“你欢笑，这世界陪你一起欢笑。”埃拉·惠勒·威尔科克斯这一脍炙人口的诗句仍然在理。就像打呵欠一样，笑也有很强的传染性，但笑这种“传染病”人见人爱，还乐意传染给别人。事实上，甚至是别人的笑声也能让你开怀一笑。

有多少次，你曾遇到下面的情况？你在电影院会捧腹大笑，可当你独自在电视上再看这部电影时，你却不觉得那么好笑了，或者至少笑得没有那么欢了。这是因为此时你是独自一人看这部电影，而当我们在较多的人群之中体验幽默时，情况就不一样了。那么，是什么让笑这么容易传染？为什么我们即便不觉得某个笑话那么好笑，可最终还是会和其他人一起笑呢？

为什么我们要笑？

People may laugh for various reasons, such as if they like a joke, if they see their friend take an awkward tumble, or if they experience anything else that might tickle their funny bone.

人们发笑可能有很多不同的原因，比如说可能是喜欢一个笑话、可能是看到朋友跌倒出糗，或者遇到了其他什么可能会戳中笑点的事情。

Studies have shown that laughing has been passed on to humans from our ancient primate ancestor. For our ancestors, laughter was a process of strengthening the bond between them. People laugh when they feel free and are comfortable with one another, so laughter definitely increases bonding between people, just as it did for our ancestors.

研究表明，笑是人类从我们那古老的灵长类动物祖先那里遗传来的。对我们的祖先来说，笑是强化彼此情感关系的一种方法。当人们彼此相处感到无拘无束、轻松愉快时，他们就会笑。所以，笑无疑会增进人们之间的感情，就像其对我们祖先的作用那样。

为什么笑会传染？

The way a person reacts to a sound is dependent on the brain’s premotor cortical region. This region is responsible for how the muscles in the face react to the corresponding sounds. University College of London conducted a study on certain volunteers where they played different sounds to them and measured their brain’s reaction to the sound.

人对声音的反应取决于大脑的前运动皮层区。这个区域负责决定脸部的肌肉如何对相应的声音作出反应。伦敦大学学院做过一项研究，研究人员给一些志愿者播放了不同的声音，并测量了他们的大脑对这些声音的反应。

It was seen that responses were higher for positive sounds, such as laughing of the sound of triumph, and were much lower for negative sounds like screaming or retching. This suggests that humans are more susceptible to the sound of laughter as compared to negative sounds. This explains the reason for our involuntary smile when we see other people laughing.

研究发现，志愿者对积极的声音(比如胜利的欢呼声)反应较强，而对消极的声音(像尖叫声或呕吐声)反应较弱。这表明，与消极声音相比，人类更容易受到笑声的影响。这就解释了为什么当我们看到别人笑时，我们也会不由自主地笑起来。

There is a famous case of the contagious nature of laughing known as the Tanganyika laughter epidemic. In 1962, three girls studying in a boarding school in a village in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) began to laugh, and soon it spread to the whole school. Eventually, it affected about 95 of the 159 pupils.

有个著名的事例可以说明笑的传染本质，这个事例被称作坦噶尼喀大笑病。1962年，在坦噶尼喀(现称坦桑尼亚)某村的一所寄宿学校就读的三个女孩笑了起来，她们的笑很快传染到了整个学校。最终，159名小学生中约有95名学生都受到影响笑了起来。

This natural response that we have to laughter is the reason why pre-recorded laughter is frequently put on sitcoms, as this increases the chance of inducing laughter from the audience. Laughter therapy also works on the same principle: when you see many people laughing, you involuntarily end up laughing too!

因为我们会对笑产生这种自然反应，所以情景喜剧里常常加入预先录制的笑声，以便更多地引发观众的笑声。笑声疗法也是同样一个道理：当你看到很多人笑的时候，你也最终会不由自主地笑起来！

It is often said that laughter is the best medicine, as it has many benefits for human health. In that case, I just have one thing to say: laugh and make the whole world laugh with you.

常言道，笑是最好的良药，因为笑能给人们的健康带来诸多益处。既然如此，我只有一句话想说：笑吧，让全世界陪你一起欢笑。

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