Wednesday 24 September, 2008Laughter: love potion no. 1

Ask any woman what she looks for in a man, and often as not you'll hear "sense of humor" at the top of the list. If you're a guy, you may look at the latest crop of Hollywood hotties and figure that's just a rotten joke.

Boy, are you wrong! In fact, it just might be that women can't resist falling for funny guys. It might even be hardwired into the female brain. According to recent studies, women think humorous men are friendlier, more fun, more popular—and better mate material.

On the other hand, men don't seem to be impressed by a woman's wit. But if she laughs at their jokes, she's gets their attention.

Aside from the fact that laughing feels good, though, what's it got to do with hooking up? Humor (of the witty kind) requires intelligence and creativity, which indicates good-provider potential, which gets a woman's attention. It also requires a brain with an underlying set of robust and healthy genes, just right for producing bright and healthy kids, which pumps up a woman's lust (whether she thinks about it or not).

Assuming that she's right, and she marries that funny guy with the good genes, and they have healthy, funny kids that grow up to mate and make more healthy, funny kids with good genes, it's pretty obvious that a good sense of humor makes hooking up more likely. It's survival of the hippest.

So how does this affect your dating strategy? Gentlemen, start your joke books! Just remember that the checkered flag in this race has a subtle diamond pattern. Ladies, if you get it . . . you'll get it.

So, why aren't you laughing?