Why do we laugh?

Why do we laugh? Or what makes us laugh?

I heard a talk by Gaur Gopal Das of iskcon on YouTube about laughing, albeit not on laughter itself

It was something like, we don't laugh on same joke but we cry on same problem

The first part is interesting

Why can't we laugh on same joke?

I mean, we hear a joke the first time and find it hilarious and literally roll on the floor laughing

But narrate the same joke again and our laughter goes down a few decibels

The third time, we get irritated and outright angry hearing it repeatedly

So what made is laugh in the first instance?

I Google it and I find scientists struggling to explain exactly what makes people laugh

Scientific American says laughter releases endorphins, the feel - good chemicals our bodies produce to make us feel happy and even relieve pain or stress

Another post tells me that laughter is the best form of therapy

Yet, I realize, if I tell a good joke that would normally evoke laughter, falls flat on its face to someone who is depressed or in pain

If laughter does relieve pain or stress, why isn't it the accepted form of treatment?

Why can't we tell jokes to someone in mourning?

Why is it not proper to tell jokes in tragic circumstances?

At this point, let me resort to an analogy

You must have heard about Schrodinger's cat theory

Erwin Schrodinger put up this theory of an imaginary experiment in 1935

This imaginary experiment is of a cat in a closed box along with a radioactive object

The radioactive object explodes

Schrodinger says that unless we open the box and see what has happened inside, we don't know what has happened to the cat

Is the cat dead or is the cat alive or did the radioactive object explode at all, we don't know unless we have opened the box and until that is done, we can't draw any inference

Once we open the box, and see what is inside, we draw our own interpretation of what has happened

(Ironically, my analogy is itself an allegory, but I digress)

Let me return to the main topic of laughter

This theory of Schrodinger's cat was in the limelight at the time of the death of Sushant Rajput, the actor

Rajput is shown wearing a t-shirt with the caption - Schrodinger's smiley

There is a smiley like this :):

You cover two dots and you see a smiley, and you cover the other two dots, you see a sad face

Basically being interpreted as we don't know if a person is depressed/sad or not

So my question is,  if laughter is the best medicine, why isn't it?

Why can't we relieve pain with a good joke?

Why can't we disperse anger with a humorous anecdote?

Why can't we make sadness disappear, why can't we wipe away anger?

Are we over hyping laughter to happiness?

Does a good laugh really indicate a happy person?

For all I know, when happiness in our life crosses a certain threshold, we actually cry!

Winning a Olympic medal makes the athlete cry of happiness

Completing a difficult project in spite of many hurdles in time actually makes us feel relieved and happy and we shed a tear or two!

Why and when do we actually laugh?

Do we laugh to hide our emotions?

Do we laugh to hide our feelings?

Do we laugh out of jealousy?

Or do we laugh to gauge the mood of others?

I don't know.

Why do we laugh, really!

#whydowelaugh