Humour Is Civilised Aggression: Why Michelle Wolf Was Right

Humour is civilised, especially when it’s pointed. When we (or most of us anyway) stopped the monkey business of using physical power to step on the heads of others to get to the top, or alternatively grooming them to gain favour, we started using language, creativity, and intellect instead. While the President of the United States has not yet achieved the developmental milestone of post-primate behaviour (he just stopped short of eating the dandruff he wiped from Macron’s shoulder),