One of the most effective and constructive kinds of humor is obtained by reducing a real-world situation, person, or idea to its absurd logical extreme, or magnifying its flaws by making obviously absurd statements.

This kind of humor is at the core of satire and is often used to stimulate critical thinking about current problems within a society. Great authors such as Voltaire and H. L. Mencken used absurd humor and satire in order to convince individuals to abandon irrational fallacies and dogmas.

A remark can employ devices such as exaggeration or blatant inconsistency to qualify as humorous. This causes a departure of the subject matter of the remark from the expected, rational, and sensible, and into the realm of the bizarre, a situation the man who laughs at it would likely not have gotten himself into.

When the defects of a person or thing are amplified to a ridiculous extent by exaggeration, his/its case becomes funny rather than just deserving of mild pity. The typical environmentalist is often an odd creature, but, when made into an object of humor, he becomes the fanatical tree hugger, ready to tie himself to a tree and obstruct logging efforts just to repeatedly chant, "Save the endangered spotted slug!" (The risk he takes is too severe, and the object of his campaign is too petty, to qualify this satirized environmentalist for having the remotest semblance of rationality.)

Similarly, paper towels in public high schools are inconvenient at best in real life, but, when made fun of, they can be praised as the ultimate material for making the outer layers of raincoats. (The ridiculed towels lack water absorptivity so greatly that they can be used for the exact opposite purpose.)

Humor can also display absurdity in contradiction. For example, if a corrupt government official gives a speech to schoolchildren on the virtues of honesty and integrity, his hypocrisy can make him the object of ridicule in a satire. Hippies can be satirized in a similar manner: "So many people in this world do not know the blessings of universal love. Oh, how we hate those bigoted, materialistic, fascist scum!" Satire uses this technique to expose fallacies inherent in certain ideas and behaviors, and to allow readers to supplement their analysis with a powerful emotional reaction against those flaws.

By ridiculing false, dangerous, or inconvenient aspects of society, humor can make them less threatening and can facilitate a quicker recognition of their flaws by the general public.

G. Stolyarov II is a science fiction novelist, independent philosophical essayist, poet, amateur mathematician, composer, contributor to Enter Stage Right, Le Quebecois Libre,  Rebirth of Reason, and the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Senior Writer for The Liberal Institute, weekly columnist for GrasstopsUSA.com, and Editor-in-Chief of The Rational Argumentator, a magazine championing the principles of reason, rights, and progress. Mr. Stolyarov also publishes his articles on Helium.com and Associated Content to assist the spread of rational ideas. His newest science fiction novel is Eden against the Colossus. His latest non-fiction treatise is A Rational Cosmology. His most recent play is Implied Consent. Mr. Stolyarov can be contacted at gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.

Read Mr. Stolyarov's new comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.

Read Mr. Stolyarov's new four-act play, Implied Consent, a futuristic intellectual drama on the sanctity of human life, here.