Humor helps us build friendships with other people, and strengthen our bonds. Before there were cities and societies, having a tight-knit group would have helped people survive together. Nowadays, society is bigger and more impersonal, but humor can still bridge the gap between people. Everyday life is full of absurdity, and commenting on that is a great way to connect with someone. That’s probably also why sitcoms and stand-up comedy are about everyday life, and why they’re so popular. Humor lets total strangers have a moment of, “Hey, me too!” If you use it right, it can be like a verbal high-five.
Or you can use sarcasm to skewer some wrong or injustice you see in the world. With my generation, this works especially well with politics and social issues. Shows like The Colbert Report and Pen & Teller: Bullshit are pretty popular with people my age. Among ourselves, we use sarcasm and snarky humor to show the fallacies of the other side. Humor works better than just a dry statement of facts and opinions, because it keeps the audience entertained long enough to deliver a point, and it’s memorable.
If it’s from your side, you get a chuckle and a feeling of being on the same team. If it’s from the other side, it’s kind of like, “heh, zing.” Which is the point. If someone came up to me and said that democrats were greedy, I’d probably just get angry. Joking about it diffuses that initial anger, and it gets the other side to at least think about whatever you’re trying to say, instead of dismissing it outright. (Related: I wish political cartoons were funnier. It’s like, you had one job!)
So, humor: the glue that holds society together, a memorable means of communication, and vehicle for social change?