Don’t let people tell you that sarcasm¹ is the lowest form of wit, because people who employ it – by saying the opposite of the truth to get a laugh or make a point – are actually brighter and more creative.

不要允许别人对你说，挖苦是低级别的机智表现；说出事实的反面，或博人一笑，或正中要害，会挖苦者其实更聪慧、更具创造力。

Researchers from US graduate business schools hosted a series of experiments to analyse how the comments affected² our creativity.

美国研究生院商学院的研究人员组织了一系列的实验，分析挖苦言论对创造力的影响。

After bizarre and tricky³ tests such as lighting⁴ a candle and attaching it to a wall without letting wax drip on the floor, the study found that both saying and hearing sarcastic⁵ comments benefited the creative process.

有些测试奇怪诡异棘手难办，诸如点燃蜡烛，把蜡烛固定到墙上，但蜡不能滴落在地板上。多项此类测试后，研究发现，听闻挖苦或是说挖苦言辞均有益创造过程。

Lead researcher said: ‘We found that sarcasm may stimulate⁶ creativity, the generation of ideas, insights or problem solutions that are novel and useful.‘As Oscar Wilde believed, sarcasm may represent a lower form of wit, but we found that it certainly catalyses a higher form of thought.’

主管研究称，“我们发觉挖苦有可能促进创造力，想法和见解的迸发，可提供新颖实用的问题解决方案。”奥斯卡·王尔德认为，挖苦或许代表低端形式的风趣机智，但也绝对催化产生更高形式的思维。

During the experiments, 300 people performed the candle task after making and receiving sarcastic comments.Their level of creativity was measured and the study found 64 per cent of the participants who made sarcastic comments were able to think of a creative solution and complete the task successfully.

实验中，有三百人是在挖苦别人或是被别人挖苦后做的蜡烛实验。经研究测量，这三百个实验参与者中有64%做出讥讽的评论，他们都成功想出创造性的解决方案且成功完成任务。

While those who were bore the brunt of sarcastic remarks did even better with 75 per cent finishing the task. Probably so they wouldn’t have to face more verbal assault.

而被挖苦的一方实验结果更好，75%完成了任务，或许他们不用再面对更多的言语攻击了。