2011-10-27
Explanation
This single-panel comic shows a man holding a piece of paper and telling an annoyed-looking woman: "According to Science, women should perform fellatio at least twice a day." Below the panel, a caption reads: "Best decision ever: Changing my last name to Science."
The joke plays on the common rhetorical appeal to authority that people use when they say "according to science" to lend credibility to a claim. The punchline reveals that the man has simply changed his legal last name to "Science," so he can technically say "according to Science" (meaning himself) while making any outrageous personal demand sound like it has empirical backing. It satirizes both the way people misuse scientific authority to justify their own preferences, and the gullibility that the phrase "according to science" can exploit.
The votey panel extends the joke: the man says "You'''re being anti-science" to someone who objects -- weaponizing the common accusation of being "anti-science" (usually directed at people who deny climate change, vaccines, etc.) to guilt-trip anyone who pushes back against his absurd personal claims. This adds another layer of satire about how appeals to scientific authority can be used manipulatively.