2011-12-27
Explanation
This comic satirizes the misuse of scientific research to support personal agendas, specifically in the context of the "friend zone." A man presents a study to a woman claiming that, according to the research, she should move him from the "friend zone" to the "lover zone." The study is authored by "Carol & Steve," which happens to be the names of the two characters, immediately hinting that the research is not legitimate.
The woman initially takes the study seriously, noting it contradicts one of her hypotheses. But when she asks who funded the study, the man defensively insists it's a "peer-reviewed study." The journal turns out to be called "The Journal of Carol Should Do Me," and the physical copy is clearly a Popular Science magazine with a hand-drawn cover glued on. The comic then shows a "retraction" from the journal, with an errata noting that the author (Steve) has been found to be "icky" and "unable to decline." The final panel has Steve triumphantly declaring "My hypothesis was right!" -- misinterpreting the retraction as validation. The comic mocks both the manipulation of scientific authority for selfish purposes and the way people cherry-pick or fabricate evidence to confirm what they already want to believe.