by Ice.Maiden » 03 Nov 2013, 14:26
I agree with your take on it Yogi.
I think laughter's also an instinct. Some primates laugh to show pleasure, yet screech in usison when they make a kill.
The type of sounds made were probably to communicate before speech developed properly.
A cat'll purr when it's content, yet has a good range of warning vocals. So do dogs, by producing different types of growls and barks. Body language comes into play as well. Even humans have defensive stances, such as avoiding eye contact, the folding of arms across the body, etc.
Some animals flatten their ears when frightened or angry, and tail wags can indicate looming danger, such as when deer warn their counterparts. these are what I'd call instinctive actions, carried in the genes as a means of survival and communication.
Laughter's hard to define. It can bond people though. We've all been in company where one person bursts into laughter, which encourages a similar reaction from those in the group. We often laugh at THEM laughing, and it's a "known" sound connected to happiness and amusement.
However, we also understand "fake laughter", or when someone laughs at someone else's expense. Depending on the nature of the person laughing, and what they're laughing AT, the rest of us seem to pick up on that quite easily. Sometimes it makes others laugh alongside them, but that's another bonding mechanism to show that they share - or want to be seen to share - the same sense of humour, and be accepted.
When you get a whole group of people sharing laughter, it produces a feel-good sense of being and sharing. There are many different types of laughter though - nervous, menacing, amused, sarcastic or sardonic, and whilst everyone has their own particular sense of humour, the sort which produces gales of mirth from within a group's usually associated with something pleasant and genuinely funny.
Now tell me why a baby chuckles away? They're probably reacting to the sounds and expressions of those around them - copying - but a laughing baby's a happy one ... unless it smiles when it has wind! : )