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UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

openculture.com

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Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#61

Post by jcims »

narag wrote: post #49
jcims wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just have to say that i have had a word stuck on the tip of my tongue for an embarrassingly long time, maybe six months now. I’ve had occasion to use it several times recently on a project but it was just stuck wherever words get lost. I’m cruising HN in a post completely unrelated to what I’m doing and there it is, in living color: isomorphic. I could feel the tension release in my brain as it sunk in. Thank you!

Now you can use it in all kind of improper situations and laugh out loud isomorphically.

It's totally getting abused.

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#62

Post by peterburkimsher »

Tepix wrote: post #52

There are often discussions about what makes humans special and things like self-awareness, humour, sarcasm, tool usage, ethics etc are brought forward. I think there are hardly any fundamental differences between humans and other animals. We've merely reached an intelligence threshold that allowed us to develop better languages and writing and that means knowledge can be collected and passed on much much better. Lau…

Here's a few guesses, please correct me if I'm wrong about these!

The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer. https://github.com/dwmkerr/hacker-laws#cunninghams-law

Culture list from https://github.com/peterburk/sortlikes based on a manual categorisation of friends' liked Facebook pages, when trying to learn Mandarin while living in Taiwan a few years ago.

Unique to humans:

{ Art, Dance, Photography, Theatre, Banking, Business (Management), Causes (NGOs), Comedy, Cooking, Clothing, Driving, Movies, Music, News, Politics, Religion, Sport, Transport, Software, Hardware }

Shared with other species:

{ Accommodation, Children, Cleaning, Construction, Drinking, Education, Games, Health, International, Military, Pets }

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#63

Post by peterburkimsher »

bckr wrote: post #2

This is one of the most beautiful ideas to have ever entered my awareness. Laughter is hard to beat in terms of sheer beauty--the more of it in the universe, the better. And on same planet what's more!

Laughter is remarkable because, like clapping, it's contagious, and it shares joy and happiness with a whole community.

In the process of laughing together, our bodies move in time, which synchronises our muscle movements, which synchronises our heartbeats.

Yes, laughter is very powerful, and is a wonderful force for good in the universe :)

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#64

Post by rcarmo »

neuronic wrote: post #25
mch82 wrote: post #3

For those wondering which animals… > They found such vocal play behavior documented in at least 65 species. That list includes a variety of primates, domestic cows and dogs, foxes, seals, and mongooses, as well as three bird species, including parakeets and Australian magpies. Quote from the UCLA Newroom article referenced in the OpenCulture article, https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/animals-laugh-too-ucla-an...

Since this is so broadly spread among species I wonder if there are other forms of laughing that aren’t easily detected if you don’t know about it. Does some form of muscle spasms occur in all of these animals? Closely watching my cat now.

You should watch it closely anytime, it is very likely to be plotting something even if you can't tell it's laughing manically...

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#65

Post by elif »

Tepix wrote: post #52

There are often discussions about what makes humans special and things like self-awareness, humour, sarcasm, tool usage, ethics etc are brought forward. I think there are hardly any fundamental differences between humans and other animals. We've merely reached an intelligence threshold that allowed us to develop better languages and writing and that means knowledge can be collected and passed on much much better. Lau…

It's also curious that we feed an animal that laughs (cows) to an animal that doesn't laugh (cats) and somehow construct logic to justify it all morally.

I find myself in that weird cult, despite personally having an animal free diet for decades.

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#66

Post by elif »

timoth3y wrote: post #55
Tepix wrote: post #52

There are often discussions about what makes humans special and things like self-awareness, humour, sarcasm, tool usage, ethics etc are brought forward. I think there are hardly any fundamental differences between humans and other animals. We've merely reached an intelligence threshold that allowed us to develop better languages and writing and that means knowledge can be collected and passed on much much better. Lau…

“Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.” -- Mark Twain

Mark should see my dog after he eats cat food.

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#67

Post by williamdclt »

elif wrote: post #65
Tepix wrote: post #52

There are often discussions about what makes humans special and things like self-awareness, humour, sarcasm, tool usage, ethics etc are brought forward. I think there are hardly any fundamental differences between humans and other animals. We've merely reached an intelligence threshold that allowed us to develop better languages and writing and that means knowledge can be collected and passed on much much better. Lau…

It's also curious that we feed an animal that laughs (cows) to an animal that doesn't laugh (cats) and somehow construct logic to justify it all morally. I find myself in that weird cult, despite personally having an animal free diet for decades.

I've never heard of "can it laugh" as a criteria to judge morality?

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#69

Post by ramblerman »

williamdclt wrote: post #67
elif wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also curious that we feed an animal that laughs (cows) to an animal that doesn't laugh (cats) and somehow construct logic to justify it all morally. I find myself in that weird cult, despite personally having an animal free diet for decades.

I've never heard of "can it laugh" as a criteria to judge morality?

OP is suggesting that laughter is a measure of intelligence, and that it might be immoral to feed a more aware/intelligent creature to a lesser one.

In the same way we might be uncomfortable eating dolphins.

Re: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows

#70

Post by IAmGraydon »

Tepix wrote: post #52

There are often discussions about what makes humans special and things like self-awareness, humour, sarcasm, tool usage, ethics etc are brought forward. I think there are hardly any fundamental differences between humans and other animals. We've merely reached an intelligence threshold that allowed us to develop better languages and writing and that means knowledge can be collected and passed on much much better. Lau…

I’ve thought about this quite a lot, and always come to the same unique characteristic: man can think about thinking.
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