Neuroscientist and stand-up comedian.
In this BBC video she explains about the social aspect of laughter. She talked about how laughter is contagious and how other apes clearly laugh.
I think the thing that's interesting is how she's talking about how we've come to use laughter more than the spontaneous aspect of it. We've come to use it as a social cue, or a signal to others about our feelings and intensions, which is really interesting, but that's a layer above the actual genuine laughter.
Surely we need to understand what laughter is about and then we can see how we've repurposed it as a signifier and a useful social lubricant?
She also did a Ted Talk.
She also did a talk for Google (48mins)
There's an interview with her on Youtube where she covers similar ground.
Her page on UCL Her email sophie.scott@ucl.ac.uk
<- Back