Laugh Learn Lead

Walking and running were key elements in our cognitive and creative evolution: Run Walk Think Create

Why Walking Helps Us Think Since at least the time of Greek philosophers, many writers have discovered a deep, intuitive connection between walking, thinking, and writing.

Laughter is distinct from humour but the two spend a lot of time together and the benefits of laughter are fascinating, numerous and well documented. Here is one of my favourite lesser known benefits of laughter. According to Kimata's study laughter increases the levels of breast-milk melatonin and feeding infants with increased levels of melatonin-containing milk positively regulates sleep patterns and reduces allergic responses in infants.

A reasonably detailed article on the connection between humour problem-solving and creativity. There is some good information in here and a sprinkling of evidence based research as well. Worth a read if you have a few minutes.

The Power of Humor in Ideation and Creativity Research shows that humor can help people be more creative in problem solving.

Depression is something you often have to work through rather than simply avoid - here is a little article on the positive role that creativity can play.

How exploring your creativity can help deal with depression Colin Dardis has lived with anxiety and panic attacks since his mid-teens but poetry has helped him cope

Did you see Eddie Murphy's return to SNL?

SNL Recap: Eddie Murphy Is Mr. Robinson, Gumby, Buckwheat, and Entirely Himself This was the triumphant return both Murphy and his fans were hoping for.

Now that’s a fine Christmas present 🎁

Far Side creator Gary Larson launches website with promise of new work Beloved cartoons, which had been retired for 24 years without any official internet presence, now have an archive site with new work in the pipeline

A short article on the positive role of comedy in Angola

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/01/luanda-angola-new-wave-standup-comedy-scene

‘You can always laugh’: Angola’s new wave of standup comedians In a country scarred by war, corruption and inequality, a vibrant comedy scene has emerged

Humour revolves around seeing things in different ways. It is a creative process that helps to trigger other creative processes. Here is a small slice of science that shines a little light on how this happens.

Humor and Sarcasm Can Make You Creative, Science Says Different studies at Harvard, MIT, and Northwestern universities shows that humor and sarcasm have a strong positive effect on creativity, and explains why, and what you can do about it.

Here is a copy of an article in the current edition of Audi Magazine where I discuss the nature of developing humour systems in Artificial Intelligence

Visual humour has the power to catch the eye and the mind at an early age, which demonstrates the link between humour and art as well as how in human evolution humour led to the emergence of art.

Mom Uses Optical Illusion to "Dress" Her Daughter in Fabulous Food Fashion A mom and her 3-year-old daughter create adorable optical illusion images with everyday items. At the right angle, the girl wears "dresses" made of food!

Humour was born our of play - and the benefits of play are quite remarkable https://lnkd.in/ehWngQy

Why adults need to play more often New research shows how parrots and crows learn new skills through play. Can adults implement this advice?

Part of the value of developing humour systems in Artificial Intelligence and robots is recognizing the power of the associated smiling and laughter. In Iran they have developed an emotionally oriented robot to help children cope with cancer - take a look: https://lnkd.in/e_yPxZG

Arash Social Robot Arash Robot a Mobile Social Robot for Pediatric Cancer Hospitals