I did put surprise on my list in Section 4.2.2, as one of the common sources of physiological arousal. So I don’t think we’re disagreeing on the narrow point that surprise can contribute to laughter.
Yeah, the correlation of surprise with danger (at least in the ancestral environment, although I think also today) is presumably why surprise tends to temporarily increase your heart rate. (I.e., surprising situations might call for immediate fight-or-flight type behaviors.)
I think my theory (surprise --> physiological arousal --> laughter) is a better fit than the direct “surprise --> laughter” alternative theory that you’re proposing (if I understand you). Two examples where I think my theory works and yours doesn’t are: Lists of random numbers, like you said (surprise is present [arguably, depending on your definition of “surprise”], physiological arousal is not, laughter is not), and kids chasing each other (no surprise, yes physiological arousal, often laughter).
I did put surprise on my list in Section 4.2.2, as one of the common sources of physiological arousal. So I don’t think we’re disagreeing on the narrow point that surprise can contribute to laughter.
Yeah, the correlation of surprise with danger (at least in the ancestral environment, although I think also today) is presumably why surprise tends to temporarily increase your heart rate. (I.e., surprising situations might call for immediate fight-or-flight type behaviors.)
I think my theory (surprise --> physiological arousal --> laughter) is a better fit than the direct “surprise --> laughter” alternative theory that you’re proposing (if I understand you). Two examples where I think my theory works and yours doesn’t are: Lists of random numbers, like you said (surprise is present [arguably, depending on your definition of “surprise”], physiological arousal is not, laughter is not), and kids chasing each other (no surprise, yes physiological arousal, often laughter).