Project Vision 21

I recently participated in a meeting of community leaders, businessmen and students convened by the organizers to talk about a topic of undeniable importance: the great challenges facing humanity in this historic moment of transition to a new era. To my amazement (and annoyance), the conversation was almost immediately filled with giggles.

A few days later (not by chance but by synchronicity), I read an article written by Dr. Eric Haseltine (neuroscientist) and published by Psychology Today, where Haseltine analyzes the dangers of the so-called “giggle factor” when the “giggles” are used as a defense mechanism to not talk about complicated or threatening topics.

According to Haseltine, the giggle factor is activated when one finds oneself in a situation “very removed from normal experience,” so removed that it produces “tensions by moving us away from our comfort zone” and, for that reason, makes us lose “the illusion of control and predictability of our future.”

In other words, giggles arise when we are faced with undeniable evidence of “unpredictable and uncontrollable changes” in our lives, so that we simply dismiss that evidence, whether it is climate change, social injustice, artificial intelligence, or the possibility of extraterrestrial life. We do not laugh out of happiness or joy, but out of fear.

Two examples come to mind. For example, several decades ago, I traveled with a group of friends to another country, and upon arriving at a certain city where people dressed completely differently than us, one of the members of the group began to laugh. His initial giggles turned into uncontrollable laughter.

And, closer in time, when I entered the classroom of a private university to teach a philosophy class, one of the students looked at me and started giggling, then laughed so hard that she had to leave the classroom to calm down. . It was not a lack of respect, but, as she explained to me, she had never had a Latino teacher in all her years in college.

In neither of those two cases was there any danger to anyone, but the danger of laughter arises when the issues are so serious that they affect entire countries and even humanity in general, such as climate change, the recent pandemic, and the current wars. and numerous other similar challenges.

In these contexts, giggling is the expression of “an unconscious adjustment of our perceptions to reduce the stress associated with a potentially disruptive phenomenon,” such as artificial intelligence replacing and displacing humans. Instead of responding to the challenge, we laugh and add phrases such as “That will never happen” or “God will not allow it.”

However, in our time, “unanticipated and uncomfortable disturbances” already happen almost daily, as Haseltine rightly says. That is why, in addition to giggles, people now also ridicule and dismiss those who share serious questions about serious problems. However, let us be mindful of who may enjoy the last laugh.