Summary:
The book explores the science behind humor through a journey across various cultures, examining what makes things funny universally and what is humor-specific to certain societies. It combines psychological research with anecdotes and experiments to understand the underlying mechanisms of comedy and laughter.
Key points:
1. Benign Violation Theory (BVT): Humor comes from something being both wrong and okay at the same time. To be funny, it must break a norm but not be threatening. If it's just a violation, it's offensive, not funny.
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