Humor effect

Biological Parallel

Bonobos remember playful groupmates better than aggressive ones—coalition-formation favors individuals who signal safe social bonds. Chimpanzees invest in grooming-investment relationships that trigger dopamine-stamped memories of 'valuable ally.' Bottlenose dolphins engage in synchronized swimming play that builds alliances lasting decades. Orcas in stable pods show post-conflict-affiliation and reconciliation-authenticity behaviors that restore social harmony. The humor effect is alliance prediction: your brain prioritizes remembering who makes you laugh because positive social bonds—cemented through play and reconciliation—predicted survival better than neutral interactions. Laughter activates reward circuits, emotional tagging systems, and social cognition networks simultaneously.