Parody might be the highest level of intellectual engagement.
It lets you say things you otherwise can’t, engage secret thoughts in the open, and entertain ideas you don’t fully believe or disbelieve as if they are true. The ability to take a conversation down a road of uncertainty without the need to defend the ideas seriously has huge benefits for intellectual exploration. The removal of defensiveness through humor disarms the roadblocks to discovery.
For any idea, person, hobby, or topic, go find a handful of Twitter parody accounts. You’ll find more truth and intrigue there than you will on the serious expert and pundit accounts. I do this with sports all the time. Parody sports Twitter accounts are 10x more interesting, informative, and insightful than real ones.
My goal is to engage more and more things at the level of parody until every great truth is equal parts profound and funny.