These 50 Posts Show How Humor And Science Go Together (New Pics)

The public group currently has a little over 893,000 members. According to its About page, topics mainly revolve around “bad experiments, worse scientists, studies you wish to god you could unsee, and much, much, more.” 

In addition to these photos and memes, the page also shares articles from IFLScience. This website delivers information in an entertaining yet educational way. 

Since the group combines the concepts of science and humor, let’s get into what makes things funny, according to research. 

University of Colorado professor Dr. Peter McGraw and his colleagues developed the benign violation theory. Simply put, it states that a comedic element exists in a tragic event only after a significant amount of time has passed.

Dr. McGraw and his team conducted an experiment where participants unanimously saw humor in getting hit by a car if it happened five years ago. 

“There needs to be something wrong,” McGraw said in an interview with ZME Science. “That’s what’s sort of the counterintuitive part of humor. It’s generally this good, beneficial thing, but it has its roots in potentially negative experiences.”

Many people find a reason to laugh at supposedly inappropriate scenarios. According to Dr. McGraw, dark humor works because of psychological distance. He used the story about the Indonesian baby who smoked 40 cigarettes a day as an example. 

“When I was first told about that, I laughed, because it seems unreal — what parent would let their kids smoke cigarettes?” McGraw said. “The fact that the situation seemed unbelievable made it benign. Then when I saw the video of this kid smoking, it was no longer possible to laugh about it.”

Humor has been deemed an effective method of delivering scientific information. A 2013 study featured a stand-up comedy project in Portugal that involved a group of scientists. 

Researchers said tackling serious matters like climate change became easier because “laughter disarms people.”

The entertainment industry has also successfully blended science and humor through content dedicated to kids. 

A research paper published by science education consultant Dr. Sai Pathmanathan mentioned popular cartoons like Spongebob SquarePants and Phineas and Ferb as examples of how they helped U.K. children learn general knowledge.

Neuroscientist, comedian, and former columnist Dean Burnett advocates for learning science through humor. Here’s his explanation in an interview with From the Lab Bench. 

“If people can laugh with/about science, then they won’t be as intimidated by it, and will perceive that science is a very human endeavor,” he said. “Not some monolithic process hiding behind the walls of academia and curated by emotionless intellectuals.”

However, Burnett is against forcing people to create humor, especially if it doesn’t come naturally. 

“Humor being so subjective and emotive, a person to whom it isn’t ‘natural’ trying to do funny in a half-assed way can be much more grating or off-putting than them just presenting their info straight,” he said. “[It] should be seen as a useful tool, rather than a requirement.”

Burnett offers one piece of advice on using humor effectively to deliver scientific information: make it relatable. 

“Assume the audience is at least as smart as you are, but doesn’t know what you know. This is a useful rule for making sure you are informative but not preachy, and not condescending.”