Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with this title? It's an explanation for some (presumably non-mundane) phenomenon that's impossibly mundane. For instance, if someone said that they saw a spaceship land, little green men get out, get back in, and then fly off into space shooting rainbow colored laser beams, and the explanation was "swamp gas", then that explanation would be impossibly mundane.
I agree that Implausably Mundane Explanation would be a good redirect, though.
"...it's an explanation for some phenomenon that's impossibly mundane..."
I am picking up what you are putting down. But the trope says it's about a plausible explanation being rejected in favor of an implausible one. (I think. It is... unclear.) The title is misleading at best and totally retarded at worst.
edited 14th Nov '10 6:51:03 PM by rodneyAnonymous
Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.This trope is more along the lines of: "I think the children were replaced with alien doppelgängers—they're doing their homework without being told to!" "Maybe they want to do their homework?" "Don't be ridiculous."
Or I don't know, but it definitely needs a reference to Occam's Razor.
edited 14th Nov '10 9:38:05 PM by troacctid
Mundane But Out Of Character? It's the point of the trope is as few words as I can think of.
I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.I think the current title's fine, but if someone can think of a better one then I'd be down for a rename.
The trope is a mundane explanation being rejected in favor of an outlandish one. The explanation is being rejected because it's "impossibly mundane".
The description needs some work, though. It current says that the explanation has to be because of a character trait, which seems overly narrow to me. I'd say expand it to include any example where the mundane explanation is rejected because it's mundane.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.Ah, this one. I remember being the one to propose that name partly because the original title
, "Maybe He Read Your Report", was an example-named title.
Few to no other alternate titles were proposed during the YKTTW.
edited 15th Nov '10 9:06:25 AM by Stratadrake
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.
Diagonalizing The Matrix
Occam Was Wrong? (For avoiding a Ptitle)
Pretentious quote || In-joke from fandom you've never heard of || Shameless self-promotion || Something weird you'll habituate toSome of the examples show simple explanations for the fantastic ones (simplicity is not the same a possibility or likelyhood).
How about Flying Pigs Razor? "When an event has two nearly impossible explanations, the least unlikely is to be preferred."
Take the Stargate SG1 example. O'Neill knows the contents of the briefing before he is told. Either he is stuck in a time loop, or he read the briefing report beforehand. Both are simple, but the latter is unlikely. SG-1 has seen aliens (including one on their team), uses an artificial wormhole machine, and seen things that warp time (like linking the gate to a black hole). But they have never seen O'Neill read a briefing report, which means the latter is mundane, but Cue the Flying Pigs.
BTW, do we have a trope for when a mundane explanation is more ridiculous than the fantastic, instead of just Out of Character? Like the "reflected the light from Venus" line from Men In Black? That would be a Sister Trope to this.
edited 15th Nov '10 2:57:44 PM by DragonQuestZ
I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.I was wondering that myself; I don't think we do. Would that only involve ridiculous cover stories, or could it also include situation where an arbitrary skeptic is reaching for some mundane explanation to avoid admitting the existence of the paranormal?
Flying Pigs + Occam's Razor = Ock Hams Razor.
(Sorry.)
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.No, "Razor" in that context means a type of deduction. Heard of Hanlon's Razor?
I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.
I think that, while some people will correctly interpret Flying Pigs Razor to be about a type of deduction involving flying pigs, some other people will mistake it for a play on Occam's Razor and interpret the intended meaning wrong.
But how is the play on Occam's Razor and/or Hanlon's Razor not reflective of the trope? Cue the Flying Pigs is a very hyperbolic way of declaring "X would never happen!"; and "Bob would never do that!" is a notable subset of things that would never happen.
This trope is basically "Bob would never do that, therefore fairy magic is a much more plausible explanation!"

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.This post was thumped by the Stick of Post Thumping