可能你并没有你想象的那么有趣
Maybe you’re not as funny as you think you are…
想象一下
Picture this.
你一个人在看电视
You are watching TV alone,
你看到一个你不喜欢的明星在讲笑话
and you see a celebrity you don’t like make a joke.
你笑不出来
You don’t laugh.
然而 多年后 你最好的朋友在群里
Your best friend, however, tells you the exact same joke
跟你讲完全一样的笑话
to your friend group years later,
这个笑话却变成世界上最好笑的笑话
and now it is the funniest joke in the world.
为什么会这样呢？
Why is this?
可能跟你认为的正好相反
Contrary to what you may believe,
笑话不是完全依赖于这个笑话在客观上有多好笑
laughter is not solid dependent on how objectively funny a joke is.
神经学家索菲• 斯科特说 大部分的笑话
Neuro scientist Sophie Scott says that most laughter
都要归因于社会环境
is due to social circumstances.
她认为我们笑不是因为笑话本身有多好笑
She believes that we don’t laugh at jokes,
而是因为我们要告诉别人我们理解笑话
but we laugh to show others we understand them,
我们同意笑话里面的内容 我们喜欢这些笑话
agree with them and that we like them.
这就解释了为什么我们通常
This explains why we are more likely
嘲笑的是朋友而不是陌生人
to laugh at a friend than a stranger.
研究表明 你越年轻
Research suggests that the younger you are,
笑话就越具有传染性
the more contagious laughter is.
当你慢慢变老 笑话的传染性就会变弱
As you get older, laughter becomes less contagious.
这可能是因为上了年纪的人能更好地理解笑
This could be because older people understand laughter better.
通过以前的经验 上了年纪的人
Older people are more likely to tell the difference
往往能区别卖弄笑话与真实笑话的不同
between posed and real laugher because of past experience.
因此 当他们看到卖弄笑话时
Therefore, they don’t feel the need
他们感觉没必要去回应
to respond with laughter when they see it.
让我们把注意力转向2017年的《科学》杂志
Looking to Science, in 2007,
他们使用FMRI扫描仪测量志愿者的大脑是如何对一系列声音进行反应的
an FMRI scanner measured how volunteers’ brains responded to a range of sounds.
这些声音 要么是像笑声这样的正面声音 要么是像尖叫这样的负面声音
These sounds were either positive like laughter or negative like screaming.
这些声音会促进大脑前运动皮质层的反应
The sounds encourage to reaction in the Premotor Cortical Region of their brains
这个区域也是促进面部肌肉运动的区域
which is the area that encourages facial muscles to move.
来自正面声音的反应最强烈
The highest response was from positive sounds,
这个反应可以让我们深入了解为什么当我们听到别人讲笑话时就会笑
giving us insight into why we laugh when we hear someone tell a joke.
某研究表明我们的祖先使用笑声作为语言的先导
Certain research suggests that laughter was used at a forerunner
来表示它们是无害的
to language by your ancestor to show that they meant no harm.
换句话说 笑话不是用来让我们受益的
In other words, laughter was not used to benefit us,
而是一种让潜在威胁对象接受我们的方式
but rather as a means of being accepted by potential threat.
1974年的一项研究表明 人类往往
In 1974, a study showed that people were more likely
更容易在群体中发现笑话好笑
to find jokes funny when in a group.
这可以解释为什么我们会觉得看电影很有趣
This could explain why we find pleasure when watching movies.
角色与我们是相互关联的 我们感觉好像认识他们一样
The characters are relatable, and we feel like we know them.
这时问题就来了
The question then arises.
可传染的笑话对我们有益吗？
Can contagious laughter benefit us?
罗伯特·韦林顿对一些夫妻开展了
Robert Vellington conducted the longitudinal study
压力对话的纵向研究
on stressful conversations with couples.
他发现在压力对话过程中笑的那一方
He found that couples who laughed during their stress
会让彼此轻松下来
made each other feel better.
这表明一起笑出来可以营造轻松的氛围
This shows how laughing together can be relaxing,
也可以拉进夫妻之间的距离
and can bring couples together.
研究还表明笑
Studies have also shown that embarrassing situations
可以化解尴尬
can be lessen by a laughter.
如果你的朋友摔倒 你的反应是大笑
If your friend falls over, and you respond by laughing,
假如他们伤的不重
provided that they are not seriously hurt.
他们也会跟着开始笑起来
then they might start laughing, too.
自嘲有利于化解自己尴尬
Laughing at yourself can help reduce your humiliation,
防止颜面尽失
and prevent an entire loss of dignity.
1962年1月30日在坦噶尼喀的一间寄宿学校里
A laughter epidemic happened on the 30 January, 1962,
发生了一件笑声传染事件
in a boarding school, in Tanganyika,
3个年轻姑娘在那里先是因为一个笑话而咯咯笑
where three young girls began giggling at a joke.
她们的笑声传染给了159名学生中的95位
Their laughter spread throughout 95 out of the 159 students,
这95位学生放学后又把这个笑声传染给他们的父母
who spreaded to their parents once they left.
有一个孩子连续笑了16天
One child laughed for 16 days straight.
这个学校只能暂时关闭
The school was closed temporarily,
因为笑声传染到了乡村的村民
as it spread to home villagers,
影响到成百上千的人们
affecting hundreds of people.
该事件仍然归因为群体臆想症或者群体心理遗传病
The cause of this was still arised to be mass hysteria or mass psycho-genetic illness.
这个事件是由压力诱发引起的
The incident was stress-induced
可能是由于
supposedly due to the fact that
由于坦噶尼喀渴望独立
Tanganyika has just wanted independence,
以及老师和家长让学生承受了太高的期望压力所致
and students were suffering from high expectations from teachers and parents.
那如果让笑声从大脑里消失会怎么样呢？
How’s that for laughter getting out of head?
所以 下次当你在社交场合笑的时候
So the next time you laugh in a social situation,
想一想你为什么会笑
think about why you are laughing.
你是真的觉得这个笑话好笑
Did you really think that the joke was funny,
抑或你只是尝试在取悦跟你在一起的那个人？
were you just trying to please who you were with?
你有没有被一个笑话逗笑很久
Have you ever laughed at a joke for a long time,
然后发现这个笑话其实并没有那么好笑的经历？
only to realize that it was’t actually that funny.
在下方评论
Comment below,
我们很乐意听你的令人发笑的故事
we’d love to hear your laughing stories.