Creation Moment 2/3/2014 - Laughing Matter for Evolutionists

"“The Origins of Laughter,” ....

We know the benefits of laughter on health. But why do we laugh? What are the evolutionary origins of laughter and humour? Steven Légaré has asked these questions and has made them the subject of his master’s thesis, which he recently submitted to the Université de Montréal’s Department of Anthropology.

“Science provides few answers to these questions other than in psychology and neuroscience. From the perspective of anthropology, laughter and humour are often overlooked. However, it is a serious subject,” says the recent graduate.

Before chuckling at the idea of laughter as a serious subject, let’s see what Steve came up with.  It’s not enough to say, “laughter and humour exist in all cultures and times.”  Nor is it enough to describe the different kinds of laughter, or say, “sense of humour varies considerably from one individual to another.”  What’s Darwin got to do with it?

What then is the primary function of laughter and humour? “Communication principally,” says Légaré. “But it was not until the evolution of language that verbal humour could be involved in the process of socialization. Such humour is impossible if we have little mastery of language.”

Steve is still not there.  If language was designed, humor has a function and makes sense. 
How could language or humor arise by unguided natural processes?  To distinguish the origin of laughter from intelligent design, Steve needs to describe its origin by natural selection without reference to purpose or function.
The article is accompanied by a photo of a capuchin monkey appearing to make a laughing face.

As in case of the vocalizations of apes in response to tickling, the primary function of laughter was to communicate an intention to play or indicate a desire to continue play in progress.

The evolution of laughter and humour was marked by three distinct adaptations:

acquisition of a theory of mind;

language evolution;

and recognition of incongruities in symbolic representations.

As if by magic, we suddenly see three distinct adaptations.  Where did they come from? 
“Theory of mind” refers to the ability to ascribe intentions to another.  If monkeys can do that, why do we have to believe they got it by evolution?  Maybe they were designed to do that. 
“Language evolution” is a classic case of question begging.  One cannot answer the question, “How did language evolve?” by saying, “By language evolution.” 
And symbolic representation is a distinctly human quality.  Steve’s answer is filled with “intention,” “function” and “communication” that are hallmarks of design, not evolution." CEH (CreationEvolutionHeadlines)

 ....and a time to laugh;

Ecclesiastes 3:4