Scholars attempting to understand why we laugh have failed to develop a single, complete theory.

Problems are often the result of diverse causal factors and consequences associated with this behavior.

Here I briefly describe some topics scholars address as they attempt to comprehend this enigmatic behavior.

In my last post, I shared some findings from an article titled “Essential Attributes of a Comprehensive Theory of Laughter” (Simon, 2020), which listed topics raised by modern laughter scholars in their peer-reviewed writings. I wanted to expose some of the difficulties investigators face when attempting to develop a single “unified” laughter theory, one capable of answering all the questions raised, some going back as far as Ancient Greece (Halliwell, 2008). Unfortunately, I had space to cover only about a third of the issues interested theorists must address, so here I’d like to add a few more examples.

Previously reported themes

Last month’s article covered these themes: the physiological basis of atypical laughter behaviors as they relate to various cognitive or emotional disabilities; the social consequences of laughter and humor, both positive and negative; precisely where in the brain laughter is initiated; what physical benefits, if any, laughter provides to the individual expressing it; how laughter and humor may help us cope with difficult circumstances; explaining the tremendous variation we see in people’s laugh response; laughter’s relationship to humor; the essential role or function laughter’s has in an evolutionary sense; and why we sometimes misinterpret the sentiments behind others’ laughter. Listed below are the next most common themes encountered during my search.

More subjects the experts have........

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