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Title: Laughter: A Scientific Investigation by Robert R. Provine ISBN: 0-14-100225-5 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 November, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (7 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Laughter is caused by a stuttering brain
Comment: Yes, yes, I know. Provine studied thousands of people but, what he failed to grasp is that laughter is the result of a "stuttering" brain. A person is confronted with anxiety and, the brain "stutters" and releases the vocalizations we call laughter. This brings the brain (rather mind) back into equilibrium and "solves" the dilemma . . .the anxiety.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating, but probably not the book for everyone
Comment: I thought this book was fantastic--but I probably approached it in a way different than the average reader would.
I'm a psychologist, like Provine, and humor has been a side interest for me during all of my 20 years in the field. I thought about studying humor when I was in graduate school, but chose to study memory instead, basically because I chickened out; I thought that humor was too hard. Indeed, I read most of the important works on humor and laughter and was not that impressed with the status of the field.
This is the best book on the subject I have ever read.
Provine takes the brilliantly simple approach of questioning whether or not we really know _when_ people laugh, instead of assuming that we know when and asking _why_. I (AND every psychologist and philosopher who has written on the subject) had assumed that we know when people laugh. Provine shows that we don't by doing observational studies of when people laugh. That alone would be worth following the author for a couple of hundred pages. Provine shows very clearly that laughter (1) has a social, communicative function, thus explaining the common (and this time correct) observation that you seldom laugh alone; (2) that laughter is usually NOT related to humor because it is not uttered in humorous situations; (3) that the person making a laugh-worthy comments laughs MORE than the person hearing that comment;
In addition Provine has some interesting speculation on the continuity of laughter from the great apes to humans.
This book is very different than the typical science trade book, as one might read by Steve Pinker, or James Gleick. It's not the type of book where a competent guide leads you through a simplified version of a very complex literature where great strides have been made. Rather, Laughter is a book of science in the making. It's not quite an academic treatise--you don't need much background to pick it up and read it. But be warned that it is not the kind of book where, once you finish it you'll say "Cool. So that's what laughter is all about." But if you are interested in humor or laughter, you may well find it rewarding.
Rating: 1
Summary: A Waste Of Time
Comment: I'm currently taking psychology at my school. I chose, for a project, to do a study on humor. As a book resource, I found this, and had high hopes for good scientific and correlational information. Provine has failed to write anything worth taking notes over in this book. He comes up with good questions but doesn't explain any answers, simply stating what other psychologists have done wrong in the quest for the answer. In the end, the book leaves us empty and full of questions and hopes that are never fulfilled. Also, he spends a lot of time placing gender stereotypes that have and never will be proven true in any context. This book was a waste of time for him to write, and a waste of time for us to read. There is nothing scientific about "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation".
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Title: The Healing Power of Humor: Techniques for Getting Through Loss, Setbacks, Upsets, Disappointments, Difficulties, Trials, Tribulations, and All That by Allen Klein ISBN: 0874775191 Publisher: J. P. Tarcher Pub. Date: March, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn't Really Funny by Ph.D., M.F.T. Annette Goodheart ISBN: 0936941057 Publisher: Andrew J. Lesser, MD Pub. Date: 01 January, 1994 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious by Sigmund Freud, James Strachey, Peter Gay ISBN: 0393001458 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: June, 1963 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Compassionate Laughter: Jest for Your Health (2nd edition) by Patty Wooten ISBN: 0967532027 Publisher: Jest Press Pub. Date: 05 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Comedy: An Essay on Comedy by George Meredith, Wylie Sypher, Henri Bergson ISBN: 0801823277 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 1980 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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