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Sense of Humor Changes With Age
The Atlantic: There’s an episode in the first season of The Office in which Michael Scott, the tactless boss, is asking his female employees to serve as cheerleaders for an upcoming company basketball game. When the heavyset Phyllis says
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13 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Laughing
Real Simple: Contrary to popular belief, the number one catalyst for laughter isn’t a joke: It’s interacting with another person. That’s because the modern-day ha-ha! probably evolved as a form of communication. Our primate ancestors
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Explaining the Funny, Then Not Funny, Then Funny Again Joke
New York Magazine: There’s a scene in the rom-com parody They Came Together that goes like this: Bartender: “You look like you’ve had a bad day.” Paul Rudd: “You can say that again.” Bartender: “Well, you came
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Why We Laugh
The Atlantic: Laughter is universal, but we know very little about the reasons we do it. Dr. Robert Provine has been studying the social and neurological roots of laughter for 20 years, and has come
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Did you hear the joke about the CEO?
The Washington Post: Humor isn’t part of most mission statements. Organizations are busy with the serious challenges of trying to improve sales, service and innovation. Besides, being funny is risky. No one appreciates a poorly
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Do animals have a sense of humor?
Slate: Right now, in a high-security research lab at Northwestern University’s Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics, scientists are tickling rats. Their goal? To develop a pharmaceutical-grade happiness pill. But their efforts might also produce some