# Laughter punishes the intrusion of the mechanical into the living According to Bergson, laughter is cruel, insofar as it is always directed at someone else. **==Laughter inherently serves a social purpose: it humiliates and intimidates whoever does not fit into the group==**. The easiest scapegoat is always the one who is different; the bald, the infirm, the colored. At its core, laughter stigmatises subversion to enforce conformity and to safeguard the social order. However, laughter also targets the intrusion of mechanical behaviour into the living world. **We laugh at the mannerisms of others because it appears as robotic, predictable, and therefore devoid of life**, to both signal and punish the lack of attention they impart to life. It is, in essence, a reminder. --- ## 📚 References - Le Précepteur. [BERGSON - Le Rire 📏.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RptdiM_WZrU) 2022. YouTube.