Being silly and indulging in humor may sound easy, but our brains need to do a lot of heavy lifting to pull it off. Landing a joke requires recognizing what’s socially acceptable, being spontaneous, predicting how others may react, and playfully violating some social expectations. Until now, research on the complex cognitive abilities that underpin […]
One of my favorite videos is of two juvenile gorillas walking behind a silverback going into an enclosure. One of them gooses the silverback and then turns and runs, and the adult turns around and smacks the other.