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Instead of avoiding sarcasm completely in the office, the research suggests sarcasm, used with care and in moderation, can be effectively used and trigger some

by rtl49 11y ago

Instead of avoiding sarcasm completely in the office, the research suggests sarcasm, used with care and in moderation, can be effectively used and trigger some creative sparks. Who really has the presence of mind and self control to use sarcasm with "care and moderation" when in the midst of a work-related social interaction? I think this is just a silly extrapolation to draw from the evidence presented. Sarcasm can be amusing and perhaps useful in satire and social settings where there's no risk of generating animosity between people, but in the workplace where relationships don't necessarily arise from a sense of mutual understanding, I think this article gives us little reason to believe it can do more good than harm.

pjc50 11y ago
All professional communication demands a certain amount of care and moderation. Not just for humour but for criticism, praise, discerning preferences etc. Use of appropriate humour can greatly improve things but you have to know your audience.
- rtl49 11y ago
  Humor, sure. But sarcasm comes by definition at the expense of an idea or another person. Thus I submit that the article has not adequately supported the argument that sarcasm can be helpful in the workplace.
  - jerf 11y ago
    "But sarcasm comes by definition at the expense of an idea or another person." Even to the extent that is true, which I could quibble with, the sarcasm can be at the sarcastic one's expense, as a form of self-deprecation, or it could be at the expense of a person not present and one who may not even properly-speaking exist. Sarcasm at a coworker's expense isn't wrong because it's sarcasm, it would be wrong because any social interaction at a coworker's expense is generally wrong.
    - rtl49 11y ago
      At the risk of quibbling, my opinion on the definition of sarcasm resembles that of Wikipedia's article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm Other than that bit, what you've written doesn't conflict with what I wrote. Even if sarcasm is used at the expense of nonexistent parties, it stands a reasonable chance of making those who don't know you well wary. One illustration from my own life: I was very sarcastic as a younger person, but generally had no malicious intent. Once I thought I was getting along quite well with a girl, who was laughing at some of my sarcastic remarks. At the end of the evening, she stormed out of the room, upset after I made yet another sarcastic comment. This came to the great surprise of me and others in the group who knew me better. Here there was no evil intended on either side, yet sarcasm combined with the intrinsic difficulty in understanding another person created a very uncomfortable and socially destructive situation.
  - pjc50 11y ago
    Some ideas are bad and should be laughed at.
- szatkus 11y ago
  Working in one team isn't "professional communication". At least it shouldn't be :)
amsilprotag 11y ago
I think many of the disagreements in this thread can be attributed to different interpretations of the word. There is the thought-dulling sarcasm common on the internet that is equivalent to preaching to the choir in reverse, "It's ok, congress is on it" or "Another cold day, so much for global warming." Similar is the the teenager's use of mocking sarcasm as a blunt act of defiance. Then there is the playful language that makes the listener try to inhabit the mind of the speaker and likely does generate creative thought, such as the article's example “Pat, don’t work so hard!” Finally, sarcasm can be used to express ideas that, if said bluntly, would be unacceptable. A boss can tell a recently-berated employee, "the customer is always right" as a way of commiserating with the employee without directly discrediting the customer. Or a coworker can say "Another good policy decision from management" and gauge the listener's reaction without directly revealing their own opinion. Pinker on shared vs mutual knowledge, the value of ambiguity: http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pinker/files/evolutionary_social_psychology_of_off-record_indirect_speech_acts.pdf http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pinker/files/evolutionary_s...

by rtl49 11y ago

pjc50 11y ago

All professional communication demands a certain amount of care and moderation. Not just for humour but for criticism, praise, discerning preferences etc. Use of appropriate humour can greatly improve things but you have to know your audience.

rtl49 11y ago
Humor, sure. But sarcasm comes by definition at the expense of an idea or another person. Thus I submit that the article has not adequately supported the argument that sarcasm can be helpful in the workplace.
- jerf 11y ago
  "But sarcasm comes by definition at the expense of an idea or another person." Even to the extent that is true, which I could quibble with, the sarcasm can be at the sarcastic one's expense, as a form of self-deprecation, or it could be at the expense of a person not present and one who may not even properly-speaking exist. Sarcasm at a coworker's expense isn't wrong because it's sarcasm, it would be wrong because any social interaction at a coworker's expense is generally wrong.
  - rtl49 11y ago
    At the risk of quibbling, my opinion on the definition of sarcasm resembles that of Wikipedia's article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm Other than that bit, what you've written doesn't conflict with what I wrote. Even if sarcasm is used at the expense of nonexistent parties, it stands a reasonable chance of making those who don't know you well wary. One illustration from my own life: I was very sarcastic as a younger person, but generally had no malicious intent. Once I thought I was getting along quite well with a girl, who was laughing at some of my sarcastic remarks. At the end of the evening, she stormed out of the room, upset after I made yet another sarcastic comment. This came to the great surprise of me and others in the group who knew me better. Here there was no evil intended on either side, yet sarcasm combined with the intrinsic difficulty in understanding another person created a very uncomfortable and socially destructive situation.
- pjc50 11y ago
  Some ideas are bad and should be laughed at.
szatkus 11y ago
Working in one team isn't "professional communication". At least it shouldn't be :)

amsilprotag 11y ago

I think many of the disagreements in this thread can be attributed to different interpretations of the word. There is the thought-dulling sarcasm common on the internet that is equivalent to preaching to the choir in reverse, "It's ok, congress is on it" or "Another cold day, so much for global warming." Similar is the the teenager's use of mocking sarcasm as a blunt act of defiance. Then there is the playful language that makes the listener try to inhabit the mind of the speaker and likely does generate creative thought, such as the article's example “Pat, don’t work so hard!” Finally, sarcasm can be used to express ideas that, if said bluntly, would be unacceptable. A boss can tell a recently-berated employee, "the customer is always right" as a way of commiserating with the employee without directly discrediting the customer. Or a coworker can say "Another good policy decision from management" and gauge the listener's reaction without directly revealing their own opinion. Pinker on shared vs mutual knowledge, the value of ambiguity: http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pinker/files/evolutionary_social_psychology_of_off-record_indirect_speech_acts.pdf http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pinker/files/evolutionary_s...