Taking humour and laughter seriously: Exploring the multi-disciplinary field of humour studies Dr Jessica Milner Davis FRSN Honorary Associate, University of Sydney For registration and details...read more.  From the time of Aristotle and Plato, philosophers have speculated about humour and laughter, proposing that ridere est humanum. But we now know that chimpanzees and rats also laugh. Sociologist Norbert Elias believed that laughter evolved as an antidote to aggression; but humour can [...]