What's new is not that Americans love their jobs less but that they love their leisure more. For thousands of years, conventional wisdom has held that humans can laugh their way to health. Laughter no more evolved to make us feel good or improve our health than walking evolved to promote cardiovascular fitness. The idea that laughter is a calisthenic for body and soul has become so pervasive that we tend to overlook the fact that laughter evolved because of its effect on others, not to improve our mood or health. Moreover, research into laughter's effects on health has produced results that are, at best, mixed.
Some studies even indicate that optimism and a sense of humor are inversely related to longevity.
No laughing matter, that. Russia's Silent Patriots Russia's athletes feel cheated. Despite the efforts of a lyrics commission, the song has remained wordless. Apparently, there's no consensus on what to say. Once again, however, Moscow was stumped.