While sarcasm may be a gift that keeps on giving, not everyone’s ready to receive it. See, some people simply don’t get the purpose of mean and salty jokes. Or they’re simply not a fan. After all, depending on the topic and the tone of voice, the meaning of the joke can sometimes fly right over their heads, and no one enjoys being laughed at or feeling left out of the conversation.
But for those that do get it, it’s nothing but satisfying. Oscar Wilde, the connoisseur of wit, once wrote: "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence." While the first part of his phrase is often a subject for debate, there’s no denying that this linguistic quirk is a sign of an inventive mind.
To learn more about this powerful linguistic tool, we reached out to Ruth Filik, a psychology professor at The University of Nottingham, UK, who happily shared a few insights on the topic. We were curious to learn more about the relationship between sarcasm and irony. Many people believe, after all, that these two words almost seem synonymous, although that's not the case. Since these terms are often misused, misapplied, and misunderstood, we asked Professor Filik to explain the difference between them.
"Not everyone agrees on these definitions, but irony is when someone says the opposite of what they mean, and sarcasm is a type of irony that is directed at a person, with the intent to criticize," she told Bored Panda.
"For example, saying 'What lovely weather' (when it is raining) would be an ironic comment, and saying 'That was clever' (when someone did something stupid) would be sarcastic," Filik continued. "Our research shows that more brain regions are activated when people read sarcastic comments, suggesting that sarcasm may be more complicated to understand than non-sarcastic irony." But she also pointed out that some research suggests that emojis might be here to lend a helping hand and allow people to better understand sarcasm when other cues are missing.
According to the professor, understanding sarcasm easily can rely on a lot of cues — such as context, tone of voice, and facial expression — that might not always be there, like in a text message. "Sarcasm is a very useful skill — for example, in some situations, it may be helpful to be able to criticize someone 'with humor,' in order to maintain your relationship with them," Filik added.
While some people may see sarcasm as off-putting or endearing, it’s hard to deny that it’s smart. And researchers at Harvard proved that. In a 2015 paper titled, The highest form of intelligence: Sarcasm increases creativity for both expressers and recipients, they found that being sarcastic makes us think more abstractly.
One of the authors of the paper, an award-winning researcher Francesca Gino, explained in an article in Scientific American that sarcasm graces us with unexpected benefits of boosting our creativity. "The use of sarcasm, in fact, promotes creativity for those on both the giving and receiving end of sarcastic exchanges. 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," she wrote.
Past studies have revealed that sarcasm was usually seen as something critical and easy to misunderstand. "In recent research, my colleagues and I discovered an upside to this otherwise gloomy picture of sarcasm." They set out to do a few studies where participants would need to engage in either simulated sarcastic, sincere, or neutral dialogues by choosing from pre-written responses on a sheet of paper.
"Immediately after participants engaged in these 'conversations,' we presented them with tasks testing their creativity," Gino added. "Not surprisingly, the participants exposed to sarcasm reported more interpersonal conflict than those in other groups. More interestingly, those who engaged in a sarcastic conversation fared better on creativity tasks."
