# Humans cheering and applauding **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256 "2016-03-26T17:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/1 "2016-03-26T17:49:28Z")
Across all cultures the dominant form of cheering and appreciation has been clapping. How and why did clapping evolve. Which culture has been credited with first using clapping as a form of apprciation? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/2 "2016-03-26T19:41:51Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > Across all cultures the dominant form of cheering and appreciation has been clapping. How and why did clapping evolve. Which culture has been credited with first using clapping as a form of apprciation? I don’t think “all” is correct. I have a strong recollection that Islam frowns on clapping in general and it is wrong to do so as an act of appreciation. In fact clapping during a prayer is an indication the one praying has made a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/3 "2016-03-26T20:16:24Z")
Today I had my first encounter with ‘silent applause’ by waving both hands from the wrist. Where did that come from? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/4 "2016-03-26T22:31:03Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Today I had my first encounter with ‘silent applause’ by waving both hands from the wrist. > > Where did that come from? Some hearing impaired people use that. I’m not sure if there are other cultures that do as well. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/5 "2016-03-26T23:18:11Z")
When Rob Reiner was a kid, his wrote a joke for his dad Carl and Mel Brooks, who were writing material for The 1000 Year Old Man bit the two of them did. The joke was about how mankind learned to clap for performers. This video clip runs just short of 2 minutes. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fFnHb9jzYwU/hqdefault.jpg "Rob Reiner on the one joke he wrote for his dad, Carl Reiner - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFnHb9jzYwU) ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/6 "2016-03-26T23:44:44Z")
Clapping is thought to be instinctual, like smiling or frowning. > **[What Age Should a Baby Start Reaching Her Arms Out for You?](https://www.hellomotherhood.com/article/559965-what-age-should-a-baby-start-reaching-her-arms-out-for-you/)** > > It's a wonderful moment when your baby first reaches for you. Not only is it an obvious sign that she's physically capable of doing it, it also means she's come to recognize you as a person she needs and trusts. Reaching out for you is usually a sign... > **[A Brief History of Applause, the 'Big Data' of the Ancient World](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/a-brief-history-of-applause-the-big-data-of-the-ancient-world/274014/)** > > Once, people measured their leaders -- and themselves -- one clap at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/7 "2016-03-27T10:47:18Z")
There is an old American joke about the lecturer who’s presentation falls flat. After the lperfomance he is approched by a member of the audience / congregation who complements him, and observes that it was so funny that “it was all we could do to stop from laughing out loud”. I’m reminded of that, because the equivilant Australian comment would be from a European noticing that in spite of the quality of the presentation, the (traditional) Australian audience didn’t even clap during the event. And you can bet that the (tradional) Australian audience was appalled at the behaviour of the European visitor, interupting to clap and cheer. (I’m thinking of a particular example at this point). The traditional method of German univirsity students was to drum on the floor with their feet. I caught the tail end of that in 1977 at an Australian university. Modern universities very rarely have wooden floors on which you can effectively drum your feet. My limited reading of African literature suggests that clapping was not, in some societies, the approved or standard method of showing appreciation. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/8 "2016-03-27T10:54:50Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > The traditional method of German univirsity students was to drum on the floor with their feet. I caught the tail end of that in 1977 at an Australian university. Modern universities very rarely have wooden floors on which you can effectively drum your feet. That’s not uncommon, I think. It can evolve locally: in the BBC Proms concerts, clapping is the normal applause (plus cheering if it’s been a particularly good performance), but if the people in the standing sections start to stamp, that means they want an encore. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/9 "2016-03-27T13:34:28Z")
In France, audiences had to be encouraged by claques: > [@](#): > > the 16th-century French poet Jean Daurat developed the modern claque. Buying a number of tickets for a performance of one of his plays, he gave them away in return for a promise of applause. In 1820 claques underwent serious systematization when an agency in Paris opened to manage and supply claqueurs. > [Claque - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claque) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-cheering-and-applauding/750256/10 "2016-03-27T18:41:31Z")
In America, whistling is considered a form of expressing appreciation, but at European sporting events, it is the equivalent of a Boo.