I have written about T-hacking (here and here). What is T-hacking? T-hacking — short for “theory hacking” — is the practice of excluding or mischaracterizing relevant theory or findings from the conceptual development of a paper. T-hacking benefits the t-hacker by boosting the theoretical contribution of the research and thus
You have heard the stories about viral videos that receive millions of views. One part of those stories, however, is not true. Things don’t go viral the way that viruses that do. .…………………………..Not the way it happens Academics, business people, and the man on the street commonly believe that interesting
After my last sabbatical, I reported in a blog post what might be my post-Humor Code life might look like. I am now taking back one of the plans that I presented in the report: 3) Draw on the benign violation theory and related behavioral science research to examine how we
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: The Benign Violation Theory helps explain what makes this process so funny. Humor arises when something is wrong yet okay, threatening yet safe,
Charles Darwin is best known for outlining the theory of evolution. The Darwin Awards showcase humans who have “self-selected” themselves out of the gene pool by doing something outrageously stupid. 2004: An Italian named Fabio had quit his job as an ostrich farmer to drive trucks, and in his spare
An Internet sensation, a testament to depravity, and something you will have to Goggle on your own if you haven’t seen it, 2 Girls 1 Cup, has scarred pop culture. There have been a slew of reaction videos added onto YouTube. Watching people’s reactions to 2 Girls 1 Cup is
At some point we have all been the victim of an unexpected scare by a friend or family, which often ends with one or both parties laughing. This Mannequin Scare Prank shows how fear is typically replaced by laughter: According to the Benign Violation Theory, humor arises when something is
From the T9 function on flip phones to Swype on smart phones, spelling mis-predictions are the bane of handheld communication. It’s hard to catch all the typos that result from Autocorrect Fails. Using The Benign Violation Theory, we can break down when Autocorrect Fails will be (especially) funny. Humor arises
This episode seeks to explore the singles advocacy movement with Gordon Morris, who is aiming to breathe new life into Unmarried Equality, a nonprofit
Welcome to the final episode of I’M NOT JOKING. Comedian JD Lopez returns from Episode 1 to debrief and reflect on Peter’s experience building
