When will we laugh?

When relating laughter to time, it is easy to overlook all those times that we're being exposed to a funny situation yet don't know when we actually are going to laugh. Usually, we laugh in situations that we know are going to be funny or are supposed to be funny, but we all know there are those times where we are expecting something funny and are completely let down. This is different from the obligatory laughter I referenced in my first post because in these situations, we continue to wait for the moment in which we are expected to laugh but it never comes. Because this moment is inevitably awkward for both people involved, we are forced to act as though we didn't know the moment was building up to be something "funny." However, when we resort to this, the person in charge of the "funny" moment is disappointed in that we weren't able to find the funny time to laugh. Timing our laughter is both voluntary and involuntary. In these moments I talk about above, the timing of our laughter works hand in hand with the build up that comes with it. We think we are timing our laughter voluntarily, for when the funny moment comes, however are let down in realizing that there is no funny moment. Our involuntary laughter occurs when we least expect things to be funny. These are the purely true moments that we find funny, resulting in us to laugh whether we planned on it or not. A shift can also occur from voluntary laughter to involuntary laughter. When we think something is going to be funny and we are planning out our laughter for the exact moment it should occur, something else might happen that we burst out laughing because we weren't expecting it, resulting in our involuntary laughter.

ICE Cold Laughter

The other day I was walking behind a group of students who were having any normal conversation that we all would have on the way to class. We are all obviously aware of the huge mounds of snow covering the entire campus here, so seeing someone slip has become the usual. As I continued to walk behind this group, we all witnessed someone attempting to cross the street. The key word here is attempt. Mid way through, they slipped on a very hidden piece of ice that probably any student crossing would've slipped on. The laughter that which erupted from the group ahead of me (and myself) lasted for probably 2 minutes, which is a lot considering the cause of this laughter was less than 5 seconds long. This amazed me. The ability for people to laugh about something that lasted for nearly 5 seconds was not the dumbfounding part. It was that the laughter ceased after the original 2 minutes right after the fall, however began again ten minutes later. The laughter that then followed was purely reminiscent, however produced the same hearty laugh that occurred when the person crossing actually slipped. This happening allowed me to conclude that shorter instances result in longer laughter due in part because of the fact that what happened is no longer available for the people to continue to laugh at. Therefore, this is when the laughter is purely based on memory of the actual incident. Our shift from actual laughter in the moment to reminiscent laughter can be separated by however many minutes. What remains constant is the ability to laugh the same way.