author of “HA! The Science of When We Laugh and Why”  When was the last time you really laughed? Was it because someone told a joke? Or you saw something in life that you found absurd? Maybe a sarcastic snipe on Twitter gave you a chuckle? Or perhaps your last laugh was a nervous one. When we are unsure what else to do, we often resort to laughter, don’t we?  Humor is complicated. As is humor’s most common symptom, laughter.  “Usually there is a meaning behind it, some subtle message. That’s the case with any joke; there is usually a message behind it,” explains Weems. “Our brains hate to be bored.”  “Surprise is a start, but you also have to have an outcome too,” says Weems, “a new way of thinking after the punch line.”