2010-06-28
Explanation
Titled "Do Not Date a Mathematician," this comic shows a woman telling her friend that she dumped her fiance. When asked why, she explains: "He demonstrated a poor understanding of probability." The second panel, labeled "Earlier...," reveals the offending moment: her fiance enthusiastically answered "Yes!" when she asked "Do you believe in soulmates?"
The joke hinges on how a mathematician would interpret the concept of soulmates through the lens of probability theory. If you take the idea of soulmates literally -- that there is exactly one perfect person destined for you out of billions of people on Earth -- then the probability of actually finding that person is astronomically low. A mathematician who truly understood probability would recognize that believing in soulmates is statistically absurd, making his enthusiastic "Yes!" a demonstration of profound mathematical naivety. The woman, being the real mathematician in the relationship, finds this intellectual failing to be a dealbreaker.
The votey panel shows the woman'''s silhouette saying "FOOL!" to her ex-fiance, reinforcing her contempt for his poor grasp of statistics. The comic is a fun example of SMBC'''s recurring theme of hyper-rational people applying mathematical or scientific thinking to everyday romantic situations with absurd results.