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Re:Benefits of Sarcasm by pjc50 on Thursday November 19, 2015 @01:24PM (#10596487)
All professional communication demands a certain amount of care and moderation. Not just for humour but for criticism, praise, discerning preferences etc. Use of appropriate humour can greatly improve things but you have to know your audience.
Re:Benefits of Sarcasm by rtl49 on Thursday November 19, 2015 @01:27PM (#10596511)
Humor, sure. But sarcasm comes by definition at the expense of an idea or another person. Thus I submit that the article has not adequately supported the argument that sarcasm can be helpful in the workplace.
Re:Benefits of Sarcasm by jerf on Thursday November 19, 2015 @01:44PM (#10596637)
"But sarcasm comes by definition at the expense of an idea or another person."

Even to the extent that is true, which I could quibble with, the sarcasm can be at the sarcastic one's expense, as a form of self-deprecation, or it could be at the expense of a person not present and one who may not even properly-speaking exist.

Sarcasm at a coworker's expense isn't wrong because it's sarcasm, it would be wrong because any social interaction at a coworker's expense is generally wrong.

Re:Benefits of Sarcasm by rtl49 on Thursday November 19, 2015 @02:23PM (#10596919)
At the risk of quibbling, my opinion on the definition of sarcasm resembles that of Wikipedia's article on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

Other than that bit, what you've written doesn't conflict with what I wrote. Even if sarcasm is used at the expense of nonexistent parties, it stands a reasonable chance of making those who don't know you well wary.

One illustration from my own life: I was very sarcastic as a younger person, but generally had no malicious intent. Once I thought I was getting along quite well with a girl, who was laughing at some of my sarcastic remarks. At the end of the evening, she stormed out of the room, upset after I made yet another sarcastic comment. This came to the great surprise of me and others in the group who knew me better. Here there was no evil intended on either side, yet sarcasm combined with the intrinsic difficulty in understanding another person created a very uncomfortable and socially destructive situation.

Re:Benefits of Sarcasm by pjc50 on Thursday November 19, 2015 @03:07PM (#10597211)
Some ideas are bad and should be laughed at.
Re:Benefits of Sarcasm by szatkus on Thursday November 19, 2015 @04:45PM (#10597952)
Working in one team isn't "professional communication". At least it shouldn't be :)