To Laugh or Not

Where has all our laughter gone? Dr. Madan Kataria asks this question by citing that babies laugh up to 400 times per day compared to an adult daily laughter rate of fifteen. Mostly laughter gets suppressed by punishment. I was always in trouble for laughing in church, at school, and during baseball practice. I was a precocious laughter, beginning well before 15 weeks and regularly hitting over 400 daily laughs on my Laughbit. I suspect the Laughbit does not even credit all my chuckles and snickers. My wife says I laugh in my sleep, so I do not even hear all my laughing. At work, laughter cratered my career. No, wait, it was incompetence and laziness that did that. Twenty five centuries ago, the learned historian Herodotus said laughers could be divided into three categories: the ignorant, the crazy, and the over confident. Bingo. I hit the trifecta. Some people have a neurological condition called aphonogelia that actually prevents them from laughing out loud. If you do not laugh when you hear the term aphonogelia, then you have the condition. Laughing can also be a sign of confusion, embarrassment, and evil. So, although I am proud of occasionally helping others hit their daily laughter goals, I would caution Dr. Kataria that laughter is not always the best medicine. I have blogged before about my concern that you never find much to laugh about in the Bible. Jesus is never quoted warming up the crowd with a good joke or telling humorous parables. So laugh at your own risk.