According to a fun commercial currently airing by AIG, laughter will add 8 years to your life. I wonder how they tested that hypothesis? Regardless, I do know that laughter is good for the work environment! We’ve had a couple of intense weeks at Rockfish working very hard on some significant projects and probably haven’t laughed enough lately.
One of the silly ways we have a good time is by using Photoshop to manipulate photos of each other. The photo posted with this blog is my face superimposed onto the Borat poster. Another one of my favorites is this poster of Jerry. Last week Joey created a new “squatter” page that we could use when registering a domain that we’ve yet to launch a website for. Let’s just say it involved one of our Senior Developers caught in the “act” of squatting and it was very funny! Don’t worry, he got his revenge and a truce was quickly (or at least temporarily) called.
Did you know that humans are the only species that laugh? Some animals make sounds that researchers say may mimic laughing, but none laugh and giggle and carry on like we do.
Laughter is part of the universal human vocabulary. All members of the human species understand it. Unlike English or Spanish or Chinese, we don’t have to learn to speak it. We’re born with the capacity to laugh. The first laughter appears at about 3.5 to 4 months of age, long before we’re able to speak. At ages 5 and 6, we tend to see the most exuberant laughs. Adults laugh less than children, probably because they play less. And laughter is associated with play.
Very little is known about the specific brain mechanisms responsible for laughter. But we do know that laughter is triggered by many sensations and thoughts, and that it activates many parts of the body. When we laugh, we alter our facial expressions and make sounds. During exuberant laughter, the muscles of the arms, legs and trunk are involved. Laughter also requires modification in our pattern of breathing.
So, why do we laugh? Evolution argues that it evolved from the panting behavior of our ancient primate ancestors. I personally believe that that we are emotional beings, created in the image of God with a spirit and a consciousness. We can experience sadness and joy, weeping and laughter. We can stimulate those emotions in others also.
I'm sure yesterday was tough! I know it was for us. Let's make sure we laugh today and redeem those minutes that stress removed from our lives yesterday.