The things people joke or lie about can say a lot about the way they think. My favourite example is the wife of Octavian Augustus, who was claimed to have woven his Toga herself. Whether or not it’s true or just propaganda made up to make her look good, it tells you something about Roman culture that even the elites would praise a woman for doing diligent manual labour.
Transferred to this: Even if it was a joke, the fact it’s a thing that people come up with at all indicates the underlying sentiment you describe. The joke wouldn’t work if it didn’t reference a known phenomenon. It would just be a monk out back with a ladder to us.
The things people joke or lie about can say a lot about the way they think. My favourite example is the wife of Octavian Augustus, who was claimed to have woven his Toga herself. Whether or not it’s true or just propaganda made up to make her look good, it tells you something about Roman culture that even the elites would praise a woman for doing diligent manual labour.
Transferred to this: Even if it was a joke, the fact it’s a thing that people come up with at all indicates the underlying sentiment you describe. The joke wouldn’t work if it didn’t reference a known phenomenon. It would just be a monk out back with a ladder to us.
One of the oldest known jokes is from ancient Sumeria, and nobody understands it: