science

Laughology

Laughology is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Laughology rather than just read about it. In short: Laughology is a 2009 documentary film about the contagiousness of human laughter by Canadian filmmaker and Laughologist Albert Nerenberg. It is the first feature-length documentary about laughter.

Key takeaways

Laughology belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Laughology to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Laughology from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Laughology is a 2009 documentary film about the contagiousness of human laughter by Canadian filmmaker and Laughologist Albert Nerenberg. It is the first feature-length documentary about laughter. The documentary makes the case that laughter is the original peace signal and the human ability to share and transmit laughter may have been key to the rise of human civilization. The film chronicles unusual laughter phenomenon such as Holy Laughter, Laughter Parties and the Tanzanian Laughter Epidemic. The film is produced by Elevator Films which operates out of Lac Brome, Quebec, and Cache Film and Television. The film made its world premiere at HotDocs Film Festival in Toronto.

Inspiration Nerenberg is reported to have conceived the project after a personal tragedy, his then-pregnant partner lost her father to leukemia, leaving them gripped with sadness. They started the Laughology project because they didn't want to pass along their depression to their baby.

Synopsis Laughology tells the story of how Nerenberg became a Laughologist following a family tragedy and reveals new information about the nature of laughter. Nerenberg travels from Canada to the United States, India, London, and Tanzania in search of his laugh. Some of the elements of the film were chronicled in Nerenberg's popular series in the Montreal Gazette on Positivity. The film also claims to have found the man with the world's most contagious laugh, Doug Collins. In the film, Collins travels with Nerenberg to London England where the science behind his laugh is tested by the neuroscientific team responsible for proving that laughter is contagious. Laughology makes the case that the laughter fitness trend has scientific basis. The film features the development of Laughter Yoga and traces the development of laughter culture to the Inuit of the far north.

Reception The National Post wrote: "Laughter has never been so thoroughly explored in a film as it is here." Screenings of the film have been notable as fits of uncontrollable laughter have broken out following the film. Gabor Pertic writing in A&E Vibe described a packed screening at HotDocs International Film Festival in Toronto Canada. "The screening had some of the loudest collective laughs I have ever heard in a movie theatre."

References

External links Laughology at IMDb Official website Elevator Films Positivity Cache Film and Television HotDocs International Film Festival

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Laughology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Laughology claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Laughology before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Laughology ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Laughology

In research: Laughology appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Laughology in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Laughology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 Canadian films, 2009 English-language films, 2009 documentary films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Laughology outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Laughology in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Laughology means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Laughology out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Laughology in simple terms?

Laughology is a 2009 documentary film about the contagiousness of human laughter by Canadian filmmaker and Laughologist Albert Nerenberg. It is the first feature-length documentary about laughter.

Why does Laughology matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Laughology?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Laughology.