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IIt sounds like the setup for a joke: When I was starting out as a stand-up comedian, I was also working as a research scientist at a sperm bank.
My lab was investigating the causes of infertility in young men, and part of my work was conducting clinical consultations with participants. They would provide a semen sample for research purposes in exchange for $75.
But a common point of concern quickly emerged among participants: many were worried that female scientists, like me, would want to steal their semen samples and bear their children without consent. My initial strategy to quell their paranoia was to present the standard lines of science, explaining that it would not only be unethical, but also illegal, to use their biospecimens outside the bounds of pure research.
This didn’t seem to work. So I decided to try out my new side hustle with them:
“Oh, please,” I said. “Most women don’t fight over sperm from a guy who happens to have three hours of free time in the middle of a workday. I could get Ivy League-Olympian sperm from any sperm bank in the country. Do not be deceived.
Humor appears to work by flipping some of the same emotional switches used by misinformation.
Exposing the irrationality of fear with such irreverence and eliciting laughter seemed to be the only thing that calmed the anxious participants.
Since those first interactions in my sperm lab, I have employed humor as a way to cut through the noise in scientific communication to reach people more quickly and effectively – especially when emotions are running high and misinformation flows freely.
Decades of study have demonstrated that humor has the potential to improve most forms of communication. Research shows that laughter increases people’s energy, interest, and approval of topics, big and small. During the panic over toilet paper in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taiwanese government began a “Humor Over Rumor” campaign. In one effort, they published a popular meme featuring a cartoon of then-Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang waving with the caption “We only have one ass!” According to anthropologist Jacob Tischer, from Boston University, the campaign was effective in reducing storage.
A 2018 study assessed whether humor could change attitudes toward MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) inoculation among vaccine-hesitant participants. Participants were randomly assigned to read excerpts of text from The Daily Show with Jon Stewartsome with jokes or others with edited humor.1 An example of text taken from a news clip in which an anchor called measles “contagious outside of jail”:
Funny example: It just arrived, measles is contagious outside the prison! (Singing) He likes big lungs and he can’t lie! I think what she’s trying to say is that the measles started from below, now it’s here. Obviously I’m not a doctor. Forgive my ignorance. But what does the medical establishment mean by “contagious outside of jail”?
Normal example: As you can see, measles is something we need to worry about again. Obviously I’m not a doctor, just a reporter. Forgive my ignorance in infectious diseases. But what does the medical establishment mean by “contagious outside of jail”? Let’s see what they have to say in the next clip.
The researchers found that the humorous example, although containing the same factual information, was not only more effective in reducing MMR vaccine hesitancy among participants compared to the example that did not contain humor, but was also able to reduce negative psychological reactions. of the participants. – such as anger and irritation – towards the subject.
Humor can also be an effective way to combat misinformation around more existential scientific topics, such as climate change. A different 2018 study examined responses to a satirical video by The onion titled “Climate change researcher describes the challenge of carrying out a worldwide global warming conspiracy.”two In it, a fictional scientist reports that:
Get all scientists around the world to propagate the lie that human activity can cause global warming is a colossal undertaking… The legwork on this matter has been truly astonishing. You don’t even want to know how much planning went into making sure the Great Barrier Reef looked like shit.
The study found that climate skeptical participants who watched the video were more likely to believe that climate change was real and to have a greater perception of the risks of climate change. This effect was stronger among participants who were more skeptical about climate change.
I could get Ivy League-Olympian sperm from any sperm bank in the country. Do not be deceived.
Humor appears to work, in large part, by flipping some of the same emotional switches used by misinformation. A comical approach can lead people to ignore their logical and critical thinking.3 But researchers often avoid humor, perhaps because comedy and hard science often seem to live on opposite ends of the spectrum. Humor swings wildly to the most bizarre boundaries, while science is surrounded by strict specificity and perceived seriousness.
When I started using humor to enhance my work as a scientist, I also had doubts that I could still be taken seriously. Sara Yeo, a communications professor at the University of Utah, knows this hesitation. “Science is seen as a clean, serious and somewhat sterile process,” she says. “The humor is at odds with this perception.” However, Yeo asserts that, if used skillfully, humor can pair well with serious scientific discoveries. One review concluded that a solid humorous approach can almost always improve scientific communication – and does not reduce the scientist’s trustworthiness.4
“There always needs to be some kind of balance [in science communication],” argues John Cook, senior researcher at the Melbourne Behavior Change Center at the University of Melbourne. “You don’t want to be all doom and gloom because that can be paralyzing, but you don’t want to just give hopeful, feel-good solutions because then people lack urgency. You need both. You need to say there is a problem, but we can solve it.”
Sometimes science humor can tap into emotional reasoning, a cognitive distortion in which our logical reasoning is overwhelmed when we feel a strong emotional response.5 (This is why love can be blind, or why we say things we later regret; the heart has a tremendous ability to override the brain.)
People are conditioned to wait for the outcome.
A comedy technique, known as parallel argument, uses emotional reasoning to combat convincing misinformation by – in a twist – forcing more logical thinking. The author will create a flawed narrative in an exaggerated context. I used a version of the parallel argument with the nervous young men at the sperm bank: by comparing their samples to those of a former Princeton Olympian, I was able to counter their fear by highlighting its irrationality.
John Cook takes advantage of this approach in his illustrated book Cranky Uncle Versus Climate Change: How to Understand and Respond to Climate Science Deniers. One illustration shows a man bundled up outdoors in winter, saying: “It’s cold… global warming doesn’t exist!” Below it, a similar illustration shows the same man outdoors at night, saying, “It’s dark… the sun doesn’t exist!” By pointing out a logical flaw in an absurd way, Cook uses humor to check misinformation about climate change. In case studies, Cook and his collaborators found that a video game derived from Cranky Uncle successfully helped students identify misinformation and encouraged critical thinking. “Humor was an effective way to build people’s resilience against being fooled,” he says.
Even when it comes to heavy topics like the global climate crisis, “the humor is disarming,” says Cook. “You can bring people in, but also give them enough information to properly understand the threat.” This is partly because people are conditioned to wait for the outcome. “When you start telling a joke, people expect there will be a payoff at the end of the journey. They stick with you because they know they will be rewarded. So, it’s a way to keep people’s attention and you get more cognitive effort from them.” And a potentially broader openness to sharing accurate information.
Supporting this conclusion, a 2021 study found that humorous parallel arguments outperformed non-humorous approaches in correcting misinformation about the HPV vaccine.6 According to study participants, the humorous corrections actually seemed more credible than the straightforward, fact-based versions.
A major challenge in applying humor to serious scientific topics is that jokes tend to provoke strong emotional responses, and sometimes these responses can backfire. “Knowing who is in the audience is especially crucial – how can one make jokes that don’t alienate or make audience members feel targeted?” Yeo says. But maintaining the stereotypical, sensible scientific attitude brings with it its own dangers. “We know from decades of research that simply providing information is not enough to change attitudes and behavior,” she adds.
You know, sometimes all it takes is a chicken and a road — or a crushing joke about your genetic fitness — to get the point across. 
Main image: Kues / Shutterstock
References
- Moyer-Gusé, E., Robinson, MJ, Mcknight, J. The role of humor in MMR vaccine messaging. Health Communication Magazine 23514-522 (2018).
- Anderson, AA and Becker, AB After all, it’s not just funny: sarcasm as a catalyst for public involvement in climate change. Scientific Communication 4 (2018).
- Yeo, SK and McKasy, M. Emotion and humor as antidotes to misinformation. PNAS 15 (2021).
- Riesch, H. Why did the proton cross the road? Humor and scientific communication. Public Understanding of Science 7768-765 (2015).
- Cook, J., Ellerton, P., Kinkead, D. Deconstructing climate misinformation to identify errors in reasoning. Environmental Research 13 (2018).
- Kim, SC, Vraga, EK, Cook, J. An eye-tracking approach to understanding misinformation and correction strategies on social media: The mediating role of attention and credibility in reducing HPV vaccine misperceptions. Health Communication 131687-1696 (2021)
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