It Was a Joke

An interesting post from Andrew Sullivan. I agree with both Roger Scruton and Norm Geras on this (their positions are not mutually exclusive, in spite of what Sullivan seems to think): humor is our saving grace, and when we lose that, we don't really have much left that's going to enable us to live together, but it can also be a weapon.

We've had a set of interesting discussions over at EA Forums about insults and humor, and have come to the conclusion that intent plays a major role in whether a comment is funny or insulting. It's not as though people's motivations are a complete mystery -- body language and context provide the missing information in most cases (a possibility sadly lacking on the Internet -- hence emoticons -- which perhaps is one reason that medium is so contentious).

My own feeling is that life is pretty ridiculous to begin with, but, in line with the post above, we do make our own reality as we go along. I happen to be very aware of, for example, how absurd the human body is. I mean, think about it: we walk upright by constantly saving ourselves from falling, our heads are too big, the idea of the organs of elimination and reproduction being the same is a hoot, and what use are nipples on men, after all? (Well, I can think of one, but that sort of blows the design contingent out of the water). None of this stops me from thinking that men are beautiful. (Well, women are too, but not the same way.)

I think, though, that this is all getting too serious.