Austin Fontaine 
Megan Novelli “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22
Glass Door:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHergy3iILs
How does one know when to laugh at something and when not to? Is it okay to laugh with someone if they are laughing at themselves? What if someone trips, do we laugh at that? What if that same person tripped and hurt themselves, is it still okay to laugh? We sometimes unconsciously evaluate situations and weigh certain factors such as social responsibility and social consequences when wondering if it is “okay” to laugh. How do we know when to laugh or when not to? Dr. Robert Provine states “Laughter is part of the universal human vocabulary. All members of the human species understand it. Unlike English or French or Swahili, we don’t have to learn to speak it. We’re born with the capacity to laugh.” Laughter provides a distinction between danger and an okay situation. “One of the remarkable things about laughter is that it occurs unconsciously. You don’t decide to do it. While we can consciously inhibit it, we don’t consciously produce laughter. That’s why it’s very hard to laugh on command or to fake laughter… An evolutionary perspective of laughter would state that “We believe laughter evolved from the panting behavior of our ancient primate ancestors. Today, if we tickle chimps or gorillas, they don’t laugh “ha ha ha” but exhibit a panting sound. That’s the sound of ape laughter. And it’s the root of human laughter.”
Bradley Campbell
1:30 pm, 10.04.10
I wonder how you get the job to grow up and tickle apes. It would seem that laughter might be defined as an ego defense mechanism due to the fact that there have been times in my life where I have tried not to laugh and couldn’t help it. There have also been times I have laughed until Iv’e cried and seemed to laugh harder the more I tried to stop myself. Even though we can laugh on command perhaps its just a fake kind of laughter like an allegory of a real laugh. Just like a social laugh that we produce when someone tells a joke that we really don’t find funny however we feel the need to avoid a social aqwardeness. A real laugh might be autonomic and thus can’t be helped or controlled.
Ian Robertson
1:41 pm, 10.04.10
I for one love to laugh. I think laughing, and smiling for that matter, is the best way to try to cheer someone up after something upsetting. Laughter is a good way to turn someone from a bad mood to a good mood. Thats why I admire the story of Patch Adams, he sought to go beyond normal medicine to help his patients, citing laughter as something with power beyond regular medicine can offer. Mind you, is someone had just lost a loved one, I would try to crack a joke or tickle them to get them to stop mourning. Nor would I try to joke with someone with cancer to heal them. But laughter can be very powerful and can be a great supplement to help heal someone’s body and spirit.