Laughter is an asymmetric weapon.

· Bits and Bobs 1/26/26
  • Laughter is an asymmetric weapon.
    • An authentic laugh communicates to everyone in earshot: "I don't think this is serious."
    • The question is: when someone laughs, will the crowd join in or will they punish them?
    • The answer comes down to: does the crowd want the thing in front of them to be serious, or do they not?
    • If you laugh in a church, you'll get shushed so hard you might get whiplash.
      • Everyone there wants to be there and takes it seriously.
    • If you laugh at an authoritarian, where everyone is fearful of how serious the authoritarian is but doesn't want it to be serious, others might join in.
    • The authoritarian is intrinsically fearful of laughter.