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do animals laugh?

pkme2

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2005
3,896
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I recall when I was hunting, my pointer come upon hiding birds, flushed them on command and I missed.
After the final shot and no hits, I kid you not, that dog would actually look back at me, shrugged, gave me a disgusted look, and went back to work. I will never ever forget that look, to this day.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
Originally posted by: pkme2
I recall when I was hunting, my pointer come upon hiding birds, flushed them on command and I missed.
After the final shot and no hits, I kid you not, that dog would actually look back at me, shrugged, gave me a disgusted look, and went back to work. I will never ever forget that look, to this day.

At least it's not like Duck Hunt where the dog laughs at you :p

Animals can feel emotions like fear and happiness, why shouldn't they be able to laugh?
 

her34

Senior member
Dec 4, 2004
581
1
81
Originally posted by: ariafrost
Originally posted by: pkme2
I recall when I was hunting, my pointer come upon hiding birds, flushed them on command and I missed.
After the final shot and no hits, I kid you not, that dog would actually look back at me, shrugged, gave me a disgusted look, and went back to work. I will never ever forget that look, to this day.

At least it's not like Duck Hunt where the dog laughs at you :p

Animals can feel emotions like fear and happiness, why shouldn't they be able to laugh?


those emotions are more primal. humor can be seen as requiring higher order thinking to comprehend. children too young wouldn't undertand a joke like this:



A woman was paying for some items in a supermarket - a pint of milk, a packet of bacon, a small bag of rice and a few vegetables. The man at the checkout said, "I bet you're single, aren't you?"

"Well yes, I am," the woman replied. "How did you know?"

"Because you're really ugly," replied the man.





why do humans laugh at the things we do?
 

BrownTown

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
5,314
1
0
You sure as heck don't need intellegence to laugh or find something funny. Just look at all the cartoons and stuff on TV, violence, toilet humor, etc...

The more advanced forms of mammals have all the same emotions as you or I. Emotions are not linked to intellegence, and in fact are usually considered to be an opposing force. I'd say if anything animals feel them more strongly than humans because emotions/instinct are the only real driving forces in their lives as opposed to humans who can also use reason.
 

oynaz

Platinum Member
May 14, 2003
2,449
3
81
Anyone who have owned a cat or dog can testify that they at least have a sense of fun.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,569
3,762
126
Originally posted by: her34
Originally posted by: ariafrost
Originally posted by: pkme2
I recall when I was hunting, my pointer come upon hiding birds, flushed them on command and I missed.
After the final shot and no hits, I kid you not, that dog would actually look back at me, shrugged, gave me a disgusted look, and went back to work. I will never ever forget that look, to this day.

At least it's not like Duck Hunt where the dog laughs at you :p

Animals can feel emotions like fear and happiness, why shouldn't they be able to laugh?


those emotions are more primal. humor can be seen as requiring higher order thinking to comprehend. children too young wouldn't undertand a joke like this:



A woman was paying for some items in a supermarket - a pint of milk, a packet of bacon, a small bag of rice and a few vegetables. The man at the checkout said, "I bet you're single, aren't you?"

"Well yes, I am," the woman replied. "How did you know?"

"Because you're really ugly," replied the man.

Well that certainly require higher brain functionality but that's because of your choice to use language in your example which would not only require the cognitive ability to comprehend a (comparatively) extensive language but an education in English as well.
Situational humor only depends on a visual recognition of an act or incident that causes a synaptic response interpreted in 'humor' (which may or may not result in the utterance of an audible sound) by us.

I think the question goes into more detail depending on what the definition of humor is. It is something that causes a physiological response in us, but why is that response triggered? Added in is the complexity of subjectivity, as in what is funny to someone is not funny to someone else (which would make 'humor' very hard to track down in animals). I am not disagreeing with you that animals do not have a sense of humor but I am not agreeing with you either. I do not think enough research or knowledge is available to make a determination - although I will admit I am not an expert on the subject (so if I am wrong, please enlighten me)
 

Madwand1

Diamond Member
Jan 23, 2006
3,309
0
76
Originally posted by: BrownTown
You sure as heck don't need intellegence to laugh or find something funny. Just look at all the cartoons and stuff on TV, violence, toilet humor, etc...

The more advanced forms of mammals have all the same emotions as you or I. Emotions are not linked to intellegence, and in fact are usually considered to be an opposing force. I'd say if anything animals feel them more strongly than humans because emotions/instinct are the only real driving forces in their lives as opposed to humans who can also use reason.

Meh, some regard feelings as higher aspects of the mind than thoughts. And it certainly takes much intelligence to appreciate some humour. Accordingly I wouldn't expect humour to be expressed by all animals, but would be very surprised if say monkeys didn't express it.
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Originally posted by: ariafrost
Originally posted by: pkme2
I recall when I was hunting, my pointer come upon hiding birds, flushed them on command and I missed.
After the final shot and no hits, I kid you not, that dog would actually look back at me, shrugged, gave me a disgusted look, and went back to work. I will never ever forget that look, to this day.

At least it's not like Duck Hunt where the dog laughs at you :p

Animals can feel emotions like fear and happiness, why shouldn't they be able to laugh?
Are you kidding, that's almost exactly like Duck Hunt:laugh:
 

fire400

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 2005
5,204
21
81
... have you taken chickens from a farm when a group of them are in a cage...?

they cry like their about to be seperated as a bonded family. you rip them away from the group by grabbing one of them and making sure their feet is held tight and their wings are held back so they do not flutter too much. the chicken will give out this wailing sound, "this is the end for me, I bid all of you fairwell, these creatures that mistreat us are very cruel."

-and in result of hearing things like this, vegans were born.

I'm not vegetarian, I love chicken, but I don't eat it very often because if I eat it too much, my taste buds cannot recognize the beauty of its taste, or maybe I'm not using enough salt and pepper?

Q: But why did the chicken cross the road? (hint: it had desires)

A: To get to the other side. (because it wanted to)

p.s. but man, you gotta admit, if you want to become hardcore, you have to tender hearted enough to be nice to people you don't know, but when the time comes, rip that chicken away from it's family and get it ready for cooking.

"mama, cockodoodle doooooooo, bugock!"

p.s. I want to bring one of my hens to court. What kind of attorney am I looking at for this kind of thing? A public laywer or a hearing officer? Will Judge Judy help with a fund withdrawl program if my hen doesn't want to fork over my money it swallowed? I'm missing 25 cents!
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,256
406
126
Originally posted by: BrownTown
You sure as heck don't need intellegence to laugh or find something funny. Just look at all the cartoons and stuff on TV, violence, toilet humor, etc...

The more advanced forms of mammals have all the same emotions as you or I. Emotions are not linked to intellegence, and in fact are usually considered to be an opposing force. I'd say if anything animals feel them more strongly than humans because emotions/instinct are the only real driving forces in their lives as opposed to humans who can also use reason.

Animals feel emotions more strongly than humans? I don't see how you can reach that conclusion based upon their reliance on instinct. What's instinct have to do with emotions? I don't think any animal feels love or affection as much as a human... love (and hate too) is a powerful thing to people.
 

VisionxOrb

Member
Mar 17, 2006
113
0
0
Originally posted by: clamum
Originally posted by: BrownTown



I don't think any animal feels love or affection as much as a human...

Then you have never owened a dog. My rottweiler rocky loves me more ( and is more affectionet) then any human ive ever known.
 

Thraxen

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2001
4,683
1
81
Originally posted by: VisionxOrb
Originally posted by: clamum
Originally posted by: BrownTown



I don't think any animal feels love or affection as much as a human...

Then you have never owened a dog. My rottweiler rocky loves me more ( and is more affectionet) then any human ive ever known.

I have to agree. Pets have been known to die from distress (sadness?) after the passing of their owner. Is that love? Who knows, but it is certainly some sort of very strong bond.
 

marulee

Golden Member
Oct 27, 2006
1,299
1
0
Originally posted by: pkme2
I recall when I was hunting, my pointer come upon hiding birds, flushed them on command and I missed.
After the final shot and no hits, I kid you not, that dog would actually look back at me, shrugged, gave me a disgusted look, and went back to work. I will never ever forget that look, to this day.

Really?