Should We Be Laughing More in Art Museums and Hospitals?

If both art and laughter are good for your health, why aren't we encouraging more humor in museums and hospitals? We are taught to approach art with awe and respect-and to treat medicine as deadly serious business. It follows, then, that overt displays of humor, such as laughing or joking in a museum, doctor's office, or hospital, are probably in bad taste. But if viewing and making art can lower rates of anxiety and depression and help soothe chronic pain-and if laughter helps blood vessels function better and improves the flow of oxygen to the heart and brain-then perhaps we unwittingly deprive our patrons and patients of an important tool in the health and wellness toolbox.