Humor Me

Over on LinkedIn Dan Ariely made the point that "Comedians should make offensive jokes," because "Because we avoid difficult topics. Humor makes it easier for us to think about them."

I don't know that "Comedians should make offensive jokes" was the best wording to open with. Firstly, it implies that comedians should set out to offend people as an end in itself, which I don't think is helpful. Secondly, "offensive" is not an objective determination; not everyone understands the same things as being offensive. "Comedians should be willing to point out the humor, and the absurdity, in complex, controversial, divisive and/or painful topics" might be a better framing. Even, or especially, when that entails the perception that one is laughing (and encouraging others to laugh) at people, rather than with them.

Using humor to address difficult topics is not the same as being offensive. Likewise, one can be offensive without doing anything to make difficult topics easier. Simply pushing back on "self-censorship" (sometimes known as "tact") or "political correctness" doesn't really assist with making that distinction.