Inappropriate Laughter

My daughter thought it would be funny to wait outside the bathroom door for my middle mister to exit. She laid on the ground while leaning against the door, stealth-like, while I had no idea what exactly she was doing.

As my son exited the bathroom she let out a huge growl and bolted toward him scaring him so badly that he came to where I was sitting in the kitchen, flopped onto the rug, and began crying.

My daughter was caught in a giggle she could not control. When she finally stopped laughing, she was grinning ear to ear pleased with herself in every way for scaring her little brother to the point of tears.

I wasn't happy. As I scolded her about her tactics, she couldn't stop smiling. Just the thought of watching him scream and cry was, in her eyes, hysterical. Inappropriate laughter.

Why is it funny to see other people get scared?

The next day she, and my oldest son, decided to hit each other with drumsticks from my son's Wii Rock Band game. Again, hysterical. The harder she hit him with the drumstick on his legs, and the louder he screamed, "OW!" the more boisterous the laughter. When they switched positions, the result was the same. My son would laugh uncontrollably as my daughter screamed. Inappropriate laughter.

Why is it funny to watch other people get hurt?

My family loves the show Wipeout. They laugh incessantly at other people's expense, bruising, and blood. I rarely laugh if I am watching the show. Call me crazy. I just don't think it is funny. The real humor from the show comes from the guys commentating, now they are funny.

I know that my kids aren't the only children who laugh when people get scared and when others get injured, that's what kids do. That's what adults do. I just don't understand what it is about our human nature that makes fear and injury funny. But, I don't understand a lot of things, and that is okay.