The folks at Big Questions Online asked me the question: “What is the Most Universal Type of Humor?”
Here is an excerpt of my answer:
My colleague Caleb Warren and I believe that the most universal forms of humor are play fighting and tickling. Our theory, the “benign violation theory,” builds on previous work by Thomas Veatch and integrates existing humor theories to predict that humor occurs when and only when something threatens the way we believe the world “ought” to be, but at the same time seems OK or acceptable… Read MORE.
http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/blogs/heather-wax/what-is-the-most-universal-type-of-humor
Learn more about the benign violation theory HERE.