1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today I've got a 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: classic episode for you from our former host, Christian Sager. 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: If you've ever been close with a non human animal, 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: you may think it's obvious that they have senses of humor, 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: even if most of what they think is funny is 7 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: you know us. But we set out to learn what 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: science has to say about it. Have you ever tried 9 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: to tell a joke to an animal. I've done it before, 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: I talked to my dogs, whatever. But this this is 11 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,919 Speaker 1: brain Stuff and I'm Christian Sager. So here's the question. 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: Can animals laugh? In some cases this might sound ridiculous. 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: There are many different types of laughter, and generally speaking, 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: these types fall into two broad categories complex social laughter, 15 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: where you have to know the context or have a 16 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: sense of humor to you know, get it and laugh 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: after in response to stimulation like tickling. Some animals, such 18 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: as primates, seem to have a sense of humor, meaning 19 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: they can respond to situations with a pant that sounds 20 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: eerily similar to laughter. You can read numerous stories about 21 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 1: Coco the gorilla allegedly making jokes in sign language and 22 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: so on. Additionally, when adult animals like dolphins or ravens 23 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: play pranks, they're indicating an understanding of humor. But laughter 24 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: itself seems more common than humans had originally thought. Rats 25 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: have been laughing their furry little keysters off since the 26 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,479 Speaker 1: dawn of recorded history, but we only figured this out 27 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: a few years back. It turns out rats like being tickled, 28 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: and when they're tickled, they chirp at a range too 29 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: high for human ears to pick up. It's around fifty 30 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: kila hurts. We know this thanks to the work of 31 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: Jacques pan Skep and Jeffrey Bergdorff beginning in the late 32 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: nineties at Bowling Green State University. And if we're talking 33 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: about that second category of laughter, a positive vocalization associated 34 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: with touch, then the comedy floodgates may have just swung open. 35 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: Dr de Villa Ross has been gathering as much data 36 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 1: as possible about the reactions various animals have to being tickled. 37 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: The list of animals that make a vocal reaction when 38 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: tickled include mere cats, camels, dolphins, dogs, owls, penguins, and 39 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: more So. What's the explanation, Well, according to Michael O. Wren, 40 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience from Georgia State University. 41 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: That's my alma mater. The case may be simple, at 42 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 1: least when applied to mammals. It's just a pleasant feeling 43 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: evoked by touching. Laughter. It seems may well be millions 44 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: of years old and existed before human beings. If you 45 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: think about it, we're sort of late to the joke. 46 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: And to be fair, most scientists aren't calling this straight 47 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: out laughter. Instead, they're suggesting that these positive vocalizations, or, 48 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: as Dr de Villa Ross writes, expressions of joy. And 49 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: when we ask whether laughter is a sign of intelligence, 50 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: Dr pank Step notes that intelligence isn't a requirement for laughter. Instead, 51 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: he suggests maybe we should look at it from another direction. 52 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: Perhaps play in any species can increase social intelligence. As 53 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: research continues, we're learning more and more about animals, laughter, 54 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: and keep. Today's episode was written by Ben Bollin and 55 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,119 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang. To hear more from Ben, check 56 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: out his very funny podcast Ridiculous History, and for more 57 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: on this and lots of other topics, visit how stuffworks 58 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For 59 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: more podcasts, from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 60 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.