Epidemic of laughter

"It is well said that people think of as a flock; we can see that a freak in the head, but recovered slowly, one by one, "noted Charles Mackay, in 1841, in a book devoted to the social sciences.

A related experiment was conducted under the supervision of a group of scientists put five monkeys in a cage in the middle of a ladder cage. Above the staircase was placed a bunch of bananas. When a monkey climbing the stairs to take bananas, scientists threw a bucket of cold water that remains on the other foot. After some time, when a monkey tried to climb the stairs, the other did not allow her to climb. After long no monkey no longer climb the ladder, despite the temptation bananas.

  Then the scientists replaced one of the monkeys. The first thing that made it was trying to climb the ladder, but was held back by others and beaten. After a few beats, any member of the new group is no longer climb the ladder. A second monkey was replaced and the same thing happened. The first monkey replacement enthusiastically participated in the beating novice. A third was changed and things were repeated. The fourth and fifth were changed. Finally, scientists were left with five monkeys that had not received although never a bath with cold water continued to hit monkeys trying to reach the banana.

    If it was possible that monkeys be asked why he beat those who tried to climb the ladder, the answer would probably be "do not know. Things have always been like this ..."

Herd thinking explains, in part, a series of general mania that erupted over time. Crowds began to act strange phenomenon is degenerating quickly and just as quickly forgotten.

One of the strangest manifestations of herd thinking is epidemic in Tanzania and Uganda laughed. It appeared

at the end of January in 1962 at a school for girls in Kashasha. The laughter started from three students who have overreacted to a normal joke that appeared to have been actually affected by a strange epidemic,

whose causes have not been elucidated completely until today.

Shortly epidemic has affected 95 of the 159 students in the school and so was stopped classes, teachers are unable to control this situation more capable. Symptoms were lasting, may take several hours or even up to 16 days. Laughter was it is stronger to tears, but would be accompanied by rash, fits of fear or aggression, and sometimes patients experiencing pain, feeling panting because of respiratory problems, cry, cries involuntary and even unconsciousness. After seizures unexplained and unexpected laughter became weaker and stopped completely.

Ten days after the closure of the institution, the disease reappeared in a nearby village where they lived some of the girls who were sick. In total, about 217 residents were affected by the epidemic in April-May. Laughter epidemic has spread to other areas, every time there is a connection with a person on school girls. In total, they were affected by the epidemic over 1,000 persons in the two countries.

 Experts who have analyzed the phenomenon not found other symptoms that clear up the mystery disease and thus hypothesized that the epidemic was due to razor impact of psychoactive mushrooms, although evidence has never been found. The fact is that those affected were perfectly healthy people showed no abnormality to explain the disease, so the epidemic has still remained a mystery elucidated.

Outbreaks of infection ended only after a period of six months and has not been detected before. Of all happened because shaving epidemic in Tanzania concluded that came true adage "laughter can be contagious."

Gregariousness deeply tied to our species associated, contagion is a feature of human emotions, a result of the evolutionary process by which species strengthened adaptive resources and survival. When we respond and resonate with the emotions of our fellows, not only as we cultivate relationships with them, but we assure you that, under the universal principle of reciprocity will respond similarly when we need them, either to celebrate or for help when we are in difficulty.

A French film short film circulating on YouTube under the name of "Merci", trying to reproduce razor epidemic in Tanzania, in the Paris metro. The scenario is simple: an actor laughed without an obvious reason to be - maybe a bench and recalled that or a funny situation just lived it. Soon, all the passengers will follow in a laughing micro-epidemic.

Laughter is healthy, even those without reason. During shaving, the microbiological level, emissions occur hormones are beneficial emotional state and health and there was even laughter therapy that promises an improvement in emotional and changes the set of perceptions dramatic that keep us in a state of persistent sadness.

                                                      photo credit: google.com

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