1. I wrote my PhD dissertation on the social function of humor (in literature & film) and here's the thing about "just joking."

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

2. You're never "just joking." Nobody is ever "just joking." Humor is a social act that performs a social function (always).

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

3. To say humor is social act is to say it is always in social context; we don't joke alone. Humor is a way we relate/interact with others.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

4. Which is to say, humor is a way we construct identity – who we are in relation to others. We use humor to form groups…

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

5. …and to find our individual place in or out of those groups. In short, joking/humor is one tool by which we assimilate or alienate.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

6. IOW, we use humor to bring people into – or keep them out of – our social groups. This is what humor *does.* What it's for.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

7. Consequently, how we use humor is tied up with ethics – who do we embrace, who do we shun, and how/why?

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

8. And the assimilating/alienating function of humor works not only only people but also on *ideas.* This is important.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

9. This is why, e.g., racist "jokes" are bad. Not just because they serve to alienate certain people, but also because…

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

10. …they serve to assimilate the idea of racism (the idea of alienating people based on their race). And so we come to Trump.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

11. A racist joke sends a message to the in-group that racism is acceptable. (If you don't find it acceptable, you're in the out-group.)

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

12. The racist joke teller might say "just joking" – but this is a *defense* to the out-group. He doesn't have to say this to the in-group.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

13. This is why we're never "just joking." To the in-group, no defense of the joke is needed; the idea conveyed is accepted/acceptable.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

14. So, when Trump jokes about assassination or armed revolt, he's asking the in-group to assimilate/accept that idea. That's what jokes do.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

15. And when he says "just joking," that's a defense offered to the out-group who was never meant to assimilate the idea in the first place.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

16. Indeed, circling back to the start, the joke *itself* is a way to define in-group and out-group, through assimilation & alienation.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

17. If you're willing to accept "just joking" as defense, you're willing to enter in-group where idea conveyed by the joke is acceptable.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

18. IOW, if "just joking" excuses racist jokes, then in-group has accepted idea of racism as part of being in-group.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

19. Same goes for "jokes" about armed revolt or assassinating Hillary Clinton. They cannot be accepted as "just joking."

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

20. Now, a big caveat: humor (like all language) is complicated and always a matter of interpretation. For example, we might have…

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

21. …racist humor that is, in fact, designed to alienate (rather than assimilate) the idea of racism. (Think satire or parody.)

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

22. But I think it's pretty clear Trump was not engaging in some complex satirical form of humor. He was "just joking." In the worst sense.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016

23. Bottom line: don't accept "just joking" as excuse for what Trump said today. The in-group for that joke should be tiny. Like his hands.

— Jason P. Steed (@profsteed) August 9, 2016