Humor is a complex characteristic that transcends words and may have roots older than we think. It manifests through physical jokes and repetitive games, common in both young children and great apes.
This phenomenon highlights the importance of social interactions in the development of playful behavior and raises questions about how humor could have emerged throughout evolution as a tool for learning, strengthening bonds, and exploring social boundaries.
## Examples of playful behavior in apes
On a sunny afternoon at the San Diego Zoo, Aisha, a three-year-old orangutan, was playing pranks on her father to get his attention. With a toy in hand, she shook it, touched it, and finally got him to look at her while she swung on a swing.
This scene, which might seem typical of a young child and their father, is no coincidence. Aisha’s playful behavior is very similar to that of human children because play and jokes may share a common origin in primate evolution.
For years, researchers have studied playful behavior in humans and great apes, exploring why and when it evolved. Although humor is often considered an exclusively human trait, recent studies suggest it has deep roots in our evolutionary tree.
Apes’ jokes and games lie between play and aggression, and while they can lead to conflict, they also help form and reinforce social relationships. In humans, playful jokes allow testing social boundaries and showcasing the strength of relationships through shared laughter.
## The social function of humor
This behavior is reflected in great apes. During a 2005 study on orangutan communication, a researcher observed a young orangutan offering a piece of bark to its mother, only to retract it at the last moment.
This repetitive interaction turned into a game between mother and daughter, with roles reversed. Although simple, this “joking game” showed key elements of humor: a setup (the offering) and a punchline (the retraction), reminiscent of jokes that entertain young children.
Humor, in both apes and humans, often relies on surprise. Games like “peekaboo” or repetitive jokes elicit laughter through an unexpected element that, when repeated, becomes part of the game. This basic structure, according to researchers, could be an early form of humor that allowed our primate ancestors to explore social norms in a safe context.
## Implications for understanding social evolution
Research suggests that humor has a crucial social function: it allows learning about relationship boundaries, testing them without real risk, and showing trust and closeness between individuals.
By observing great apes, we can glimpse how these social dynamics have influenced our evolution, highlighting that humor, in its most primitive form, could have been a vital tool long before humans developed language.
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