Seriousness is not just sincerity or gravity; it functions as a social signal that someone detects and avoids coordination failures. Laughter and joking create common knowledge that a mix‑up is recognized and defused, so claims of being 'serious' serve to certify one's reliability as a coordination partner.
— This reframing explains why accusations of being 'not serious' are politically potent and why elites prize 'seriousness' — they are managing credible signals of cooperative competence and status.
The essay cites Logan Roy's line 'You're not serious people' and develops an evolutionary model where humor, mutual laughter, and joking operate as hard‑to‑fake signals of coordination ability.