According to John Tierney in today's New York Times, laughing is an instinctive and often involuntary impulse that generally has nothing whatsoever to do with comedy or intellectual wit. Finally, a scientific theory that explains why Carrot Top is still booking gigs! (ZING!)

Anyway, we've taken the liberty of anticipating Slate's inevitable rebuttal by including this excerpt of original piece, along with a pointedly (but simplistically) captioned photo mock-up:

Occasionally we’re surprised into laughing at something funny, but most laughter has little to do with humor. It’s an instinctual survival tool for social animals, not an intellectual response to wit. It’s not about getting the joke. It’s about getting along.

Humans are laughing by the age of four months and then progress from tickling to the Three Stooges to more sophisticated triggers for laughter (or, in some inexplicable cases, to Jim Carrey movies)…It’s a way to make friends and also make clear who belongs where in the status hierarchy.

You're welcome, Jack Schafer.