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In the opinion of scientists, man is the only animal in nature capable of laughter. What no one has pointed out is that man is also the only laughable being in nature. Other animals, human children and human females, are only laughable when imitating men.
Aggression and laughter were born at the same time and in the same place: in man's mind. Whenever a self-infatuated person descends from his abstract world into reality, a laughable situation occurs.
When man entered the savannah he was a frightened being.
With the discovery of his mind and on its heels the adoption of aggression, the fear increased. Laughter is the sudden relaxation of a perpetually frightened being: it is caused by a decrease in the fear induced by the presence of someone bereft of his self-infatuation, and therefore shaken in the source of his aggression.
Bergson's du mécanique plaqué sur du vivant, which Chaplin exploited, means man lowered from his "dignity," his self-infatuation, his arrogance.
In my view, laughter is a temporary freedom from genuine or anticipated aggression. Hysterical laughter after an escaped peril demonstrates its true meaning. It is a relief.
People who laugh at anything are those afraid that their vulnerability will be exposed. This laughter is a self-defense. Highly vulnerable people develop an aprioristic laughter; they laugh for no reason, hoping to prevent aggression.
Unfortunate or tragic news can trigger off nervous laughter. It is caused by the lifting of an anticipatory obsession - relief from a dread of what might have happened. It is the end of a period of apprehension.
Smiling is another peculiarity of the human species.
What inspired humans to smile?
Like laughter, smiles can also be dictated by cultural inheritance, education or social convenience. They have also become signs of displays of superiority. This distracts writers from their true origin and meaning.
In my view, a natural smile is inspired by the scar left on the brain by the primordial expression on the human face in the woodlands, an expression of happiness, security, and innocence.
Man's face today is the face of the savannah, a face of fear and anxiety. To this face of fear and anxiety, Homo sapiens added the fear of aggression. Man's face only reverts to its primordial expression when displaying innocent smiles. The closest approximation to these innocent smiles occur on the human face when it is confronted with natural beauty.
What is beauty?
Beauty is whatever relaxes us, whatever gives us peace of mind, whatever, by external signs, can indicate that it is not aggressive.
Why then do humans only seldom enjoy beauty?
By assisting liberation from fear, beauty provokes the desire to possess it, to own it. This leads to aggression. Men, in wanting to possess or own beauty in order to have lasting protection from it, end up in protecting beauty. Possession of beauty always opens the way to envy and jealousy.
In our unstable, materialistic world, where money is a sign of power, humans have come to the following position: beauty has become whatever is valuable in monetary terms because it gives an illusion of protection and security, an illusion because in reality it creates anxiety.
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