A joke is a very serious thing
Winston Churchill
Humor is the best way to develop
and reinforce a point. Not because of accuracy or because it makes one more
right. Even though using laughter is considered a fallacy, any other method
does not actually get people to admit to another point. This is because even
though we consider academic arguments as a way. A joke is a very serious thing.
Do not dismiss a person because they try and express their opinion in joke
format. That does not mean they are a bad arguer, it just means they are tired
of arguing with people who dismiss opinion because the argument turns into a
whose more right and thus better contest. Most arguments are just competitions
for who is better and who is the more successful person The instinct to
belligerently true comes from our life in a tribal culture. We then become more
and more mean to the other person. Arguments instead of debates develop
creating a stalemate and a lack of progress Whether this is between two people
who are just trying to have a friendly chat, two academics debating a
scientific achievement or a politician debating the budget for the next year.
Any situation where two opposing sides are created will only create a larger
rift as the opposing sides try to prove themselves more and more right. A great
example of this is that the “Global statesman” Henry Kissinger was trying to
create peace in Vietnam spent many years arguing about the shape of the table.
This is why debates tend to not work and instead just
frustrate everyone. This is why a joke is a serious thing. It is as important
of a creator of change as a revolution is. It also can quell silly disputes
better than almost any other tool without causing ill feelings afterward.
Consequently this causes more acceptance and peace with the opposing side.
Acceptance will allow for compromise. Compromise is a true way to advance
society. When people fight instead of compromise it usually ends up far worse
than they were originally. This causes problems and hatreds that cause societies
and ideas to die out and get more and more unhelpful. This is why as we move
towards the future we need to take jokes more seriously as both a negotiation
tool and a way to get people to experience new ideas
I love the irony you set up of a joke being a serious thing, because it somehow makes perfect sense! While I whole heartedly appreciate logical debates, sometimes two sides are so fundamentally opposed (like communism and capitalism) that concessions will never be reached by trying to out-wit the other side. In cases such as these, it helps to remember that no matter how different we are, there is one characteristic shared: we are human. Thus we can appeal to the softer, human side of each other by lightening the atmosphere with humor, paving the way for respectable compromise and coexistence.
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