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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Is it really the best medicine? Neurobiologist Robert R. Provine discovered that no scientist had ever looked into the weird, uncontrollable, and very human phenomenon of laughter, so he started off on his own. Laughter: A Scientific Investigation is his warm and--of course--funny report on how and why we giggle and snort with such regularity. Basing his views on field research conducted in a broad array of social situations (laughter being notoriously difficult to evoke in the laboratory), he posits that we use it as a universal, preverbal means of communication. Though animal research is controversial, it suggests that apes establish and maintain relationships using laugh-like behaviour, so it could be the missing link between animal communication and true language. He also explores instances in which we seem to laugh our way into and out of social situations, and includes a list of tips for keeping the laughs flowing. The irony of the scientific community not taking laughter seriously isn't lost on Provine, and he takes every opportunity to remind his fellows that even the seemingly most trivial matters can hide the most profound truths. If that isn't funny, what is? --Rob Lightner
Product Description
Robert Provine argues in this book that laughter is mostly about relationships, not jokes; that women laugh more at men than vice versa; that speakers laugh more than their audiences; that tickling is a form of tactile communication, not a reflex; and that laughter explains why chimpanzees cannot talk. Among other topics are a history of canned laughter and a description of the laughing epidemic that brought a district of Tanganyika to a standstill in 1962.
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87% buy the item featured on this page: Laughter: A Scientific Investigation£7.93 |
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