Insults are, to put it simply, a way to offend and be rude to people. This is often done in the hopes of belittling, offending or humiliating folks who may or may not deserve it.
The deeper reasons as to why people do that can vary wildly and are complex in their nature. But to keep with the simplicity of this explanation, it can come from a place of anger, pain, trauma, guilt, bigotry, lack of self-esteem, patience, or just plain old not knowing any better.
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However, insults can also be a form of bonding among friends. Dr. Jeffrey Rubin, psychologist, author, and the man behind the From Insult To Respect blog, discussed this in a post of his. Bored Panda got in touch with Dr. Rubin for an interview.
To put it simply, insults can be fun, and fun means laughter, and laughter means a pleasant experience. If anything, insults among friends can be a way of telling them you like them “without being mawkish about it.”
We asked Dr. Rubin if this idea of insults among friends as a way of bonding can extend to countries and continents.
“I think so. Although, it’s useful to keep in mind that the very joke that will delight some will deeply offend others. Unless the humorist is willing to deal with the blowback, such humor might be wisely avoided.”
“There are types of humor to be avoided in either case. Jokes directed at the people of another country that can’t change, such as some facial characteristic or color of their skin, or some historical event that has long passed serves nothing positive. Much better are quips about some behavior that has the potential to be improved, so it spurs some thoughtful consideration. The safest humor, in my opinion, is directed to something that occurs in one’s own country as well as the other country or countries so, in this way, a shared bond is created.”
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While it can be a case of superiority, bigotry, comebacks, and the like when it comes to international relations, there’s also this thing called friendly rivalry. Friendly rivalries are competitions between parties at odds with each other over certain issues, but they do so in a civil and sometimes humorous manner.
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A good example of friendly rivalry can be seen among universities. They often keep up friendly rivalries amongst each other as this sort of civil competition pushes these institutions to bring to the forefront their very best, knowing well enough that if it is lacking, it will be pushed to second place.
Another example is friendly rivalries among military units. These also have the potential for encouraging internal cohesion through sports competitions, with some members excelling more productively as a result.
Now, it is important to note that constructive humor has to be done right. Hence, insults have to be well thought out to be able to achieve the aim of positive change.
“Great humor is designed to spur some thoughtful consideration about something that can potentially be changed,” explains Dr. Rubin. “Focus on a topic about something you believe needs changing and make that the target of your humor.”
