(I read the Hanson piece when published, I didn't just now re-read it)
I don't find that convincing as it is insufficiently general: there are so many examples of humor that are difficult to fit into the model.
How does this fit? "If you see a fork in the road, take it."
Does the humor in that piggyback on the social adaption, and how do you know which had precedence?
I definately think there are rules that might define the bounds of socially precarious humor, but that's a specialization.
A theory I've heard that handles this more general class of observations is that laughter specifically marks simply "relief from potentially scary tension" (which covers a very wide class of surprises).
A snap in the forest plus a fluttering of birds... people freeze and look for tigers feeling scared... someone sees that it is a child playing a trick... laughs... everyone relaxes.
Reading the recent list of rationality quotes arranged by karma underlines the popularity of funniness, and being funny should probably be included in the pursuit of awesomeness.
My best guesses about characteristics of humor: If there's a word which makes the line funny, put it at the end. Phyllis Diller recommends that the word should end with a hard consonant (t or k).
If you can make a surprising statement extremely concise, there's a reasonable chance it will be funny especially if it includes an insult about an acceptable target.
Quasi-quote from Jim Davis, author of Garfield: "If I can't think of anything funny, I have one of the characters hit another." Any other principles of humor and/or methods for cultivating the ability to be funny?
ETA: The most recent thing that struck me as very funny-- how does it fit into the theories?