Although modern science has allowed us to develop many complex medicines, laughter is still the most powerful available in the real world and in the book. Laughter proves to be a powerful medicine in more ways than one and it is completely free, allowing anyone to use it at any time. It allows us to connect socially with people, can be used as a way to overthrow power, and is good for your health. As Randle McMurphy showed in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, laughter can lighten the mood in the darkest situations. Near the beginning of the book, when McMurphy is introduced to the ward, “…he starts laughing. No one can say why he laughs; nothing funny is happening” (Kesey 11). This inexplicable laughter recurs throughout the book. McMurphy is laughing because he knows that this interruption will cause problems for Nurse Ratched and, in turn, will break the never-ending routine of life on the ward. It also raises the morale of the other patients, allowing them to form a sort of small army to fight the nurse's tyrannical rule. Laughter is also healthy for the...