2011-04-10
Explanation
This comic addresses the well-known parenting dilemma: if you bribe kids into reading, they will not learn to appreciate reading for its intrinsic value. It then presents three different approaches to solving this problem.
The "Typical Parenting Solution" shows a father gently telling his child, "You don't have to read this, but I hope you will because it's wonderful," while presenting a copy of Moby-Dick. The "Sociologist Parent's Solution" has a parent proposing to adjust environmental parameters so the child conceives of learning as the general optimum solution -- an overly academic, jargon-heavy approach that would go right over a child's head. Finally, the "Politician Parent's Solution" shows a parent offering the child 50 bucks to "appreciate the intrinsic value" of the book -- which completely defeats the purpose by bribing the child to feel something that, by definition, cannot be bribed into existence. Each approach satirizes the worldview of its respective archetype, with the politician's version being the most absurdly self-contradictory.