Not OP, but I’ll take a stab. > funny because it happened to a scientist that invented a tool. ..for transferring fluids. I don’t think much of Freudian psyc

Not OP, but I’ll take a stab. > funny because it happened to a scientist that invented a tool. ..for transferring fluids. I don’t think much of Freudian psychology as a whole, but he’s got a relevant quote that is pretty good on Gallows humor, from Der Humor 1927: > "The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure." The comedy, in this light, is a result of the dissonance that someone smart and savvy enough to invent an extremely useful tool for moving liquids died in a large body of liquids not long after said invention. My guess is that people who find the humor here relate more to the drowning scientist directly. Dying from drowning in an Alpine lake, or just drowning, isn’t that common of a risk, but if it is a risk you are familiar with you’re more likely to find the humor. At least thats the case for me.