70. Laughter Bonds People Together

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70. Laughter Bonds People Together

Robert Provine, a neuroscientist studying the relationship between laughter and people, concluded that laughter is an instinctual behavior that created social bonding

Provine spent many hours observing how, when and why people laugh

this is what he found:

* Laughter is universal

* Laughter is unconscious

* Laughter is for social communication

* Laughter is contagious

* Laughter first appears in babies 4 months old

* Laughter isn't always about humor

* People don't laugh in the middle of a sentence or thought

* The person talking laughs twice as harder than people listening

* Women laugh twice as much as men

* Laughter denotes social status

Takeaways

* Most online interactions are asynchronous

* Synchronous interaction lead to more bonding

* You don't always need jokes or humor to get people to laugh

* Laughter is VERY contagious