笑

大笑是一種令人愉快的身體反應，通常由橫膈膜和呼吸系統其他部分的有節奏的收縮組成。它是對某些外部或內部刺激的反應。笑聲可能來自諸如被搔癢之類的活動^[1]，或來自接受到被認知為幽默的訊息^[2]。最常見的是，它被認為是許多積極情緒狀態的聽覺表達，例如喜悅、歡快、幸福或緩解。然而，在某些情況下，它可能是由相反的情緒狀態引起的，例如尷尬、驚訝或困惑，例如緊張的笑聲或出於禮貌的笑聲。年齡、性別、教育、語言和文化都是衡量一個人在特定情況下是否會笑的指標^[3]。其他一些靈長類動物（如黑猩猩、大猩猩和紅毛猩猩等）在身體接觸（如摔跤、追逐遊戲或撓癢癢）時會發出類似笑聲的聲音。

笑聲是由大腦調節的人類行為的一部分，幫助人類闡明他們在社交互動中的意圖，並為對話提供情感背景。笑聲被用作成為團隊成員的信號—它表示接受對方及與他人的積極互動。接收到來自他人的笑的訊號刺激，很可能也會導致該接收者做出類似的反應。^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

相關科學研究領域有笑理學等。

笑

笑的人一般是由於受到外界刺激而產生笑，笑的人通常心情能得到放鬆，減緩壓力，而笑經常也能給別人帶來快樂。應用在商業上，如服務員對顧客報以微笑，能給人留下溫馨、深刻的印象，使顧客歡心，從而提高銷售額。

好處

人體胸肌得到擴張，加強了肺部運動，促進肺部呼吸功能
腹肌得到運動，收縮舒張時促進了胃液的產生，增進消化功能，增強食慾，促進新陳代謝。
增加血管肌肉運動，加強血液循環，使人更有精神。
較激烈的笑能讓全身肌肉運動，放鬆身體。
現代醫學認為笑可以成為一種治病方式，治療神經衰弱，減少/甚至消除肌肉的緊張，預防或減緩疼痛。
掩蓋尷尬
形容自己有一個非常開心的感覺
加強友誼
無言的時候使用

壞處

醫學認為高血壓或心肌梗塞患者，過分激烈的笑對身體有害。

引起血壓升高,導致缺氧，造成窒息而死亡。

科學解釋

笑在大腦中的專門化信號是由哭轉化出來的一種續發信號，喜極而泣正是這種說法的表現。嬰兒在出生時就懂得哭泣卻在之後的3—4個月內才會懂得笑，亦是同樣的道理。

笑往往由出乎意料的事情或社交聯繫觸發^[8]。

嬰兒的笑

科學家發現在嬰兒在大約四個月大還不會說話以前，即便是失聰或失明的嬰兒喉嚨就能發出笑聲。起初只有懂得分辨母親（或餵養者）的嬰兒才會懂得笑，因為見到母親（餵養者）令嬰兒感到高興。隨後一切可信任或熟悉的人都會令嬰兒高興發笑。此時的嬰兒卻只會發出咯咯的笑聲，而不會哈哈大笑。通常情況下只有在嬰兒懂得刺激或危險與快樂並存時才會哈哈大笑（例如最常與嬰兒做的『蟲蟲飛』遊戲，『蒙臉』以及『拋高』等遊戲）。

笑聲

在人類中有着多種多樣的笑聲，嘟噥、嗝嗝、嘻嘻、哈哈、呵呵、咳嗽聲、打鼾聲、鼻音、甚至與鳥叫聲類似。科學認為不同的笑聲代表着不同的含意，因此有了笑的分類。

科學發現男人低沉的笑聲，頻率約為43Hz（赫茲），女人尖銳的笑聲竟達2083Hz（赫茲），她們尖銳的笑聲甚至能使玻璃震碎^{[來源請求]}。更多人認為女人的笑聲比男人更悅耳，科學家猜測這可能是女人已發展出了一套更大更豐富的聲音系統。而且科學家還發現女人其實比男人更能笑且笑得更多。

笑聲的含義

笑聲除了表達快樂的感覺外，也是用來掩飾真實情緒的主要方式，例如當在團體生活的人類被同類在心理上被攻擊時，受害者若無法逆轉對自己不利的局面的話，他會以笑來掩飾對自己不利的氣氛和情緒；部分人類在做對團體/其他個體不利的行為時，會透過笑產生的多巴胺來壓抑令他感到不安/罪惡感的化學物質。

笑聲錄製的應用

處境喜劇、笑話類音頻的在播放過程中會在笑料出現時配上預先錄製的笑聲，好像在提醒觀眾是時候笑了。如果去掉背景笑聲，笑料未必會產生預料的有趣效果。根據發表在《Current Biology》的一項研究，科學家發現預先錄製的笑聲能讓糟糕的笑話變得更有趣。研究人員招募了志願者對糟糕的笑話進行評分，評分標準為1～7分，其中1分代表不好笑，7分代表非常好笑。研究人員挑選的笑話都是評分比較低的，但如果在朗讀的時候配有預先錄製的笑聲，笑話的評分能得到提升。^[9]

在文章裏的應用

各類文章的作者在需要表達角色當下的情緒時，常常使用『呵呵』『哈哈』『嘻嘻』等擬聲詞。

笑的故事

在歷史長河中以及文學作品中，留下許多有關於笑的故事。

《孟子·梁惠王上》裏有這樣一則成語故事：五十步笑百步，講的是孟子用兩軍交戰來向好戰的梁惠王做比喻。說剛剛擂起戰鼓，兵刃相交時就有士兵丟盔棄甲拖着兵器逃跑。有人跑了五十步停下，有人跑了一百步停下。跑了五十步的人則嘲笑跑了一百步的貪生怕死，卻忘了自己雖然逃的沒旁人遠卻也是逃了。

在成語中有關於笑的故事還有人笑亦笑等。

杜牧的詩《過華清宮》中寫了：「長安回望繡成堆，山頂千門次第開。一騎紅塵妃子笑，無人知是荔枝來。」是講楊貴妃愛吃荔枝，唐玄宗為博得貴妃歡心，就派人從數千里外的南方用千里馬運送回荔枝。

在詩、詞句中關於笑的還有如蘇軾的《蝶戀花》：「……牆裏鞦韆牆外道，牆外行人牆裏佳人笑……」。辛棄疾的《青玉案·元夕》：「……蛾兒雪柳黃金縷，笑語盈盈暗香去……」等。

參考網站

參考來源

^ Stearns, Frederic Rudolph. Laughing: Physiology, Pathology, Psychology, Pathopsychology and Development. Springfield, Ill., Thomas. 1972: 59–65. ISBN 978-0398024208.
^ Shultz, T. R.; Horibe, F. Development of the appreciation of verbal jokes. Developmental Psychology. 1974, 10: 13–20. doi:10.1037/h0035549.
^ Olmwake, Louise. A study of sense of humor: Its relation to sex, age and personal characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology. 1937, 45 (6): 688–704. doi:10.1037/h0055199.
^ Camazine, Deneubourg, Franks, Sneyd, Theraulaz, Bonabeau, Self-Organization in Biological Systems, Princeton University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-691-11624-5 – ISBN 0-691-01211-3 (pbk.) p. 18.
^ Blumer, Herbert. Society as Symbolic Interaction. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. 1998: 84 [1969]. ISBN 978-0-520-05676-3. group action is the collective action of such individuals ['who fit their respective lines of action to one another through the process of interpretation']...the individuals composing...the group become 'carriers,' or media for the expression of such forces; and the interpretative behavior by means of which people form their actions is merely a coerced link in the play of such forces.
^ Durkheim, Émile. Imitation. Suicide: A Study in Sociology [Étude de sociologie]. 由Spaulding, John A.; Simpson, George翻譯. New York, NY: THE FREE PRESS. 1979: 125, 129 [1951]. ISBN 978-0-684-83632-4. Thus we yawn, laugh, weep, because we see someone yawn, laugh or weep...The name of imitation must then be reserved solely for such facts if it is to have clear meaning, and we shall say: Imitation exists when the immediate antecedent of an act is the representation of a like act, previously performed by someone else; with no explicit or implicit mental operation which bears upon the intrinsic nature of the act reproduced intervening between representation and execution.
^ Bergson, Henri. The Comic in General—The Comic Element in Forms and Movements—Expansive Force of the Comic. Laughter: an Essay on the Meaning of the Comic. 由Brereton L. ES L., M.A., Cloudesley; Rothwell B.A., Fred翻譯. Project Gutenberg. 26 July 2009 [1900] [2022-01-19]. （原始內容存檔於2022-04-08）. Laughter appears to stand in need of an echo, Listen to it carefully: it is not an articulate, clear, well-defined sound; it is something which would fain be prolonged by reverberating from one to another, something beginning with a crash, to continue in successive rumblings, like thunder in a mountain. Still, this reverberation cannot go on for ever. It can travel within as wide a circle as you please: the circle remains, none the less, a closed one.
^ why do people laugh. [2014-09-21]. （原始內容存檔於2021-01-12）.
^ 研究发现预先录制的笑声让笑话更有趣. 科技行者. [2019-07-24]. （原始內容存檔於2021-01-01）.

[1] Stearns, Frederic Rudolph. Laughing: Physiology, Pathology, Psychology, Pathopsychology and Development. Springfield, Ill., Thomas. 1972: 59–65. ISBN 978-0398024208.

[2] Shultz, T. R.; Horibe, F. Development of the appreciation of verbal jokes. Developmental Psychology. 1974, 10: 13–20. doi:10.1037/h0035549.

[3] Olmwake, Louise. A study of sense of humor: Its relation to sex, age and personal characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology. 1937, 45 (6): 688–704. doi:10.1037/h0055199.

[4] Camazine, Deneubourg, Franks, Sneyd, Theraulaz, Bonabeau, Self-Organization in Biological Systems, Princeton University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-691-11624-5 – ISBN 0-691-01211-3 (pbk.) p. 18.

[5] Blumer, Herbert. Society as Symbolic Interaction. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. 1998: 84 [1969]. ISBN 978-0-520-05676-3. group action is the collective action of such individuals ['who fit their respective lines of action to one another through the process of interpretation']...the individuals composing...the group become 'carriers,' or media for the expression of such forces; and the interpretative behavior by means of which people form their actions is merely a coerced link in the play of such forces.

[6] Durkheim, Émile. Imitation. Suicide: A Study in Sociology [Étude de sociologie]. 由Spaulding, John A.; Simpson, George翻譯. New York, NY: THE FREE PRESS. 1979: 125, 129 [1951]. ISBN 978-0-684-83632-4. Thus we yawn, laugh, weep, because we see someone yawn, laugh or weep...The name of imitation must then be reserved solely for such facts if it is to have clear meaning, and we shall say: Imitation exists when the immediate antecedent of an act is the representation of a like act, previously performed by someone else; with no explicit or implicit mental operation which bears upon the intrinsic nature of the act reproduced intervening between representation and execution.

[7] Bergson, Henri. The Comic in General—The Comic Element in Forms and Movements—Expansive Force of the Comic. Laughter: an Essay on the Meaning of the Comic. 由Brereton L. ES L., M.A., Cloudesley; Rothwell B.A., Fred翻譯. Project Gutenberg. 26 July 2009 [1900] [2022-01-19]. （原始內容存檔於2022-04-08）. Laughter appears to stand in need of an echo, Listen to it carefully: it is not an articulate, clear, well-defined sound; it is something which would fain be prolonged by reverberating from one to another, something beginning with a crash, to continue in successive rumblings, like thunder in a mountain. Still, this reverberation cannot go on for ever. It can travel within as wide a circle as you please: the circle remains, none the less, a closed one.

[8] why do people laugh. [2014-09-21]. （原始內容存檔於2021-01-12）.

[9] 研究发现预先录制的笑声让笑话更有趣. 科技行者. [2019-07-24]. （原始內容存檔於2021-01-01）.

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笑

好處

壞處