The Cardinal Sin of Making a Joke
I committed a cardinal sin today: I joked about something on social media. A harmless, non-offensive joke poking fun at how paranoid people have become about their health, to the point that they’re taking Zoom calls from oxygen chambers. That was too much. I forgot that humor is dead, and we’re all supposed to be constantly hyper-serious. My mistake.
Of course, I got attacked. You can’t be funny anymore. You can’t be lighthearted about anything. The polarization of everything has people in such a heightened state that even the smallest quip is met with outrage. The reaction was immediate as if I had personally insulted someone’s entire existence.
We’ve taken this way too far. Anger is acceptable, but sarcasm? Forget about it. You can rage, be offended, and moralize and lecture, but laughing? That’s off-limits. It’s as if we’ve decided that everything must be serious, that every comment must align perfectly with some grand, righteous narrative, or else it’s an attack.
When Wellness Becomes a Performance
So, what was this terrible joke that sparked such backlash? I made a light comment about James Watt, an entrepreneur who attended a Zoom call in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Biohacking now includes business meetings.
He posted about it proudly, listing how he crams “wellness” into his workday. Taking calls in an ice bath, answering emails from a sauna, walking meetings, and planning campaigns while walking his dog. The hyperbaric chamber was just another tool in his quest for peak performance.
I am all for wellness and caring for yourself, but this is not self-care. It is a performance. This is the same over-the-top optimization nonsense that convinces people they need a ten-thousand-dollar cryotherapy routine to be functional. It is not about actual health. It is about signaling the world how much more “dedicated” you are than the average person.
I joked about this, and the internet did what it did best. It missed the point entirely and lost its mind. Instead of laughing, I got the usual lectures about wellness and mindfulness and how I was just being negative. One particularly enraged person decided to “school” me on the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as if I had personally declared war on it.
My response? "It was a joke; I forgot I am not supposed to tell jokes anymore... grrr, I am angry, is that better? LOL."
Humor as a Psychological and Spiritual Tool
And that is the real issue. We have created a culture where outrage is the default response to everything. There is no room for nuance, no space for humor. If you are not entirely on board with someone’s viewpoint, you are against them. If you make fun of something, you are cruel. If you are sarcastic, you are dismissive. There is no in-between.
But here is the thing. Humor is how people cope. Studies in psychology show that laughter reduces stress, increases dopamine, and fosters emotional resilience. Carl Jung, one of the most influential psychologists in history, spoke about embracing life's absurdities rather than taking everything so seriously. The inability to laugh at ourselves is often a symptom of deep insecurity and rigidity in thinking.
From a spiritual perspective, humor is a form of release. It creates space between us and our struggles, allowing us to see the bigger picture. Many spiritual teachers, from Buddhist monks to Sufi mystics, have used laughter as a form of enlightenment, recognizing that taking everything too seriously is a sure way to create suffering. Laughter lightens the energy of a situation, shifting us from a state of resistance into one of flow.
Are We Healing, or Just Creating More Stress?
In our rush to optimize everything, have we forgotten that true well-being is about balance? There is a difference between genuine self-care and obsessive biohacking. One is about nurturing yourself. The other is about constantly trying to control the uncontrollable.
Are you well if you need to conduct business meetings from an oxygen pod, take calls in an ice bath, and plan your entire life while walking your dog? Or are you just afraid of stillness? Because true self-care is not about doing more. It is about being present.
At some point, we must step back and ask ourselves if we are making the world better by silencing humor. Or are we just making it more exhausting? If we keep going in this direction, we will end up in a world where the only acceptable emotion is outrage. And frankly, that sounds like a nightmare.
I will keep joking, even if it means committing more “cardinal sins” in the process.
Disclaimer: Journaling is a powerful tool to support your healing process. The CBT exercises in Journals to Healing journals are intended to help you analyze and reframe your thoughts as part of a personal growth journey. However, these journals do not replace therapy or professional help. If you are experiencing intense emotions or feelings beyond your control, please seek professional assistance. Resources such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988) and Crisis Text Line (Text HOME to 741741) are available 24/7 for support. Remember, reaching out for help is a strength, and healing is a process.
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