FIFCL and Solidaris organized a conference on the theme of laughter, featuring Michel Cymes, Steven Laureys and Bruno Humbeeck.
“Should laughter be taken seriously?” was the theme of a conference-meeting organized by Solidaris as part of the International Comedy Film Festival in Liège. Why look into the subject? Quite simply because laughter is good for morale.
“It’s hard to say that laughter is really “good for you” in physiological terms. At most, the endorphins produced by laughter can energize the body and, through the euphoric state these hormones provoke, help us to feel healthy,” explains Bruno Humbeeck, psychoeducator and Director of Research in the Family Sciences Department at the University of Mons. “Hormonal influx does not, however, have a direct effect on health. Laughter helps to heal, but in no way cures. It is, however, indisputable that laughter is a sign of good health. A very sick human being who starts laughing “heartily” tends to reassure those around him or her by demonstrating a sign of vitality through behaviour that evokes joy. This is what Kant called the ‘dynamogenesis of laughter’, and it is this mechanism that explains why we spontaneously establish a correlation between laughter and good health”, he adds.
Ultra modern solitude
In practical terms, laughter does not cure any ills. “It does, however, enable us to face them with greater strength, by circumventing a reality that is sometimes hard to accept, and enabling us to confront illness with greater psychological fortitude. That’s why having a strong sense of humor is a real argument for resilience. At the very least, laughter helps us to position ourselves to receive care and make its effects more effective. It doesn’t heal by its own action or influence. If you’re ill, you can laugh all you like about it, but it won’t do anything to cure the illness. But it will probably – and this is very important – make you feel stronger to face it. In this respect, laughter is a way of confronting reality, not getting rid of it. That’s probably why Scutenaire, a Belgian surrealist, claimed that laughter can always ‘get you out of trouble’ without ‘getting you out of trouble’,” adds Bruno Humbeeck.
Moreover, we tend to laugh less these days (4 times a day on average), even if it’s difficult to prove such a claim. Some research, more or less serious, tends to confirm this observation. But they all affirm that this trend is essentially linked to the “ultra-modern solitude” so aptly described in the eponymous song. We laugh less in societies where encounters are less frequent. The sense of urgency and the greater “pressure to act” also hinder many people’s propensity to take the time for real encounters and exchanges. “Genuine laughter is essentially a powerful indicator of a benevolent encounter. That’s why it’s not the quantity of laughter that’s important when reporting on societal change, but the quality of that laughter. In this respect, a society which, like our contemporary one, tends to privilege mocking laughter (what the ancient Greeks called katagelan) to the detriment of convivial laughter (which the same ancient Greeks designated by the word “gelan”), should, in my opinion, be more questioning than a society which laughs with less frequency”, concludes Bruno Humbeeck.
Easy solutions
The effects of laughter on health seem to be poorly understood by the general public, and even by professionals. “I’m delighted to be taking part in this event and to see laughter in a broader sense,” adds Professor Steven Laureys, Director of Research at the FNRS, Head of the Coma Science Group at the University Hospital of Liège and Director of the GIGA Consciousness Centre at the University of Liège. “There are scientific studies that show the importance of laughter on our cognitive functioning. There have been, for example, studies on the loss of a loved one, hypnosis or meditation, which are too little used. Many people have problems with sleep, anxiety or headaches. They want easy solutions like medication. But it must be stressed that there are things that can be done, but they require effort. You have to try to live a better life, practice good hygiene, take part in sports and have a positive philosophy. It also illustrates that we no longer have enough time for laughter in our societies”, adds Steven Laureys, convinced that laughter can be a therapeutic tool and that there is still much to be done in this area.