Why Do We Do That? An anthropologist's guide to the modern world.
There are lots of everyday things which, when you think about them, are pretty weird. Like kissing, doomscrolling and sitting down to go to the loo. Social media may tell you to blame the latest influencer who went viral. Your therapist might tell you to blame your parents. But palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi is here to tell you to blame your great, great, great, great, great, etc. grandparents. For some stuff at least. In this series, Ella is joined by some wonderful guests to dive into the cultural, historical and evolutionary story of everyday human habits and behaviour.
Photo: Sarah Cresswell / The Times / News Licensing
Why Do We Do That? An anthropologist's guide to the modern world.
There are lots of everyday things which, when you think about them, are pretty weird. Like kissing, doomscrolling and sitting down to go to the loo. Social media may tell you to blame the latest influencer who went viral. Your therapist might tell you to blame your parents. But palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi is here to tell you to blame your great, great, great, great, great, etc. grandparents. For some stuff at least. In this series, Ella is joined by some wonderful guests to dive into the cultural, historical and evolutionary story of everyday human habits and behaviour.
Photo: Sarah Cresswell / The Times / News Licensing
Ella Al-Shamahi asks why do we laugh?
Some people might not have a sense of humour, you might even know someone who never laughs… but there isn’t a culture out there, say a tribe, where people just never laugh. It does appear to be universal but how universal and how primal?
Many mammals and the great apes ( chimpanzees, gorillas and bononbos) laugh. Orangutans diverged from the other great apes including us about 12 million years ago and because we all laugh that suggests our shared common ancestor laughed. So what is the purpose of laughing? Ella talks to Professor Sophie Scott from University College London and stand-up comic Ria Lina.