If you are having trouble finding someone with a good sense of humor, you are not alone. It’s almost as if we have lost the ability to laugh at the everyday occurrences of life. I don’t know if this is due to the political environment of the past few years, the increased difficulty of life or the absence of joy in the hustle of what has become the accepted routine of day-to-day existence. As I reviewed the headlines and articles of today, I found it interesting to come across new research tracking the historical record of how we communicate and the evolution of laughter in apes!
In a new study published in the journal Communications Biology, researchers analyzed recordings of spontaneous laughter from four orangutans, two gorillas, three bonobos, four chimpanzees and four humans. Across 140 laughter sequences, they found all species’ laughter follows the same general pattern: evenly-spaced rhythmic intervals between successive sounds. So what does all of this mean? By studying the subtle variations in how rhythm is timed and structured across different species, scientists can learn how breathing, sound-making and vocal control – all important building blocks of speech – have evolved over time. According to the findings, all major branches of the Hominidae family have evolved unique ways of communicating through sound, shaped by their specific needs and circumstances. The one remaining connection is laughter – we share it with all great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans). But until now, little was known about its defining feature: rhythm.
Tracing the rhythm of laughter, scientist have determined the patterns of speech. Chiara De Gregorio, an honorary research associate at the University of Warwick, asks the question and answers it thus: “How did humans evolve the remarkable ability to speak? Speech leaves no fossils, and complex language exists only in our own species. But we've found a 15-million-year-old clue in an unexpected place: our laughter. Unlike speech, laughter is shared by all living great apes. By comparing how different species laugh, we can see that a basic rhythmic structure has remained unchanged since our last common ancestor. That's extraordinary.”
Adriano Lameira at the University of Warwick goes on to explain why this is important. “It is impossible to assess the precursor forms of language directly from our extinct ancestors. Laughter, being evolutionarily older and having remained shared between all living great apes, provides a rare evolutionary window into the vocal transformations that unfolded across hominid evolution until the first humans appeared on scene. Contrary to the classic notion that the first humans suddenly acquired vocal control capacities remarkably different from their predecessors, laughter evolution tells us that humans lay on a continuum, a prolongation of vocal control capacities that were already being cumulatively honed for 15 million years.”
So, what is the layman’s bottom line? We know that the Creation story holds the key to understanding these findings more clearly. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 17:22 that “laughter” or a cheerful heart is good medicine. Who knew (until now) that it is also a key to the way our communication developed? It is also how we link ourselves to other parts of God’s Creation. I guess that old saying also applies, “if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans!!” Laughter is a key to healthy relationships. It is through humor that walls can be lowered and one’s true self can emerge in the interaction with others. See Gary Larson’s The Far Side cartoons: www.thefarside.com
If you are looking for a lift in your spirits, don’t turn on Netflix, just go to your local zoo and watch how much fun the monkeys have laughing at each other! We might learn something from the joy we observe in watching them fellowship together!
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” – Ecclesiastes 3:4
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
In a new study published in the journal Communications Biology, researchers analyzed recordings of spontaneous laughter from four orangutans, two gorillas, three bonobos, four chimpanzees and four humans. Across 140 laughter sequences, they found all species’ laughter follows the same general pattern: evenly-spaced rhythmic intervals between successive sounds. So what does all of this mean? By studying the subtle variations in how rhythm is timed and structured across different species, scientists can learn how breathing, sound-making and vocal control – all important building blocks of speech – have evolved over time. According to the findings, all major branches of the Hominidae family have evolved unique ways of communicating through sound, shaped by their specific needs and circumstances. The one remaining connection is laughter – we share it with all great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans). But until now, little was known about its defining feature: rhythm.
Tracing the rhythm of laughter, scientist have determined the patterns of speech. Chiara De Gregorio, an honorary research associate at the University of Warwick, asks the question and answers it thus: “How did humans evolve the remarkable ability to speak? Speech leaves no fossils, and complex language exists only in our own species. But we've found a 15-million-year-old clue in an unexpected place: our laughter. Unlike speech, laughter is shared by all living great apes. By comparing how different species laugh, we can see that a basic rhythmic structure has remained unchanged since our last common ancestor. That's extraordinary.”
Adriano Lameira at the University of Warwick goes on to explain why this is important. “It is impossible to assess the precursor forms of language directly from our extinct ancestors. Laughter, being evolutionarily older and having remained shared between all living great apes, provides a rare evolutionary window into the vocal transformations that unfolded across hominid evolution until the first humans appeared on scene. Contrary to the classic notion that the first humans suddenly acquired vocal control capacities remarkably different from their predecessors, laughter evolution tells us that humans lay on a continuum, a prolongation of vocal control capacities that were already being cumulatively honed for 15 million years.”
So, what is the layman’s bottom line? We know that the Creation story holds the key to understanding these findings more clearly. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 17:22 that “laughter” or a cheerful heart is good medicine. Who knew (until now) that it is also a key to the way our communication developed? It is also how we link ourselves to other parts of God’s Creation. I guess that old saying also applies, “if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans!!” Laughter is a key to healthy relationships. It is through humor that walls can be lowered and one’s true self can emerge in the interaction with others. See Gary Larson’s The Far Side cartoons: www.thefarside.com
If you are looking for a lift in your spirits, don’t turn on Netflix, just go to your local zoo and watch how much fun the monkeys have laughing at each other! We might learn something from the joy we observe in watching them fellowship together!
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” – Ecclesiastes 3:4
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
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