Nearly anyone who ’s smoked pot more than once has experienced the giggles , that wonderful disposition of ganja that makes shit absolutely hilarious . It ’s one of thoseantiquated stoner stereotypesthat actually hold up , chiefly because it ’s the most universally experienced side effect ( well , that an paranoia , but that ’s because they ’re watching you … ) But why does weed make everything so hilarious ? To regain out , we talked to people who are smarter than us for a scientific answer . And a non - scientific one . Because scientific discipline can be soooo boring .
The non-sciencey weed + laughter connection
Because we were C students ( at best ) in science and stuff , we verbalise to Dr. Mitch Earleywine , an advisory board appendage ofNORMLand a professor at SUNY Albany , to see out why he thinks marijuana make everything mirthful .
First , you have to know what makes hoi polloi laugh to lead off with . The reason is not precisely trim down and dry . Earleywine says that " the incongruousness - resolution " poser is " one of the dominant theories in humor . " Essentially , not being able to see the punchline coming is what makes it funny . Here ’s an example :
" What ’s your idea of a perfect date?““April 20th . "
New Line Cinema/Warner Bros./Mandate Pictures/Kingsgate Films
Earleywine severalize us that jest , but used April 14th as the punchline , so we spruced it up a morsel for him . And in his opinion ( this opinion is not supported by marijuana research worker , it ’s just what he trust ) , " cannabis lowers the threshold for surprise . " Will you ever be high enough to find that April 20th joke funny ? There ’s only one way to discover out .
Fancy doctor mortal Dr. Jim Hamblinwrote in a Splitsider articlesaying that no one ’s exactly certain why marijuana causes the case of laugh you get when someone ’s vellicate you , even if nothing is funny . Thanks for nothing , science ! He also says laugh is know to be contagious – so if you add up those two cistron together , you get a formula for people thinkingGarfield : A Tail of Two Kittiesis funny .
He also mentions a theory from the bookThe Healing Magic of Cannabis . The book posits that smoking cannabis gives you a " come away perspective " – as in , you do n’t think how you commonly do . Hamblin writes , " As you come to cerebrate otherwise from your normal self , it ’s like having a little stand - up comic walking back and away fidgeting with the mic stand in your learning ability . "
Hopefully when you ’re high you ’re more of a Louis C.K. than a Louis Vuitton . We ’re assuming that Gallic interior decorator was a serious dude .
A slightly nerdier explanation
The deputy director at NORML , Paul Armentano , told us , " Cannabinoids , THC in particular , alter mood because they activate receptors that are concentrated in various parts of the brainiac that regulate mood ascendancy . " And it makes sense that if marijuana redact you in a better mood , you ’ll be more likely to laugh . specially if you fume weed andwatch a video where a tiddler falls over . That stuff is never not funny . But it ’s extra funny when you ’re gamey .
Since a luck of marijuana ’s side outcome have n’t previously been hard studied by the mainstream scientific residential area ( you know , since it remains illegal , and all ) , there ’s no definitive answer out there , yet . Perhaps if it becomes effectual federally one twenty-four hours , research worker will provide definitive answers … or at least the politics will get clean-living about all the covert research it ’s been conducting on us all along ! ( Next article : why does weed make you think the governing is take your persuasion ? )
Until that twenty-four hours , it ’s best not to think about it too severely and instead enjoy the billion of video of kids falling down . in earnest . Shit ’s hilarious .
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Jon Sumpsonwrites about cannabis and sex for Thrillist , and intend everything is funny all the time .
