humor, wit, banter

Again another great read, packed with information.

The section that really caught my attention was Turn the Volume Down.
It starts off by talking about passive voice. I've used passive voice a lot in my science classes and never knew why. It's interesting that science uses passive voice so that things just seem to happen. It takes them out of the equation. I guess that makes it seem that human error doesn't play a part or it doesn't place error on an individual.

Humor. I find humor in an argument to be a risky tool to imploy. You have to know when it is appropriate. Also you can't force humor, you can't make it seem like you are trying to hard for a laugh. Heinrich's uses humor in the book. I find my self laughing out loud to some of the things I read. But Heinrich's is writing as if the reader is a friend. I don't think it would be appropriate to use humor in a serious arugment with someone in authority.
Banter, is especially risky. The definition is " a form of attack and defense consisting of clever insults and snappy comebacks". Even the words in the definition seem a bit harsh. I don't even know when that would be fit to use. Maybe if I was talking to my youner sister. She would know my "out-insult" wasn't serious.

Use humor wisely.