Another Benign Violation: Roast Me

Being publicly degraded is distressing.  However, a popular subreddit on Reddit, /r/roastme, is populated by people asking to get roasted by  strangers.

The results are… pretty funny. actually:

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The Benign Violation Theory helps explain what makes this process so funny.

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Humor arises when something is wrong yet okay, threatening yet safe, or what we call a benign violation. In the “roast me” subreddit, the insult (i.e., the violation) is requested, which helps it make benign.

 

As seen on The Today Show

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