Humor has an amazing effect on the human brain. It reduces levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol in the brain while increasing levels of the “feel-good” hormones dopamine and serotonin. These effects will work on both you and your opponent, and the benefits reducing both of your levels of stress while making you feel good are immediately apparent.
Humor can quite quickly defuse a tense situation and ensure a more harmonious aftermath to the argument by taking out the sting of loss. Being able to make someone laugh makes you more likeable as you become associated with a good feeling, which in turn softens your opponent up to accepting your viewpoint.
Of course, you have to be strategic in what it is you joke about, and refrain from being too liberal with the gags. The point is not to turn the argument into a standup routine, but to inject a bit of necessary levity to lighten things up. You can make some jokes about yourself and your own side of the argument, which shows a bit of self-deprecation – being careful not to make your argument look ridiculous of course. You can also use humorous examples, as these have a higher likelihood of sticking in your opponent’s mind.
Depending on the context of the argument, you can make some jokes about your opponent’s side. If there are ridiculous aspects of it, you can point these out by taking a few jabs at them, but do not rely on this. Your opponent may take them very seriously, so don’t lean on making light of them and base the core of your counterargument on serious grounds. It’s never enough to disprove something just by pointing out that something is ridiculous anyway.
Many aspects of human existence are ridiculous but that does not make them any less true. If you and your opponent are friendly enough you can also make some jokes at their expense, but make absolutely sure that they will be received in the right way and that you are not actually making a personal attack.
