Transcriber: Ayça Melis Aysel Reviewer: Emma Gon
A global pandemic, rapidly rising sea temperatures,
setbacks on social and economic inequality,
just in case you’ve forgotten, I dredged up all of these terrible things.
Welcome to my TED Talk... on humor.
In such times, it can be hard to have hope, to find the silver lining.
Heck, when you’re overwhelmed,
it can be hard to do much of anything.
Now, while I can't solve all of your problems,
nor all of the collective challenges that I've just named,
I'm only one social scientist after all.
I can help you
to find and perhaps create
more levity and hope in all of this.
In doing so, we can suspend stress and bias.
We can actively create
and rebuild a more resilient sustainable future.
You in? Audience: Yes.
All right.
Okay, so when a context is overwhelming or an outcome seems unavoidable,
like some of the ones that I mentioned,
it can be helpful to restore a sense of agency, a sense of control,
even if it’s only temporary,
it can give you a beat to think, yeah?
So, for example, I was at a professional event and I was noticeably pregnant.
Someone came up to me a potential recruiter. So when are you going to pop?
You know, one of those questions.
You don’t have to be an HR expert to know
that pregnant applicants are never the top ranked candidates.
But instead of stressing the following just came out of me,
a joke, not the baby.
That would be awkward, right?
I said, you know, I work in Munich
and those Oktoberfest beer calories, they’re really intense.
So after a quick laugh,
without wasting any time on that pregnancy chit chat, right?
We got to the meat of the matter.
We had a great chat and without any of this potential awkwardness
or even defensiveness, right?
Because that's a potentially sensitive topic, often legally regulated as well.
In addition to...
laughter, humor, can bring in oxygen rich air
It can release happy hormones, endorphins.
More importantly, shared humor
and laughter with other people can help you to strengthen
and build relationships with other people.
This is essential for human health and longevity, for cooperation, teamwork,
even effective leadership.
But given our design of how we live our lives and how we work today,
we’re given fewer opportunities to use humor with other people,
even spend time with other people, right?
We’ve got quarantines which are, by their nature, very isolating.
We’ve got home office, which is very productive, also very lonely.
We’ve got all of those shows that people binge these days, myself included,
and, of course, the busyness of just everyday life.
So, while it’s all too easy to take humor too lightly,
I’m here to highlight three reasons backed by science,
why humor has evolved from a nice to have
into a need to have skill of the future.
Some of the science is my own.
Some colleagues and I recently published research
trying to test and extend an idea of Freud.
This guy.
Psychoanalyst made famous for loving his mother a little too much.
He also formulated a theory on humor.
So I think even Alanis Morissette might agree
that it’s a little bit ironic, don’t you think?
So he thought that if you laugh,
it can release some of your tension within yourself.
We wanted to test the idea that shared humor
and laughter with other people can not only reduce your stress,
but also stress in the other person.
Sounds pretty hopeful in such a collectively stressful time, yeah?
But these days, or perhaps these decades,
have been especially stressful for some people, more than others.
For example, in the workplace, authenticity is the hot new trend.
But we know that some people face negative consequences,
when they’re honest and forthcoming about who they are.
So, for example, women working in masculine fields like science,
engineering, many fields of academia, banking, finance,
racial and ethnic minorities, people who are overweight,
LGBTQI+ the list unfortunately goes on.
Decades of research shows that all else equal
people from these groups are often rated as less competent,
less leader like they’re less likely to be selected and even promoted.
Can you believe it?
Still, today, in an apparent talent shortage,
some people still haven’t realized or recognized
that talent might look different.
It might look different for different people.
It might have changed and evolved over time.
But even more importantly,
how do we stand a chance at staving off irrevocable climate crises
without making sure that we have our best talents on the playing field?
A diverse set of of skills, Interests, values and experiences.
In the face of persistent, pervasive biases and outdated ideas of talent,
we need some new ways forward.
Trailblazers like Peter Buttigieg point to one such way.
You got it - humor.
Then, 38 year old Buttigieg was running for the United States presidential bid,
and he jested that compared to the last president,
he was about 40 years too young
and 38 years too gay to get the gig.
So in doing so, he claimed aspects of his identity
that could have faced negative consequences and stigma.
He reframed his narrative kind of like I did in the opening example.
And while he didn’t get the presidential bid,
he is still leading in one of the top roles in the cabinet.
But is humor a partisan skill?
No, no, of course not. I don't want to increase political polarity.
That is not a pathway to a funny future. Of course, Republicans are funny, too.
Here is John McCain.
So then 70 year old US Senator McCain famously said,
“I’m older than dirt with more scars than Frankenstein,
but I’ve learned a few things along the way.”
So in doing so, he downplayed two of his potentially stigmatized traits,
and he also underlined his wisdom.
You got it, with a bit of humor.
But for the rest of you or some others of you perhaps,
a stigmatized identity or your truth might not have to do with
who you are or an aspect of your identity,
it might just be a moving target.
I bet you’ve heard this one in job interviews, for example.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Why might this be the wrong question to ask?
Well, based on our last five years,
we know it's difficult to predict the next five months.
There are so many variables outside of our control.
So in addition to just being a poor predictor
of our fit potential performance in a role,
it’s impossible to ask, yeah?
It might be really relevant to some Gen Z folks out there.
People struggling with all too common infertility.
How do you answer that?
Well, if you got your fur babies,
here is your chance to claim them as your family.
No pets, no problem.
You can mention something about how, you know, you kill all your plants.
So why take a chance on kids?
The idea is that with humor, you can proactively craft your narrative.
You can maintain your honesty while taking a beat
to really focus on what matters.
But is the onus on us alone to prevent potential conflict
or fix other people's biases?
No! of course not.
These are undoubtedly structural, societal and leadership issues.
But we know these questions are asked all the time.
So I simply aim to arm you with the idea
that with humor you can maintain your honesty.
You can take a beat to manifest
all of those psychological resources, focus on what matters.
Because if you can’t even get your foot in the organizational door,
how do you stand a chance at climbing the organizational ladder?
So after all of this,
you might be thinking,
“I’m just not funny.”
Or maybe you could be funny with your friends,
you can’t imagine being funny at work.
Well, my friends,
it might be helpful to think of humor as a tool in your toolbox,
one of a potential range of strategies you can use.
But just like other tools, it should fit the context.
So use your wits to determine if you can be witty
and take a little care in mixed cultural company
with new people and new contexts.
Steer clear of email.
Successful humor is like hot sauce.
Best used sparingly or you risk becoming the office clown.
Similarly, there’s plenty of stuff to make fun of,
especially the stuff people are stressed about,
If it’s not too dire.
in the same respect, you might not want to try that hot sauce again,
if it’s so spicy that it burns.
In the same way, you might to steer clear of
potentially sexist, racist humor or political religious.
That might burn others, yeah?
Finally,
for some reassurance for those of you
who are about as funny as a root canal.
So that’s a dad joke from my actual dad.
Thank you, Rand Peterson.
You might remember Angela Merkel.
So horror level dry sense of humor, but still,
the longest serving German chancellor.
So being unfunny is not a total deal breaker.
Even the people that you can think of that are the funniest comedians,
they hone their skill with training, with practice.
Even the the students and the executives that I work with,
they make amazing comedic strides over the course of a course.
Because, of course, like any other skill,
humor can be refined and trained.
So, friends, we’re running out of time now.
I’m going to leave you with this.
Humor is a definite plus.
(Laughter and applause)
Humor is a definite plus,
especially when the going gets tough.
In addition to just making life and work a bit more fun,
we have the potential to suspend stress and bias,
to rebuild our lives with more resilience, more diversity,
and more sustainability.
So. while honesty is still the best policy for today and for tomorrow,
when the truth is tricky to acknowledge, define or discuss,
a little humor can go a long way.
(Applause)