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The Wisdom of Psychopaths
In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a...
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Adapted from Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? … And Other Reflections on Being Human, by Jesse Bering, by arrangement with Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC (North America), Transworld Ltd (UK), Jorge Zahara Editora Ltda (Brazil). Copyright © 2012 by Jesse Bering.
Once, while in a drowsy, altitude-induced delirium 35,000 feet somewhere over iceland, I groped mindlessly for the cozy blue blanket poking out beneath my seat, only to realize—to my unutterable horror—that I was in fact tugging soundly on a wriggling, sock-covered big toe. Now, with a temperament such as mine, life tends to be one awkward conversation after the next, so when I turned around, smiling, to apologize to the owner of this toe, my gaze was met by a very large man whose grunt suggested that he was having some difficulty in finding the humor in this incident.
Unpleasant, sure, but I now call this event serendipitous. As I rested my head back against that sanitation-paper-covered airline pillow, my midflight mind lit away to a much happier memory, one involving another big toe, yet this one belonging to a noticeably more good-humored animal than the one sitting behind me. This other toe—which felt every bit as much as its overstuffed human equivalent did, I should add—was attached to a 450-pound western lowland gorilla, with calcified gums, named King. When I was 20 and he was 27, I spent much of the summer of 1996 with my toothless friend King, listening to Frank Sinatra and the Three Tenors, playing chase from one side of his exhibit to the other, and tickling his toes. He'd lean back in his night house, stick out one huge ashen-gray foot through the bars of his cage and leave it dangling there in anticipation, erupting in shoulder-heaving guttural laughter as I'd grab hold of one of his toes and gently give it a palpable squeeze. He almost couldn't control himself when, one day, I leaned down to act as though I were going to bite on that plump digit. If you've never seen a gorilla in a fit of laughter, I'd recommend searching out such a sight before you pass from this world. It's something that would stir up cognitive dissonance in even the heartiest of creationists.
Do animals other than humans have a sense of humor? Perhaps in some ways, yes. But in other ways there are likely uniquely human properties to such emotions. Aside from anecdotes, we know very little about nonhuman primate laughter and humor, but some of the most significant findings to emerge in comparative science over the past decade have involved the unexpected discovery that rats—particularly juvenile rats—laugh. That's right: rats laugh. At least, that's the unflinching argument being made by researcher Jaak Panksepp, who published a remarkable, and rather heated, position paper on the subject in Behavioural Brain Research.
In particular, Panksepp's work has focused on “the possibility that our most commonly used animal subjects, laboratory rodents, may have social-joy type experiences during their playful activities and that an important communicative-affective component of that process, which invigorates social engagement, is a primordial form of laughter.” Now, before you go imagining some chortling along the lines of one rakish Stuart Little (or was he a mouse?), real rat laughter doesn't tend to sound very much like the human variety, which normally involves pulsating sound bursts starting with a vocalized inhalation and consisting of a series of short distinct saccades separated by almost equal time intervals. The stereotypical sound of human laughter is an aspirated h, followed by a vowel, usually a, and largely because of our larynx is rich in harmonics. In contrast, rat laughter comes in the form of high-frequency 50-kilohertz ultrasonic calls, or “chirps,” that are distinct from other vocal emissions in rats. Here's how Panksepp describes his discovery of the phenomenon:
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24 Comments
Add CommentI'm a retired dog trainer - one of my colleagues years ago suggested that dogs, also, laugh. I've watched & played around with this in my classes, play sessions, and with my own dogs and although it's anectdotal and not real data, I would tend to agree with her. Dogs will often "sneeze" at each other during, or to instigate, play. Instead of "achoo" it's more of a "Pfuuh"...try it and see if your dog gets excited and wants to play - mine did!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think animals may have more fun laughing at us and our behavior. They certainly train us well and I know that it has been shown that a dog can understand up to 600 words and meanings. I have seen the reaction of elephants and other mammals at the loss of one of their clan and I have seen the rejoice and relief that a mother has when a cub or what ever we name their child returns.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut only we humans get to have feelings, souls, intelligence and all the other things that elevate us from the other living creatures. Funny though, I had a Labrador and was able to teach her to say 'I Love You' as clear as any human I know and she sure listened to every word I said. When I would let her out she would bring back a present (usually a ceramic duck from the neighbors) but the bond was tight.
I just wonder why they can't think, have feelings, be happy, curious or other human type things but the bible tells me so.
I still think rats laugh when tickled though, that was priceless, and I know darn well my dogs were always glad to see me food or not. And I know for a fact that dogs picked us out because they saw the potential for cars and could not wait to sit with their heads out the window.
Excellent case made for laughter in rats. Add to this study their use of a whiff of fragrance when "happy" and I think we are just beginning to map their emotional world. What I don't understand is the resistance to the very idea that other animals can (and do) have emotions. We are still at such a primitive stage in our own understanding of our own emotions, not even able to agree on a definition of the "self" (see current SciAm article on the Illusion of the Self). We can't communicate with even the most advanced life forms and continue to discover that they have ways to communicate we were totally unaware of (elephants' low frequency calls, etc.) Reminds me of the old thought that we were the only tool makers. Is this rejection based on our insecurities or something akin to royalty being the only ones allowed to wear a certain color? Or perhaps even darker, the same "place" that racism and sexism come from, since we as a species continue to demean our own kind, even our own mothers, sisters, daughters. Such an "advanced" species... maybe we need to laugh more at ourselves.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHmm, it seems that all the effects of the rat chirping are more parallel to the purring of a domestic cat, and not to the laughter of a human.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo well done, I had to have a belly laugh. I still love that dogs have over 600 words and to the best of my knowledge we have translated Arf to only mean 'Hey' so far. The other comment on other methods of communicating and using senses and information in ways we never thought of as something we really need to consider.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think Hive Intelligence is highly underrated and it can exist at chemical, small signal, large signal, shared signal at VHF, LHF and UHF frequencies that we don't even know about. I once thought if dolphins could communicate in images and emotions they could send their entire reality in real time and if this could be arrayed the hive intellectual potential is off the chart. In a human it would considered psychotic but in a group of mammals that have had millions of years to perfect it this could put our sense of reality into something like a one dimensional world.
I know some of the current defense technology has taken a look at this line of communication but it opens the doors to advancing all forms of AI including our own.
The other thing that we must consider is that animals may communicate in multiple ways with some integrated like when we talk and use our hands. Remember in the human only 10% of the information is actually in what the other party said.
"But only we humans get to have feelings, souls, intelligence and all the other things that elevate us from the other living creatures."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo evidence exists for souls and animals appear to have feelings pretty much like we do.
You are surely jesting I am sure. That is surely the most myopic thought I ever read. What the hell is a soul, can you identify it on any level or decide what level of life gets one. We are an organic unit enclosed in a human level able to have concepts of self realizations, delusions of cosmic importance, the ability to ask really hard and really stupid questions both of which are just as important and once in a while get an answer. Whether there is a God or not really doesn't matter on that ideal alone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt means we get to decide our place in the universe and we get off easy because no matter where, what are why we are in the Universe we are so minimal that everything is allowed. Being able to ask those questions and try to answer them makes being human so very very interesting, not if we go to heaven. If you live your life that is a given.
Whatever and animal thinks, does, acts, thinks, ponders, worships is something we are totally unable to understand. We can watch there actions and relate them to ours not match them to ours. They are not the same and there is no way to judge the differences.
I may have read that wrong, but I wouldn't throw the concept of energy attachment totally away yet and that may imply a soul of sorts. I hear what you're thinking but maybe it is all of one soul?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRats have been laughing at humans for a very long time, we have just been to dumb to figure it out. Every were man has moved into the rat went for a ride for free. If and when humans get into space to stay in a big way the rat or mouse will come along for the ride. If they are not laughing at they should be. So should we be laughing at our self over that fact.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat means the cockroaches are chuckling.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes! They are can't even stand up they are laughing so hard. That is why they have to crawl on the floor. lol
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHey David!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLong time no see! Just wanted you to know that your anti-remediation arguments during our Warming talks have convinced me. I changed my position because of your logic and no longer discuss remediation options in the articles I write elsewhere. (Most of these debates resemble shouting matches among the deaf, so I imagined it is nice when someone acknowledges that another did make a difference.)
Everyone else, as to animal laughter – of course they laugh, we are just so full of ourselves. I would not doubt, based on the content of information in their language (as published by Carl Sagan in Cosmos), that whales are actually much, in fact millions of times, smarter than we are.
Thank you very much. That is one of the nicest compliments some one who participates in these conversation can hear.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMark, can you add the URL back to the article. I stick my nose a lot in these as long as it is something I have studied enough to have opinion. Otherwise, I do a wow sentence just as a way of getting back to some interesting subjects. But I am passionate about some things and would love to reread the postings.
Again, Thank you that is the nicest compliment, I wish you well.
"And I've got to say, those rat data have me seriously considering a return to my old vegetarianism days—not that I dine on rats, of course, but laughing animals do make the prospect of animal suffering unusually salient and uncomfortable in my mind."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's sad that the "ability to laugh" is perceived to be a necessity to contemplate discomfort, when the ability to suffer and a whole range of undeniable existing emotions should suffice.
It so reminds me of the restaurant at the end of the universe where the animal would describe the more appetizing portions of their body and how to best prepare it. Boy now I want a cow that can talk.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@Mark, I found the story. :)
That would be
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=arctic-ocean-releasing-significant-amounts-of-methane#comment-65
keep the faith!
:)
In reponses to ,'I just wonder why they can't think, have feelings, be happy, curious or other human type things but the bible tells me so.' If you are suggesting the Bible eludes to the non-existance of animal emotion, you might want to do some reading...Genesis 3 and Numbers 22, both suggest not only intelligent animals but animals conveying 'human' emotions...whether you want to accept what is stated in the Bible, please make sure you dont damn your self more by misquoting it...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAre you saying this
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"1:26] Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
[1:27] So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."
If so yeah, that is what I am saying, animals are on a level we don't even get and we don't get to assign or unassigned a soul. Not our place and it would irritate the rats big time.
Anyone who owns/has owned pets knows they laugh: tug-of-war or keep-away often elicits playful growls out of dogs; cats' laughter is usually seen in physical displays of rubbing or even clawing and biting when tickled just right; even my guinea pigs chirped and danced to African drum music and when they smelled cut-up broccoli. Sense of humor? Probably not. Joy? IMO, most certainly.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhere does the Bible say animals don't have feelings? I've read it several times, but I don't recall that verse. They, apparently, do not have the desire or capacity for either worship or self-reflection. But they do mourn, rejoice, enjoy play and affection, can be loyal, are sometimes stubborn, and most certainly do think on a certain level. My cats laugh at me and tell me I'm a nut all the time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@arynix - It depends on which version of the Bible you are referring to. You have Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Occidental Orthodox, Coptic, Russian Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican (King James), Reformed, Methodist, New Methodist, LDS King James, Jehova's Witness and probably many more. Then you have the huge number of non-Christian old testament versions as well. Last I heard there were 26 different versions of Genesis written before the time of Christ. The older versions are very different than the ones most commonly used today.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSome times the difference between any given 2 is just a couple of words here and there. Other times the difference is the loss of entire books or the dropping of critical characters or explanations. The oldest known version of Genesis has 3 people in the garden of Eden. That third person wasn't the serpent either.
I do believe that David Russell may have been using sarcasm in there somewhere.
As for laughing rats, well, I had a dog that would smile and wag his tail after pulling a prank. Denying rat laughter is like saying animals don't feel pain. Science has identified the pain receptors and the pain processing centers in animal brains so that is plainly false.
It is amazing how many this is the word of God, white men have written, rewritten and outright plagiarized from isn't it? The sad thing is Religion without God may be more useful to us Humans than Religion that decides which God is the best.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think some of the ideals of the puritans were interesting in that they saw the community as organic with each member having a part to play and if they got out of sorts then the whole society paid the price creating and atmosphere of giving each soul a purpose and importance in making society run or you spent time on the stock. With the advent of the industrial age and the replacement of people by machines, well we seem to have lost some purpose haven't we?
Then when it was absolutely proven that we are not the center of or even close to the center of the universe, in fact not even much more than a virtual spec of dust on a tick the concept of God being central to our society ran into a brick wall. But we grasp at the ideal of a soul, us being better than the critters and not realizing that it is very neat to be able to ask and answer really esoteric questions and also be at the top of the food chain not somewhere in the middle.
Yes I think the animals laugh at us more than we know and we have very little understanding of their understanding but I know a dog knows more of my words than I do of his.
I have a question,Does reptile, fish, bird aslo laugh?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you study the raven and other black birds such as crows, you may find your answer. As for fish, shark seem to show great joy sometimes but I think they are just thinking food.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut the birds with their tiny little brains have been found to be very smart, able to solve very complex multi-step puzzles, play with predator animals to see what the boundaries are. I know seagulls laugh because I hear them at the beach and because they love to torment us while we are there.
I have seen a lot of crocodile smiles on both crocs and gators, and while snakes may not be able to laugh, they sure can be ornery when you pester them.