In medieval times it was court jesters – ostensibly placed in their role for the king’s amusement – who pointed a finger at the absurdities of the day. The “fools” were the truth-tellers.
Today comedians like Jon Stewart are our modern-day court jesters – ready to skewer people and companies who are being hypocritical, convoluted, bureaucratic or just plain silly. (I first talked about this a while back, while moderating a panel on corporate communications at South by Southwest.)
Last week we saw another example of humor being used to raise important truths.
Appearing on Conan, the great Louis C.K. talked about the negative impact that smart phones are having on society.
He started with a riff on why he won’t get his kids smart phones and ended with Bruce Springsteen and the meaning of life.
On not getting smart phones for his kids, C.K. invoked Nancy Reagan: Just say no.
“I don’t care what you want,” he tells his kids, noting “I’m not there to make them happy.”
C.K.’s philosophy is “I’m not raising – the children. I’m raising the grown-ups that they’re going to be.”
As for the meaning of life, C.K. believes that “underneath everything in your life there’s that thing, that empty – forever empty [feeling],” and that we humans turn to texting as a way to avoid this sad fact and the dread that comes with it.
His advice? Embrace the sadness.
He told about driving along when Bruce Springsteen’s “Jungleland” – a song loaded with pathos and sad-sounding reverb – came on the radio.
“I started to get that sad feeling and I was going to reach for the phone and I said, ‘You know what, just don’t,’” he recalled. “Just be sad.”
Two reasons to love Louis C.K. First, he’s a comedian – a jester – who can appear on a show like Conan and get the audience to think seriously about some pretty heavy stuff: the role of technology in our lives, loneliness and sadness. Not many people can do that.
Second, he’s clearly Springsteen fan.
We know we need to pay attention to an issue when our jesters start talking about it. Can it be that we’ve finally reached that tipping point with smart phones? Watch C.K., have a laugh, and decide for yourself.
