http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2010/04/the-haha-moment/ The Beautiful Brain Podcast explores the latest findings from the ever-growing field of neuroscience, with particular attention to the dialogue between the arts and sciences. In this monthly program, host Noah Hutton reports on news from the world of brain science, interviews important thinkers about their work, and reviews new literature in the field. The show illuminates important new questions about creativity, the mind of the artist, and the mind of the observer that modern neuroscience is helping us to answer, or at least to provide part of an answer. Instances where art seeks to answer questions of a traditionally scientific nature are also of great interest, and for that reason you will hear from artists as well as scientists on The Beautiful Brain. Subscribe today to receive a brand new episode each month. Wed, 16 May 2012 16:42:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2010/04/the-haha-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-2139 Emily Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:37:25 +0000 http://thebeautifulbrain.com/?p=890#comment-2139 It's also interesting how extreme uncontrollable laughing so closely resembles crying. If the chemical reaction is similar, the cause could hardly be more different. Then again, if the whole defense mechanism theory is right, perhaps laughing is just another version of crying: a different way of responding to painful truths about the world. It’s also interesting how extreme uncontrollable laughing so closely resembles crying. If the chemical reaction is similar, the cause could hardly be more different. Then again, if the whole defense mechanism theory is right, perhaps laughing is just another version of crying: a different way of responding to painful truths about the world.

]]> http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2010/04/the-haha-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-791 Larry Fleming Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:06:54 +0000 http://thebeautifulbrain.com/?p=890#comment-791 I agree with Jeremy's point of a buffer or defense mode. There is a scene in the movie Clue where Leslie Ann Warren's character finds the dead cook and she says that "The food wasn't that bad". The response was "This is no time to joke" and her answer. "It's my defense mechanism." We see that we feel a full range of emotions, but if we feel good, our health is better. "Laughter is the best medicine." When we can laugh we lesson the empathy we feel for someone, we lesson the life draining flow out and seem to pull in that life energy for ourselves. It's a balancing act to staying healthy. The question I have, is there a danger in finding too much laughter? The answer is Yes, but why? I agree with Jeremy’s point of a buffer or defense mode. There is a scene in the movie Clue where Leslie Ann Warren’s character finds the dead cook and she says that “The food wasn’t that bad”. The response was “This is no time to joke” and her answer. “It’s my defense mechanism.” We see that we feel a full range of emotions, but if we feel good, our health is better. “Laughter is the best medicine.” When we can laugh we lesson the empathy we feel for someone, we lesson the life draining flow out and seem to pull in that life energy for ourselves. It’s a balancing act to staying healthy. The question I have, is there a danger in finding too much laughter? The answer is Yes, but why?

]]> http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2010/04/the-haha-moment/comment-page-1/#comment-610 Jeremy Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:43:58 +0000 http://thebeautifulbrain.com/?p=890#comment-610 Nice. One explanation that I've always liked was that we often have to laugh at things that are scary or dangerous or anxiety-provoking in order to make them less overwhelming. In that way, humor acts as a sort of psychological buffer zone, so that when we face adversity, we're not always thrown for a loop. Instead, we can just laugh at the silliness/absurdity of it all. I know that's not really what you are exploring in this article, but that always seemed to make sense to me. Nice. One explanation that I’ve always liked was that we often have to laugh at things that are scary or dangerous or anxiety-provoking in order to make them less overwhelming. In that way, humor acts as a sort of psychological buffer zone, so that when we face adversity, we’re not always thrown for a loop. Instead, we can just laugh at the silliness/absurdity of it all. I know that’s not really what you are exploring in this article, but that always seemed to make sense to me.

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