I want wisecracks to have less power to derail thoughtful conversation. Not an easy problem to solve, BTW. There is a good reason why thoughtful conversation

I want wisecracks to have less power to derail thoughtful conversation. Not an easy problem to solve, BTW. There is a good reason why thoughtful conversation is so easy to derail: it asks for a lot of mental bandwidth, and the competition for bandwidth is fierce. A wisecrack gets its message across in almost no bandwidth, takes no effort to appreciate, and satisfies the primal human urge to see someone else humiliated.