4. Real fun makes everyone feel better; faux fun makes everyone feel worse.

I recently read an interview with a radio shock jock who spends virtually all his on-air time humiliating people. This man is constantly smiling and laughing, as are his guests, though many of them later seem traumatized (one committed suicide after appearing on the show). At one point, the reporter asked the shock jock how he was feeling at the moment. "I'm sad," he answered with admirable candor. "I'm always sad." Apparently, this man isn't really "making fun" at all. He's making sadness, not only for the people he mocks, but for himself. We can't do deliberate harm without damaging our own psyches, especially if we're dysfunctional enough to call it fun.