2011-06-05
Explanation
This comic uses the principles of homeopathy against homeopathy practitioners themselves. One person tells another, "Think about it. The fewer of you there are, the stronger your effect gets." The listener responds with an awed "Whoooaaa..." The caption below reads, "So far, I've convinced 197 people to quit homeopathy."
The joke works on multiple levels. Homeopathy is based on the pseudoscientific belief that substances become more potent the more they are diluted -- so a remedy diluted to the point where virtually no molecules of the original substance remain is considered the "strongest." The speaker cleverly applies this same logic to homeopaths themselves: if dilution equals strength, then having fewer homeopaths should make the remaining ones more powerful. This reasoning is, of course, absurd, but it is internally consistent with homeopathic logic.
The beauty of the trick is that a true believer in homeopathy would find it difficult to argue against it without undermining their own foundational principle. The votey panel takes the joke further, showing the speaker handing the homeopath a gun and saying, "Here's a gun... in case you want to... increase the rate of reaction..." -- darkly suggesting that if they really believe fewer practitioners means more power, they might want to reduce their numbers even faster. This is classic Weinersmith escalation, pushing an absurd premise to its most extreme logical conclusion.