When Do Babies Start Making Jokes?

New York Magazine:

A devious infant is the protagonist of a recent viral video that was posted to Facebook earlier this month and has since racked up more than 26 million views. The basic plot line: Every time her dad goes to cut her fingernails, she cries out and makes a pained face — then quickly dissolves into baby giggles, clearly pleased with herself and her little joke.

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When you think about it, a joke is a pretty complicated thing, especially for a human so tiny as our little prankster here. To joke around with someone you have to be able to imagine the world from their perspective; you have to be able to make a good guess, in other words, at what their reaction might be, so that you can upend it. “Teasing, therefore, involves playing in the realm of minds,” write Vasudevi Reddy and Gina Mireault, co-authors of a recent paper on the subject.

Read the whole story: New York Magazine