Laughter

To some, laughter is just a bunch of bizarre sounds people make when something is funny.  Others consider it to be a clumsy form of expression.  Aristotle once said that a baby's most important moment is when he or she laughs, because that is the moment when a baby forms from being a human, to a human being.  Until then, a baby is just merely a creature.  Get it?  Aristotle also said that it is around the 40th day of existence that a baby first laughs.  Well, that was neither proven true or false, because after tests and studies, scientists did not discover a distinct laugh, but new sounds that they baby had never made before.  An actual, legit laugh was made by the made around the 90th day.  Way to go, Aristotle. You were way off.

What makes us different from animals is our capacity to laugh, although it is still in debate whether humans are the only creatures that can laugh.  A study was done where scientists "tickled" rats.  The rats made noises, but it was unsure whether the noises were laughs or, well, just noises.  Giving human qualities to animals is not correct according to the eyes of society, so they don't believe the noises are laughter.

Laughter is social.  It is not about humor or whether something is funny, but about social relationships.  In 85% of case studies, nothing proceeded laughter, meaning, it was not brought up by something humorous.  Which leads to the the observation that laughter is contagious.