ユーモア

Humour — Grokipedia Fact-checked by Grok 3 months ago Humour Ara Eve Leo Sal 1x Humour is the cognitive and emotional process by which individuals perceive and respond to stimuli as amusing, often eliciting laughter as a physiological and social signal. [1] This response typically arises from the detection of benign incongruities—discrepancies between expectation and outcome that pose no real threat—distinguishing it from mere surprise or error recognition. [2] Empirically, humour manifests in varied forms across cultures, yet shares universal elements tied to social contexts, with laughter serving as an audible cue that enhances group cohesion. [3] The primary psychological theories explaining humour include the incongruity theory, which emphasizes the pleasure derived from resolving unexpected patterns; superiority theory, positing amusement from perceiving one's advantage over others' failings; and relief theory, viewing laughter as a discharge of pent-up psychic energy. [4] Incongruity remains the most empirically supported, as evidenced by neuroimaging studies showing activation in brain regions associated with reward and cognitive surprise during humorous stimuli. [2] These frameworks highlight humour's roots in first-principles cognitive mechanisms rather than purely cultural constructs, though individual differences in humour styles—such as affiliative versus aggressive—correlate with personality traits like extraversion and neuroticism . [5] From an evolutionary standpoint, humour likely originated from play behaviors in primates, where laboured breathing during rough-and-tumble evolved into human laughter to signal non-serious intent and foster bonding. [6] This function persists, as shared laughter upregulates endorphins, strengthens social ties, and aids in navigating group dynamics by diffusing tension or indicating alliance. [3] Empirical research further links regular engagement with humour to measurable health outcomes, including stress reduction, enhanced immune response, and improved resilience against adversity. [4] Despite these benefits, humour's expression can provoke controversy when challenging norms, underscoring its dual role in both reinforcing and subverting social structures. [7] Definition and Etymology Core Definition Humour is the cognitive and emotional capacity to perceive, appreciate, or produce stimuli that evoke amusement , typically manifested through laughter or smiling. [8] This response arises from the detection of incongruities, absurdities, or benign violations in expectations, distinguishing it from mere novelty or surprise. [9] Scholarly accounts emphasize humour's multifaceted nature , encompassing both the internal experience of mirth and external expressions like joking or wit , which facilitate social interaction. [10] Central to humour is its reliance on cognitive processing, where individuals resolve discrepancies between anticipated and actual outcomes, yielding pleasure rather than frustration . [11] Unlike reflexive laughter elicited by tickling or physiological triggers, humour-driven laughter stems from mental evaluation of content, often involving wordplay , irony, or exaggeration . [12] Empirical definitions, such as those from psychological research , frame humour as a adaptive mechanism that enhances coping and interpersonal bonds, though its precise triggers vary by culture and context. [13] This core phenomenon underscores humour's role in human cognition , bridging intellectual insight with affective release. Historical Etymology The term "humour" derives from the Latin hūmor (also spelled ūmor ), meaning " moisture ," " liquid ," or " fluid ," stemming from the verb humēre , "to be moist" or "to flow with moisture ." [14] This root entered Middle English around the mid-14th century as humour , borrowed via Anglo-French umor or Old French umor , initially denoting a bodily fluid or secretion in medical contexts. [15] [14] In ancient Greek medicine , systematized by Hippocrates (c. 460–370 BCE) and later Galen (129–c. 216 CE), health and temperament were attributed to the balance of four primary bodily fluids— blood , phlegm , yellow bile (choler), and black bile (melancholy)—known as humōr in Greek, influencing Latin terminology. [16] Imbalances in these humors were believed to cause diseases and personality traits, such as sanguine (cheerful from blood dominance) or choleric (irritable from yellow bile). [17] By the medieval period, this humoral theory permeated European medicine and philosophy, equating humors with dispositions. [16] The semantic shift toward psychological and social connotations occurred in the 16th century . By the 1520s, "humour" extended to mean "mood," "temporary state of mind," or "caprice," reflecting the idea of fluid, changeable dispositions akin to bodily fluids. [18] This usage gained traction in Elizabethan England , notably in Ben Jonson's "comedy of humours" plays, such as Every Man in His Humour (1598), where characters were exaggeratedly dominated by a single humoral trait, satirizing eccentric behaviors for comic effect. [19] By the early 17th century , "humour" evolved to signify "the quality of being amusing" or "that which excites laughter ," decoupling from medical origins while retaining connotations of whimsical or odd dispositions. [14] [20] This transition from physiological fluid to comedic property underscores a metaphorical extension: just as humors ebbed and flowed to alter temperament , so too could verbal or situational incongruities provoke mirth through perceived imbalances or absurdities. [17] The modern British spelling "humour" persisted alongside the American "humor," both retaining the term's layered history without altering its core evolution. [18] Evolutionary and Biological Foundations Evolutionary Theories Charles Darwin proposed in 1872 that laughter evolved from the respiratory modifications accompanying the strong excitation of the nervous system during joyous states, such as play in infants and animals, where the mouth opens widely in a manner homologous to grinning in primates . [21] He observed that smiling transitions to laughter as excitement intensifies, suggesting an innate expressive mechanism rather than a learned cultural artifact , with roots in mammalian play behaviors that signal non-aggressive intent. [22] Modern evolutionary accounts build on this foundation, positing laughter as an exaptation from ancestral play signals, elaborated through biological and cultural selection to facilitate social cohesion. Gervais and Wilson (2005) argue that laughter originated in rough-and-tumble play among juveniles, serving as a "not for real" cue to prevent escalation into genuine conflict, and was later co-opted in adult vocal grooming equivalents, enhancing group bonding via endorphin release and pain threshold elevation during shared laughter . [23] Empirical studies support this by showing synchronized laughter increases perceived cooperation and trust, with acoustic properties of laughter—such as its rhythmic, unvoiced bursts—mirroring primate play vocalizations across species. [3] Sexual selection theories emphasize humor production as a costly signal of underlying fitness. Geoffrey Miller (2000) hypothesizes that the capacity for creative humor evolved via mate choice , advertising intelligence , verbal fluency, and mental agility, traits metabolically expensive to develop and maintain. Supporting evidence includes correlations between humor ability and IQ (r ≈ 0.40 in production tasks), as well as longitudinal data linking self-reported humor to higher mating success and reproductive outcomes in both sexes, though stronger in males as producers. [24] [25] Greengross and Miller (2011) found that humor production, but not appreciation, predicts number of sexual partners, consistent with handicap principle signaling where only high-fitness individuals can reliably produce spontaneous wit under social scrutiny. [26] Alternative views frame humor as an adaptation for error detection and benign violation resolution, aiding survival by recalibrating threat assessments in ambiguous situations. This aligns with incongruity theories recast evolutionarily, where humor arises from safely resolving mismatches between expectation and reality, fostering cognitive flexibility without adaptive cost. [27] Such mechanisms may have promoted cooperation by signaling shared mental models, though direct fossil or comparative evidence remains sparse, relying on phylogenetic analogies and developmental universals like infant tickle responses. [28] These theories are not mutually exclusive, with humor likely serving multiple functions shaped by kin selection , reciprocal altruism , and runaway sexual selection over hominid evolution . [29] Physiology of Laughter Laughter involves distinct neural pathways, with spontaneous laughter driven by emotional centers such as the hypothalamus and periaqueductal gray matter, while voluntary laughter, often social in nature, engages higher cortical regions including the frontal lobes and supplementary motor area . [30] [31] Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies reveal greater activation in auditory cortices and limbic structures during spontaneous laughter compared to volitional forms, underscoring differences in processing emotional versus intentional triggers. [32] Physiologically, laughter induces rhythmic contractions of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, leading to increased intra-abdominal pressure and expulsion of air in irregular bursts, which produces the characteristic vocalizations. [4] These contractions elevate heart rate by 10-20 beats per minute, boost stroke volume , and enhance cardiac output , while also increasing respiratory rate and oxygen consumption during episodes lasting 10-15 seconds. [33] Pharyngeal constriction during exhalation contributes to the sound production, distinguishing human laughter from mere vocal play. [32] Horm