Laughter is a familiar part of our daily social interactions, but there has nevertheless been a longstanding debate regarding the function it initially evolved to serve. Some investigators suggest it is a reaction to the mind’s resolution of some incongruity, providing it was one that did not represent a serious threat. Others contend that laughter releases pent up emotional or physical energy after realizing the threat is milder than once thought or is no longer a factor. This chapter makes a case for the third school of thought, one that maintains laughter constitutes a form of nonverbal communication that relates a specific message. Many scholars believe it conveys a message of superiority over others or one’s “earlier” self. Yet others maintain it is a play signal. For the authors, however, it represents something slightly (but critically) different—it is an affirmation, one that expresses a sense shared vulnerability after a perceived disruption in the status relationship of two or more individuals. Here we introduce a new definition of laughter, one that appears to answer all the major questions philosophers and scientists have been asking about this behavior for a very, very long time.