Why we laugh | Sophie Scott

譯者: Regina Chu 審譯者: Marssi Draw

Hi. I'm going to talk to you today about laughter,

大家好，我們今天來談笑聲，

and I just want to start by thinking about the first time

我想從回想我自己第一次

I can ever remember noticing laughter.

注意到笑聲開始說起。

This is when I was a little girl. I would've been about six.

那時我還是一個小女孩， 大概六歲左右。

And I came across my parents doing something unusual,

我正好看見我的父母 在做一件不太尋常的事，

where they were laughing.

他們當時正在笑。

They were laughing very, very hard.

他們笑得非常非常開心。

They were lying on the floor laughing.

他們笑倒在地板上。

They were screaming with laughter.

他們尖聲大笑。

I did not know what they were laughing at, but I wanted in.

我不知道他們在笑什麼， 但我想和他們一起笑。

I wanted to be part of that,

我想成為這個笑聲的一部分，

and I kind of sat around at the edge going, "Hoo hoo!" (Laughter)

我就坐在他們旁邊， 叫著 「呵呵！」（笑聲）

Now, incidentally, what they were laughing at

順帶一提， 他們當時在笑的

was a song which people used to sing,

是當時流行的一首歌，

which was based around signs in toilets on trains

這首歌把火車廁所的 標示寫進詞裡，

telling you what you could and could not do

告訴你在火車廁所裡，

in toilets on trains.

什麼可以做， 什麼不可以做。

And the thing you have to remember about the English is, of course,

有件事你們一定要記得， 當然就是我們英國人

we do have an immensely sophisticated sense of humor.

的確有著無限複雜的幽默感。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

At the time, though, I didn't understand anything of that.

但是，我當時並不理解這些，

I just cared about the laughter,

我只是很在意笑聲，

and actually, as a neuroscientist, I've come to care about it again.

而且其實現在身為神經學家， 我開始重新關注這個問題。

And it is a really weird thing to do.

笑真的是一件非常奇怪的事。

What I'm going to do now is just play some examples

我現在要放幾段

of real human beings laughing,

真人在笑的例子，

and I want you think about the sound people make and how odd that can be,

我想讓大家想想人類發出的聲音， 這些聲音可以多麼奇怪，

and in fact how primitive laughter is as a sound.

以及，笑聲是一種多麼原始的聲音。

It's much more like an animal call than it is like speech.

笑聲更像是動物的叫聲， 而不像說話。

So here we've got some laughter for you. The first one is pretty joyful.

現在來聽聽這幾段笑聲。 第一段還挺好笑。

(Audio: Laughing)

（音訊：笑聲）

Now this next guy, I need him to breathe.

下一段的傢伙得去喘口氣。

There's a point in there where I'm just, like,

有一段到了一個地步，

you've got to get some air in there, mate,

我說老兄你真的需要吸氣，

因爲他聽起來真像喘不過氣了。

because he just sounds like he's breathing out.

(Audio: Laughing)

（音訊：笑聲）

This hasn't been edited; this is him.

這没有被編輯過， 就是他在笑。

(Audio: Laughing) (Laughter)

（音訊：笑聲） （笑聲）

And finally we have -- this is a human female laughing.

最後，我們有一段女人的笑聲。

And laughter can take us to some pretty odd places in terms of making noises.

從發出聲音的角度來看， 笑聲能讓我們聯想到奇怪的地方。

(Audio: Laughing)

（音訊：笑聲）

She actually says, "Oh my God, what is that?" in French.

她其實在用法語說： 「我的天啊，這是什麼東西？」

We're all kind of with her. I have no idea.

應該是這樣吧？我也不知道。

Now, to understand laughter, you have to look at a part of the body

要理解笑聲， 你必須去觀察身體的某部分，

that psychologists and neuroscientists don't normally spend much time looking at,

心理學家和神經學家 通常不會花很多時間去觀察這部分，

就是胸腔，

which is the ribcage,

聽起來沒什麼了不起喔？

and it doesn't seem terribly exciting,

但事實上你一直在使用你的胸腔。

but actually you're all using your ribcage all the time.

你無時無刻都在使用你的胸腔，

What you're all doing at the moment with your ribcage,

千萬不要停止使用它， 因為你在呼吸。

and don't stop doing it, is breathing.

你使用肋間肌， 也就是在你肋骨之間的肌肉

So you use the intercostal muscles, the muscles between your ribs,

to bring air in and out of your lungs

來擴張及收縮你的胸腔，

just by expanding and contracting your ribcage,

讓空氣進出你的肺，

如果我把一條帶子 繞在你的胸腔外部，

and if I was to put a strap around the outside of your chest

叫它呼吸帶吧， 然後看它的移動，

called a breath belt, and just look at that movement,

你會看見緩和的正旋起伏律動， 那就是呼吸。

you see a rather gentle sinusoidal movement, so that's breathing.

你們全都在做這件事。 不要停止。

You're all doing it. Don't stop.

一旦你開始說話，

As soon as you start talking,

你的呼吸會變得完全不同。

you start using your breathing completely differently.

So what I'm doing now is you see something much more like this.

所以我現在做的就很像這樣。

In talking, you use very fine movements of the ribcage

在說話的時候， 你的胸腔進行細微的運動

把空氣擠出去。

to squeeze the air out --

and in fact, we're the only animals that can do this.

事實上，我們是唯一 可以這樣做的動物。

這也就是為什麼我們能說話。

It's why we can talk at all.

說話及呼吸有個致命的敵人，

Now, both talking and breathing has a mortal enemy,

and that enemy is laughter,

那個敵人就是笑，

because what happens when you laugh

因為當你在笑的時候，

同樣的那群肌肉會開始規律地收縮，

is those same muscles start to contract very regularly,

and you get this very marked sort of zig-zagging,

你就會得到這樣 非常顯著的鋸齒狀訊號，

and that's just squeezing the air out of you.

這只是把空氣擠出你的肺，

It literally is that basic a way of making a sound.

也是發出聲音的基本原理。

這套用到所有人身上 都有一樣的效果。

You could be stamping on somebody, it's having the same effect.

你只是把空氣擠出去，

You're just squeezing air out,

每一次的收縮「哈！」 都讓你發出聲音。

and each of those contractions -- Ha! -- gives you a sound.

當這些收縮彼此相連的時候， 就有這些痙攣，

And as the contractions run together, you can get these spasms,

所以你就會有（喘氣聲） 這樣的聲音。

and that's when you start getting these -- (Wheezing) -- things happening.

這個我超會。 （笑聲）

I'm brilliant at this. (Laughter)

Now, in terms of the science of laughter, there isn't very much,

要講笑的科學， 這並沒有太大的意義。

but it does turn out that pretty much everything we think we know

但是這告訴我們 基本上我們對笑的認知

about laughter is wrong.

都是錯的。

So it's not at all unusual, for example, to hear people to say

所以舉個例子， 我們一點也不意外

humans are the only animals that laugh.

有人說人類是唯一會笑的動物。

尼采就認為人類是唯一會笑的動物。

Nietzsche thought that humans are the only animals that laugh.

事實上，很多哺乳類動物都會笑。

In fact, you find laughter throughout the mammals.

靈長類的這種現象 已有很完整的觀察和紀錄，

It's been well-described and well-observed in primates,

but you also see it in rats,

但是你也能在老鼠身上看到，

and wherever you find it --

不管你在哪裡看到

humans, primates, rats --

──人類、靈長類、老鼠──

you find it associated with things like tickling.

都會發現這和搔癢 這類的事件有關係。

That's the same for humans.

人類也一樣。

You find it associated with play, and all mammals play.

你會發現這和玩樂有關， 所有的哺乳類都會玩樂。

And wherever you find it, it's associated with interactions.

不論你在哪裡看到， 這都和互動有關。

So Robert Provine, who has done a lot of work on this,

羅伯特．普范對這做過很多研究，

has pointed out that you are 30 times more likely to laugh

他指出當你跟別人在一起的時候，

if you are with somebody else than if you're on your own,

你笑的機會 比你獨自一人的時候多 30 倍，

and where you find most laughter

你聽到最多笑聲的地方，

is in social interactions like conversation.

是在有社會互動的時候，像是對話。

So if you ask human beings, "When do you laugh?"

如果你問人類： 「你什麼時候會笑？」

they'll talk about comedy and they'll talk about humor and they'll talk about jokes.

他們會說到喜劇、 會說到幽默、會說到笑話。

當你觀察他們什麼時候笑， 他們是與朋友一同歡笑。

If you look at when they laugh, they're laughing with their friends.

And when we laugh with people, we're hardly ever actually laughing at jokes.

當我們與人同樂的時候， 我們幾乎不是因為笑話而笑，

You are laughing to show people that you understand them,

你用笑來表達你了解他們，

that you agree with them, that you're part of the same group as them.

表示你同意他們， 表示你是團體的一份子。

You're laughing to show that you like them.

你用笑來表示你喜歡他們。

You might even love them.

甚至是愛他們。

你在和他們說話的同時 也做出上述所有的事。

You're doing all that at the same time as talking to them,

and the laughter is doing a lot of that emotional work for you.

笑幫助你表達這樣的情緒。

Something that Robert Provine has pointed out, as you can see here,

羅伯特．普凡說過， 如同你在此所見，

and the reason why we were laughing

我們在開頭聽到滑稽笑聲 跟著笑的原因，

when we heard those funny laughs at the start,

還有我在聽到我父母笑 而跟著笑的原因，

and why I was laughing when I found my parents laughing,

是因為這是一種極具 傳染性的行為。

is that it's an enormously behaviorally contagious effect.

你會因別人笑而跟著笑，

You can catch laughter from somebody else,

如果你認識笑的那個人， 你跟著笑的機率更高。

and you are more likely to catch laughter off somebody else if you know them.

這依然受到社會脈絡的控制。

So it's still modulated by this social context.

你得把幽默感放一邊，

You have to put humor to one side

然後去思考笑的社會意義，

and think about the social meaning of laughter

因為那是笑的根本來源。

because that's where its origins lie.

Now, something I've got very interested in is different kinds of laughter,

我對各種不同的笑很有興趣，

and we have some neurobiological evidence about how human beings vocalize

根據神經生物學 關於人類如何發聲的證據，

that suggests there might be two kinds of laughs that we have.

學者提出笑分成兩種。

So it seems possible that the neurobiology for helpless, involuntary laughter,

這意味著在神經生物學上， 不由自主、無法控制的笑，

like my parents lying on the floor screaming about a silly song,

就像我父母因為一首滑稽的歌 笑倒在地上尖叫，

might have a different basis to it than some of that more polite

可能和你所見到的社交禮儀上的笑 有不同的根源，

social laughter that you encounter, which isn't horrible laughter,

這種禮貌的笑並不可怕，

but it's behavior somebody is doing as part of their communicative act to you,

而是他們對你表現社交的一部分，

part of their interaction with you; they are choosing to do this.

是和你互動的一部分； 他們選擇這麼做。

In our evolution, we have developed two different ways of vocalizing.

我們在演化過程中 發展出兩種發聲方式。

Involuntary vocalizations are part of an older system

非自主的發聲屬於較古老系統，

than the more voluntary vocalizations like the speech I'm doing now.

比自主性的發聲系統還老， 我現在演講就是自主性發聲。

So we might imagine that laughter might actually have two different roots.

我們可以想像 笑有兩個不同的根源。

So I've been looking at this in more detail.

於是我深入研究。

To do this, we've had to make recordings of people laughing,

為了研究， 我們得錄製人們的笑聲，

and we've had to do whatever it takes to make people laugh,

我們也必須想盡辦法讓人們笑，

and we got those same people to produce more posed, social laughter.

我們也設法讓同一群人產生 更做作、社交式的笑。

So imagine your friend told a joke,

想像你朋友說了一個笑話，

and you're laughing because you like your friend,

然後你笑了， 因為你喜歡你朋友，

並不是因為笑話本身好笑。

but not really because the joke's all that.

So I'm going to play you a couple of those.

我要放幾段給你們聽。

我希望你們告訴我 你們覺得這是真的在笑，

I want you to tell me if you think this laughter is real laughter,

還是做做樣子。

or if you think it's posed.

So is this involuntary laughter or more voluntary laughter?

這是自然發笑還是刻意的笑？

(Audio: Laughing)

（音訊：笑聲）

What does that sound like to you?

你們覺得聽起來如何？

Audience: Posed. Sophie Scott: Posed? Posed.

聽眾：做做樣子。 蘇菲．史考特：做做樣子？沒錯。

How about this one?

那這個呢？

(Audio: Laughing)

（音訊：笑）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I'm the best.

我最會笑了。

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑聲）（掌聲）

Not really.

開玩笑的。

No, that was helpless laughter,

那是無法控制的笑。

and in fact, to record that, all they had to do was record me

事實上要錄這段，他們只需要錄下

watching one of my friends listening to something I knew she wanted to laugh at,

我看我的朋友 聽一段我知道她一定會笑的東西，

and I just started doing this.

我就笑成這樣了。

你會發現人們其實很能分辨

What you find is that people are good at telling the difference

between real and posed laughter.

真笑與假笑。

兩種笑對我們來說是不同的。

They seem to be different things to us.

有趣的是，你在大猩猩身上 也能觀察到類似現象。

Interestingly, you see something quite similar with chimpanzees.

大猩猩在被搔癢時候

Chimpanzees laugh differently if they're being tickled

和在玩的時候， 笑的方式不一樣，

than if they're playing with each other,

在這裡我們也能看到類似情形，

and we might be seeing something like that here,

自然發笑、搔癢的笑， 和社交的笑是不同的。

involuntary laughter, tickling laughter, being different from social laughter.

聽起來就很不一樣。

They're acoustically very different.

真正的笑持續較久，音調較高。

The real laughs are longer. They're higher in pitch.

你用力笑的時候，

When you start laughing hard,

你會把空氣擠出你的肺，

you start squeezing air out from your lungs

這比你故意做的任何動作 產生的壓力都還要大。

under much higher pressures than you could ever produce voluntarily.

例如，我絕對無法 用那麼高的音調來唱歌。

For example, I could never pitch my voice that high to sing.

你也會有類似這種收縮 和奇怪的哨聲，

Also, you start to get these sort of contractions and weird whistling sounds,

這些都意味著真的笑很容易，

all of which mean that real laughter is extremely easy,

or feels extremely easy to spot.

或讓人覺得很容易分辨。

In contrast, posed laughter, we might think it sounds a bit fake.

相反的，做作的笑， 我們可能認為這聽起來有點假。

Actually, it's not, it's actually an important social cue.

其實並非如此。 這種笑真的是很重要的社交線索。

We use it a lot, we're choosing to laugh in a lot of situations,

我們很常使用， 我們在許多場合中選擇笑，

and it seems to be its own thing.

而且這種笑聲似乎很獨特。

So, for example, you find nasality in posed laughter,

舉個例子， 你在做作的笑中發現鼻音，

that kind of "ha ha ha ha ha" sound

那種像「哈哈哈哈」的音，

that you never get, you could not do, if you were laughing involuntarily.

你永遠無法在非自主性的笑中 聽到或發出這種聲音。

So they do seem to be genuinely these two different sorts of things.

這兩種不同的東西似乎都很真實。

We took it into the scanner to see how brains respond

我們以掃描器看腦部 在我們聽到笑聲時的反應。

when you hear laughter.

And when you do this, this is a really boring experiment.

做這個實驗 真的是無聊到極點，

We just played people real and posed laughs.

我們就是播放人 真笑與假笑的聲音。

We didn't tell them it was a study on laughter.

我們沒有告訴他們 這是對笑聲的研究。

We put other sounds in there to distract them,

我們同時還播放 其他的聲音讓他們分心，

and all they're doing is lying listening to sounds.

他們要做的就是躺在那裡聽。

We don't tell them to do anything.

我們不告訴他們要做什麼。

Nonetheless, when you hear real laughter and when you hear posed laughter,

然而，你聽到真笑與假笑的時候，

the brains are responding completely differently,

腦部的反應迥然不同，

significantly differently.

顯著不同。

What you see in the regions in blue, which lies in auditory cortex,

你們看到這塊藍色的區域， 位於聽覺皮質，

are the brain areas that respond more to the real laughs,

是腦部對真笑 有較多反應的地方，

and what seems to be the case,

情況似乎是這樣，

when you hear somebody laughing involuntarily,

當你聽到非自主的笑時，

you hear sounds you would never hear in any other context.

你會聽到在其他情況下 都不會聽到的聲音。

It's very unambiguous,

這非常明確，

and it seems to be associated with greater auditory processing

這可能與要處理這些新聲音

of these novel sounds.

需要更大的聽覺處理歷程有關。

In contrast, when you hear somebody laughing in a posed way,

相反的，聽到做作的笑聲時，

what you see are these regions in pink,

你看到的是這塊粉紅色區域，

which are occupying brain areas associated with mentalizing,

位於大腦與心智化有關的區域，

thinking about what somebody else is thinking.

思索著別人在想什麼。

And I think what that means is,

我想這意味著，

even if you're having your brain scanned, which is completely boring

即使你正在掃描大腦， 這是件極其無聊、

and not very interesting,

沒什麼樂趣的事，

當你聽到有人「呵呵呵呵」笑時，

when you hear somebody going, "A ha ha ha ha ha,"

you're trying to work out why they're laughing.

你仍然想搞懂他們為什麼笑。

Laughter is always meaningful.

笑聲永遠都有意義。

You are always trying to understand it in context,

你總是想知道 背後的情境是什麼，

even if, as far as you are concerned, at that point in time,

即使在那個當下， 在你關心的範圍內，

那個笑與你一點關係都沒有，

it has not necessarily anything to do with you,

你還是很想知道 為什麼這些人在笑。

you still want to know why those people are laughing.

我們有機會看不同年齡層的人

Now, we've had the opportunity to look at how people hear real and posed laughter

如何聽真笑與假笑。

across the age range.

這是個網路實驗， 我們與皇家學會合作，

So this is an online experiment we ran with the Royal Society,

and here we just asked people two questions.

我們在實驗中只問大家兩個問題。

第一，他們聽到一些笑聲，

First of all, they heard some laughs,

and they had to say, how real or posed do these laughs sound?

他們必須說出 這些笑聲有多真或多假？

真的笑聲以紅色顯示， 假笑則以藍色顯示。

The real laughs are shown in red and the posed laughs are shown in blue.

你可以看見有一段快速開展期。

What you see is there is a rapid onset.

隨著年齡增長， 你辨識真笑的能力愈來愈好。

As you get older, you get better and better at spotting real laughter.

So six-year-olds are at chance, they can't really hear the difference.

所以六歲小孩幾乎聽不出差別。

By the time you are older, you get better,

到你長大一點， 你表現就好一點，

but interestingly, you do not hit peak performance in this dataset

但有意思的是， 這組資料集顯示

until you are in your late 30s and early 40s.

你要到 30 好幾 40 出頭 才會達到顛峰。

You don't understand laughter fully by the time you hit puberty.

青春期開始時 你對於笑聲不甚了解。

You don't understand laughter fully by the time your brain has matured

青春期結束，你的大腦成熟後，

at the end of your teens.

對於笑聲還是不甚了解。

你要花整段成年初期來學習笑聲。

You're learning about laughter throughout your entire early adult life.

If we turn the question around and now say not, what does the laughter sound like

如果我們把問題反過來問， 我們不問這笑聲是真是假，

in terms of being real or posed, but we say,

但我們說，

how much does this laughter make you want to laugh,

這段笑聲讓你有多想笑，

how contagious is this laughter to you, we see a different profile.

這段笑聲對你多有傳染力， 我們會看到不同的圖。

And here, the younger you are,

這裡，你愈年輕，

the more you want to join in when you hear laughter.

就愈想在聽到笑聲時 加入笑的行列。

Remember me laughing with my parents when I had no idea what was going on.

記得我跟我父母一起大笑， 卻完全搞不清楚發生什麼事嗎？

You really can see this.

你會發現測驗結果確實如此。

Now everybody, young and old,

每一個人，無論年紀大小，

finds the real laughs more contagious than the posed laughs,

都會發現真的笑 比假的笑更具傳染力，

but as you get older, it all becomes less contagious to you.

但是隨著年齡增長， 笑聲對你愈來愈不具傳染力。

Now, either we're all just becoming really grumpy as we get older,

要不就是我們真的愈老愈難搞，

or it may mean that as you understand laughter better,

要不就是 你愈來愈明白笑聲的含意，

and you are getting better at doing that,

因為你對此愈來愈嫻熟，

you need more than just hearing people laugh to want to laugh.

你不僅再聽人笑就笑， 你還需要知道更多。

You need the social stuff there.

你需要知道實際的社交情況。

So we've got a very interesting behavior

所以我們看到 非常有意思的行為現象，

about which a lot of our lay assumptions are incorrect,

與我們外行人的臆測不謀而合，

but I'm coming to see that actually there's even more to laughter

但是我開始瞭解到其實笑聲

than it's an important social emotion we should look at,

不僅是我們應該研究的 重要社交情緒，

because it turns out people are phenomenally nuanced

因為事實證明大家 運用笑聲的方式

in terms of how we use laughter.

微妙得驚人。

There's a really lovely set of studies coming out

有一組非常棒的研究資料

from Robert Levenson's lab in California,

由拉文森在加州的實驗室發表，

where he's doing a longitudinal study with couples.

他在實驗室裡對夫婦做長期追蹤。

He gets married couples, men and women, into the lab,

他把已婚夫婦帶進實驗室，

and he gives them stressful conversations to have

並提出讓他們緊張的話題，

while he wires them up to a polygraph so he can see them becoming stressed.

同時將他們接上波動描寫器， 觀察他們變得多緊張。

So you've got the two of them in there, and he'll say to the husband,

所以兩個人坐在那裡， 然後他跟丈夫說：

"Tell me something that your wife does that irritates you."

「告訴我你太太做什麼 會惹你生氣。」

And what you see is immediately --

你立刻就會看到

just run that one through your head briefly, you and your partner --

──就在你腦海裡想像一下， 你和你的另一半──

you can imagine everybody gets a bit more stressed as soon as that starts.

你能想像到這個實驗一開始， 每個人都會有點緊張。

You can see physically, people become more stressed.

你能從生理現象 看到大家都變更緊張了。

What he finds is that the couples who manage that feeling of stress

他發現到能以笑 帶過緊張情緒的夫婦，

with laughter, positive emotions like laughter,

正面的情緒如笑聲，

not only immediately become less stressed,

不但立刻變得不那麼緊張，

they can see them physically feeling better,

他們在生理上感覺更好，

they're dealing with this unpleasant situation better together,

他們更能一同 面對這種不愉快的情況，

they are also the couples that report

他們也是在婚姻關係中

high levels of satisfaction in their relationship

有高滿意度的夫婦，

and they stay together for longer.

所以他們的婚姻維持更久。

So in fact, when you look at close relationships,

所以事實上， 如果你去看親密關係，

laughter is a phenomenally useful index

會發現笑聲是很有用的指標，

of how people are regulating their emotions together.

顯示人如何一起調整情緒。

We're not just emitting it at each other to show that we like each other,

我們不但藉由互相抒發情緒 來顯示我們喜歡彼此，

we're making ourselves feel better together.

我們還因此讓自己更自在。

Now, I don't think this is going to be limited to romantic relationships.

我想這並不限於浪漫的關係。

I think this is probably going to be a characteristic

這也應該是項特質，

of close emotional relationships such as you might have with friends,

存在於情緒親密的關係中， 如你與朋友的關係，

which explains my next clip,

這也解釋了我的下一段影片，

which is of a YouTube video of some young men in the former East Germany

這段 YouTube 影片， 是一些前東德的年輕人

on making a video to promote their heavy metal band,

在製作他們重金屬樂團的宣傳短片，

and it's extremely macho, and the mood is very serious,

超男子氣概，氣氛超嚴肅，

and I want you to notice what happens in terms of laughter

我要你們注意一下在情況有異時，

when things go wrong

笑聲的變化，

and how quickly that happens, and how that changes the mood.

注意一下這發生得多快， 又如何改變氣氛。

He's cold. He's about to get wet. He's got swimming trunks on,

他很冷。他快要下水了。 他穿著泳褲，

got a towel.

有條毛巾。

Ice.

冰。

What might possibly happen?

到底發生了什麼？

Video starts.

影片開始。

Serious mood.

氣氛嚴肅。

And his friends are already laughing. They are already laughing, hard.

他的朋友已經開始笑了起來。 他們已經笑得很大聲了。

He's not laughing yet.

他還沒開始笑。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

He's starting to go now.

他要笑了。

And now they're all off.

現在他們都笑翻了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

They're on the floor.

他們笑倒在地上。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The thing I really like about that is it's all very serious

我最喜歡的部分， 是這原本非常嚴肅，

until he jumps onto the ice, and as soon as he doesn't go through the ice,

直到他跳進冰裡， 但是沒有真的掉進去，

but also there isn't blood and bone everywhere,

而且影片中沒有頭破血流，

his friends start laughing.

他的朋友就笑了起來。

And imagine if that had played him out with him standing there going,

想像一下，如果他皮開肉綻 站起來說：

"No seriously, Heinrich, I think this is broken,"

「說真的，亨利， 我想這裡斷了。」

我們就不會這麼喜歡看這個。 這可能會很緊張。

we wouldn't enjoy watching that. That would be stressful.

或是如果他明顯拖著斷腿 邊到處跑還邊笑，

Or if he was running around with a visibly broken leg laughing,

而且他的朋友說： 「亨利，我想我們現在得去趟醫院，」

and his friends are going, "Heinrich, I think we need to go to the hospital now,"

那就不會這麼好笑了。

事實上笑在這裡起了作用，

that also wouldn't be funny.

笑讓他避開痛苦、 尷尬、困難的情況，

The fact that the laughter works,

it gets him from a painful, embarrassing, difficult situation,

變成有趣的局面， 我們其實還挺喜歡的，

into a funny situation, into what we're actually enjoying there,

我想這個用法真的很有意思，

and I think that's a really interesting use,

而且這其實還時時發生。

舉一個例子， 我還記得類似的情況

and it's actually happening all the time.

For example, I can remember something like this happening

在我父親的葬禮上出現。

at my father's funeral.

我們沒有穿著內褲在冰上跳來跳去。

We weren't jumping around on the ice in our underpants.

我們不是加拿大人。

We're not Canadian.

（譯註：加拿大有新年冬泳傳統， 本大會現場在加拿大。）

(Laughter) (Applause)

These events are always difficult, I had a relative who was being a bit difficult,

（笑聲）（掌聲）

這樣的場合總是難熬， 我有個親戚變得有點難伺候，

my mum was not in a good place,

我媽媽的狀況也不好，

and I can remember finding myself just before the whole thing started

我還記得就在葬禮開始前， 我發現自己

telling this story about something that happened in a 1970s sitcom,

在說 1970 年代 某個情境喜劇的劇情，

and I just thought at the time, I don't know why I'm doing this,

那時候我還在想， 我幹嘛在這時候做這個，

and what I realized I was doing

我意識到我在做的

was I was coming up with something from somewhere

是我想以此神來之舉，

I could use to make her laugh together with me.

讓她跟我一起笑一笑。

It was a very basic reaction to find some reason we can do this.

這是非常基本的反應，

We can laugh together. We're going to get through this.

我們能一起笑， 我們能共度難關。

We're going to be okay.

我們會沒事的。

And in fact, all of us are doing this all the time.

事實上，我們時時都在做這件事。

You do it so often, you don't even notice it.

你很常做，你不曾注意而已。

Everybody underestimates how often they laugh,

每個人都低估了自己有多常笑，

你跟大家一起笑的時候 其實是在做某件事，

and you're doing something, when you laugh with people,

that's actually letting you access a really ancient evolutionary system

讓你進入非常古老的演化系統，

that mammals have evolved to make and maintain social bonds,

哺乳動物以此進化 建立及維持社會連繫，

and clearly to regulate emotions, to make ourselves feel better.

並明顯以此來調控情緒， 讓我們感覺更好。

It's not something specific to humans -- it's a really ancient behavior

這並非人類特有， 這是非常古老的行為，

which really helps us regulate how we feel and makes us feel better.

能真正幫助我們調控我們的感覺， 並讓我們感覺更好。

In other words, when it comes to laughter,

換句話說，說到笑，

you and me, baby, ain't nothing but mammals. (Laughter)

你和我寶貝，不過就是哺乳類罷了！ （另類樂團諷刺歌詞）

Thank you.

謝謝。（笑聲）

Thank you. (Applause)

謝謝。（掌聲）