Meet the “Science Humor” Facebook Group

We were curious to hear about the roots of the “Science Humor” project. "I've been on Facebook since 2007, and back then, I'd share memes with like-minded friends. Literally, one of those friends asked, 'Why don't you start a group to collect these together?' And the rest is history, as they say," The founder shed some light on the roots of “Science Humor.”

He shared his thoughts on why the group has resonated with so many people over the years. “The most important reason for success, in my opinion, is strict rules and strict moderation,” he told Bored Panda.

“Early on, we started getting spam in the group, so I implemented the option for all posts to be approved by a moderator, and with all due modesty, that is me and only me. Some users don't like this, but they'd like the spam even less.”

According to Harris, funny science jokes can be a great way to break down the barriers around the interest in science. “Many folks who may have suffered poor teachers and disinterested parents (or still do!) can more easily relate to the humor in science,” he said.

“For the Science Humor group, users are introduced to a wider range of cool ideas and amazing phenomena than they would in the classroom.”

The group has been so massively successful that others on Facebook have tried to emulate its popularity and success. However, they didn't quite manage to capture that lightning in a bottle. “We are the OG!” Harris said.

The “Science Humor” Facebook group has been running strong for more than a decade. Created all the way back in October 2011, the online community has become a popular niche for everything found at the intersection of science and comedy. 

We’re pretty big fans of memes, no matter their type, but the ones that make us use our noggins and pique our curiosity are some of our top faves. We love learning something new, and there’s nothing better than “Science Humor” memes that make us want to do some research.

The group’s tagline is all about how they’re “seeing humor in life, the universe, and everything since 2011.” The founders of the project joke that the group is part of a neuropsychological study that’s trying to figure out whether scientists actually have a sense of humor. They also point out that the science jokes in the group are meant for anyone who loves the topic. 

The administrator team running the whole show has a bunch of rules that the members ought to follow, but they’re all very straightforward. At their core, they’re mostly about being a decent human being to everyone else on social media. That means no swearing, no sharing of bigoted points of view, and absolutely no bullying or shaming other people or groups.

The admins also ask the community members not to promote any specific political views, ideologies, philosophies, or religions. Obviously, the group is meant to focus on funny science jokes, but the “Science Humor” crowd is asked not to repost the stuff that they stumble across in other Facebook groups and pages. The only exceptions are pics found on high-quality science or humor websites. And, in a total blast from the past, members are also told to avoid rage-style comics and memes.

Does Humor Help in Learning?

Humor, when used correctly, can be an invaluable tool both in the classroom and when learning individually. One Yale University thesis from 2010 showed that people are far more likely to remember humorous statements than ones that aren’t funny. What’s more, if the joke is also relevant to the information, the individual’s ability to recall the fact is even greater. That means that science jokes and memes can help boost your memory, so long as they aren’t completely random.

As a whole, humor is incredibly beneficial to us. It diverts our attention, helps us temporarily forget about our problems, and gets us through tough times. Not only that, it physically stimulates our organs, gives our immune systems a boost, improves sleep, reduces stress, and can even ease pain. If that isn’t enough to convince you to look at more hilarious “Science Humor” memes throughout the day, we don’t know what is. Of course, comedy shouldn’t be used as a crutch to completely ignore real-life issues—you’ll still need to solve those sooner or later.

Society as a whole tends to value intelligence very highly. However, IQ scores alone aren’t all that much to brag about. That’s because success in life depends on a wide host of other factors than someone’s smarts. Bloomberg challenged the idea of the role raw intelligence plays in success in an article wittily titled, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?” In a nutshell, economist James Heckman found that IQ determines only one to two percent of a child’s future success.

What matters more for future success than intelligence is getting good grades. And you won’t get them by just being smart. You need a lot of so-called non-cognitive skills to get ahead. For one, you need perseverance to develop good study habits. You also need strong social skills in order to collaborate with other people. Your personality and soft skills really do count for a lot here. It’s not enough to be born intelligent; you need to develop conscientiousness and openness.

Though you might be the best candidate for a particular job in terms of hard skills, getting the position in the first place requires that you’re able to communicate well and respectfully with recruiters and managers. Not only that, but in order to thrive in the workplace and ascend the corporate hierarchy, it’s not enough to be the smartest person in the office: you need interpersonal skills, the ability to work well in a team, and generally, be a pleasant person to be around.

What's your relationship with science like, dear Pandas? Is there a specific subject that you're really interested in? Which of the memes from the “Science Humor” Facebook group did you enjoy the most? We'd love to hear from you, so scroll down to the comment section and share your thoughts. Meanwhile, if you enjoyed the witty science jokes, make sure to join the group for some more fresh content.