Jokes also betray a certain uneasiness about the apparent contradictions that they reveal.  In this case, the uneasiness derives from a fundamental uncertainty about which of the two faces of science, natural philosophy or instrumentality, represents its true character.  Is science really about understanding the world, with instrumentality being a matter of fortuitous spin-offs?
La dérision est aussi le signe d’un certain malaise, du fait des contradictions apparentes qu’elle fait surgir.