I once had a counselor (honest to God) criticize me for my incessant use of sarcasm as an avoidance method of true communication. Naturally, I paid no heed since I always considered my sniping sarcasm as a truly superior method of communication. It was the way I was raised, on a West Roxbury street corner (Park and Center streets) and at home, with that Sicilian-sarcasm guru, Mike Fagone.
I thought sarcasm peaked in the movie “ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” one of my very favorites. I would pack that one for my desert island exile. Butch and The Kid were in the process of robbing a train and met fierce resistance. Lacking lock-picking skills, Butch simply packed the railroad car with all the explosives he had. The car blew up, natch, and the money was scattered far and wide. This was a distressing problem since the damned posse was riding after them at full gallop. The gang tried to gather as much money floating in the western landscape as they could, while Sundance said (reaching for a 20), “Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?”
A golden moment in sarcasm history.
Florida Frank, who once billed himself as “The Smartest Man in New England,” noted the conversational climate at Cobb Manor and dubbed it “The Academy of Sarcasm.” I always liked that.
Now comes Harvard (yes, Harvard) to my rescue. Check this. A Harvard (yes, Harvard) study entitled “The Highest form of Intelligence: Sarcasm Increases Creativity for Both Expressers and Recipients” said the communication method has been largely underappreciated and long overlooked.
Francesca Gino, the study author from Harvard, told the Harvard Gazette in an email, “To create or decode sarcasm, both the expressers and recipients of sarcasm need to overcome the contradiction (i.e., psychological distance) between the literal and actual meanings of the sarcastic expressions. This is a process that activates and is facilitated by abstraction, which in turn promotes creative thinking.”
So there. I should get my money back from that simplistic counselor.
From the Greek and Latin words meaning “to tear flesh,” sarcasm has been called “hostility disguised as humor,” the contempt-laden speech favored by smart alecks and mean girls that’s best to avoid, according to Dan Hurley of The New York Times. (Yes, The Times). Hurley reported on another sarcasm study based on MRI research.
While practitioners of sarcasm have long believed intuitively that the “mental gymnastics” it requires indicate “superior cognitive processes” at work, Hurley said it hasn’t been clear until now in which direction the causal link flowed, or that sarcasm boosted creativity in those receiving it, not just those dishing it out.
Hurley tells us that some just don’t understand, such as my counselor. 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,” he said. Those who lose the ability just do not get it when someone says during a hurricane, “Nice weather we’re having.”
Of course, using sarcasm at work or in social situations is not without risk, the studies stated. It’s a communication style that can easily lead to misunderstanding and confusion or, if it’s especially harsh, bruised egos or acrimony. But if those engaged in sarcasm have developed mutual trust, there’s less chance for hurt feelings, the researchers found, and even if conflict arises, it won’t derail the creative gains for either party.
Sarcasm is a two-edged sword, of course. Some 32 years ago when I met Blue Eyes, she was the sweetest thing on two lovely legs. Last week, when I was struggling to get off the floor in a back-stretching exercise, I quoted Dean Vernon Wormer from “Animal House” and said “ Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
Blue Eyes never looked up from her Free Press when she said: “Worked for you so far.”
Nice.
Emmet Meara lives in Camden in blissful retirement after working as a reporter for the BDN in Rockland for 30 years.