A good idea can come across as a bad idea if its supporter explains it poorly, and vice-versa. Numerous bad ideas have gained substantial support due to the articulateness of their backers.

These sorts of social phenomena occur because we’re doing something we shouldn’t be. We’re assigning the human attributes of the person pitching the idea to the idea itself. It’s sad/funny that the best marketers are considered those who can motivate people to buy things they don’t want. The sad/funny combo occurs so often in life that I’m inclined to plot it for want of a better understanding:

Naturally, I’ve located opposite adjectives 180 degrees from each other on this 2D map. The vector A is equal parts sad/funny if θ = 45 degrees. If you only wanted to talk about the funny portion of the sad/funny vector, you could make your intentions clear by specifying Asin(θ). In the case of θ = 45 degrees, Asin(θ) = Acos(θ), but you would still be advised to use Acos(θ) to refer to the sad portion since the different trig functions result in answers which, while equal in magnitude and sign, are located on different axes.

I expect the real fun begins when you plot different things you encounter in life on this 2D map and perform vector addition. If it takes you somewhere you’d like to go, you need only figure out what the real life equivalent of performing vector addition on these intangible concepts is.