SARCASM IS THE LOWEST FORM OF WIT



















“If you think, by being sarcastic, you can come about as witty, funny and humorous,” I made it very clear to a young-man, a while ago, “your thinking is wrong.”

“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit,” I cited an old saying.

When we are sarcastic, we are not direct, not open and sincere. We taunt, we hint, we lie and we hold back… Mostly with the intention of making the other person look stupid, feel guilty and small… We do it to shunt him out… by making others laugh at him.

And, certainly, that’s not any decent wit or healthy humor. It cuts through the other guy’s vulnerabilities… Like an arrow, it pierces through his heart…

That’s why, in psychology, the sarcastic guys are called ‘Snipers’… They indulge in what is known as an ‘indirect aggression’.

Often, the sarcastic people, who indulge in indirect aggression, are detested more than the abusive ones, who indulge in direct aggression. At least, we can openly see and clearly hear the outright abusive person. In psychology, such a person is called a ‘Tank’… a battle tank. We can see the Tank coming… We can see its pointed gun, the deadly manner in which it is inching towards us, and, we can see the ferocity with which it can crush us down to destruction. Yes, in spite of such ferocity, there is a lot of directness and openness about this behavior… It gives us an idea as to how to protect ourselves from the imminent danger…

But, in indirect aggression, we are left clueless and vulnerable to the attack… It rarely provides us a chance to protect ourselves…




The Snipers can be more harmful than the Tanks! 



Whether or not our so called wit is a misplaced version of sarcasm, we can easily figure it out by asking these questions to ourselves: What is our intention? Is it to belittle the other person - shunt him, make him look silly, stupid and small? Are we trying to take some sort of revenge? What if the same thing is done to us by someone else - will we be able to swallow it?



A healthy self-esteem is, always, founded on the basic premise of ‘I am okay… You are okay’... 'I repect your rights... You respect my rights'. And, obviously, our sarcasm doesn’t come from there…

It is not healthy… It is not wit or humor…

Yes, it is the lowest and the worst form of wit!



GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Aruna Anand






Comments

Kushboo Pherwani said…
Really true!........ Kushboo
August 30, 2013 at 6:14 PM
Udit Rawal said…
Sarcasm indeed rudely hurts! It comes from not a healthy space in our hearts. Udit
August 30, 2013 at 6:26 PM
Anonymous said…
Your posts always inspire sir; keep writing.
----- Yash
August 30, 2013 at 6:40 PM
Anonymous said…
Your posts always inspire sir; keep writing.
----- Yash
August 30, 2013 at 6:40 PM
Sheela D'Silva said…
I needed this wake-up call!!!
--- Sheela
August 30, 2013 at 11:14 PM
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