This I conceive to be the chemical function of humor: to change the character of our thought.

Lin’s metaphor casts humor as a reagent: it doesn’t simply add pleasure to thinking, it alters thinking’s very “character.” Humor can dissolve fixed attitudes, interrupt solemn self-importance, and reframe problems so they become bearable or newly intelligible. By shifting perspective—often through incongruity—humor loosens dogma and invites a more supple, humane intelligence. The claim also implies that humor has epistemic value: it can reveal hidden assumptions and restore a sense of scale, making thought less brittle and more responsive to complexity. In Lin’s broader humanism, this mental transformation is ethically significant, fostering tolerance and resilience.