Thursday Post 2-12-08

Sarcasm

"What you may not have realized is that perceiving sarcasm, the smirking put-down that buries its barb by stating the opposite, requires a nifty mental trick that lies at the heart of social relations: figuring out what others are thinking."
"The Science of Sarcasm" from The New York Times.

Small, Meredith F. "Sarcasm Seen as Evolutionary Survival Skill". Live Science. 20 June 2008. 12 Feb. 2008.

In this article, Anthropologist Meredith Small of Cornell University talks about how sarcasm could have developed as an evolutionary social tool. Sarcasm cements relationships which are the key to human survival. A shared sense of humor is often the key to a relationship, and so a shared understanding of sarcastic wit would help tighten the bonds of friendship. Also, social relationships can be based on a shared negativity toward someone or something else. I thought this related to my work because Tom thinks that my sarcasm should show up more in it, so my goal is to try and infuse my work with sarcasm. The idea that it is somehow evolutionarily important makes integrating it into my work seem all the more important and if not necessary.