Good Laughter - Bad Laughter
Good Laughter - Bad Laughter The human laugh is a complex aspect of speech. The Eskimo word for "laughter" (iglavtiriwok) also means "making love." For a laugh that can be shared creates a social bond. A custom among the Eskimos, when two members of the group have a dispute is to gather in a circle around those two. Each of those in the dispute tells jokes about the other. And those who form the circle laugh when they are moved to do so. The consequence is usually that one of the jokers gets embarrassed and leaves the village, perhaps never to return again. Laughter not only heals, it can be divisive. And in the USA hysteria reigned as laugh-tracks (a potent opinionforming mechanism) were added even to children's TV cartoons. We tend to disregard people at whom laughter is directed while honoring those who have provoked the laugh. The root of laughter in humans is the sound of an alarmed, and frightened primate who is trying to warn others in the gr...