Why do we laugh when something is funny and why do we cry when we are sad?

Question

Is it an automatic action we learned as babies or what? Just something I've been wondering about

Answer 1

it's an unconscious response. you don't decide to laugh or cry, your brain does.

Answer 2

No, I believe it's simply the way we are designed naturally. Even tiny babies laugh and cry. That tells me that it's not learned behavior, it's instinctual in nature.

Answer 3

"Just as the pleasure-pain mechanism of man’s body is an automatic indicator of his body’s welfare or injury, a barometer of its basic alternative, life or death—so the emotional mechanism of man’s consciousness is geared to perform the same function, as a barometer that registers the same alternative by means of two basic emotions: joy or suffering. Emotions are the automatic results of man’s value judgments integrated by his subconscious; emotions are estimates of that which furthers man’s values or threatens them, that which is for him or against him—lightning calculators giving him the sum of his profit or loss."

“The Objectivist Ethics,” The Virtue of Selfishness; Ayn Rand

Answer 4

May be people cry when their feelings are hurt because it helps to release the buildup of chemicals. When you get sad or angry, do you ever notice how "pumped" you feel? That's an adrenaline rush. After you cry, notice how you feel more relaxed, more "smooth?" That's because you have spent your adrenaline and are now able to think more clearly and focus.

(not my idea, from askbag.com, found its good)