2012-03-24
Explanation
This comic contrasts the behavior of scientists in two different contexts: discussing papers versus discussing grants. The top panel, labeled "When Scientists Discuss Papers," shows a bespectacled scientist offering a measured, methodologically sound critique: "I don'''t think this inference is entirely reasonable. If you'''re using several non-independent variables you'''re liable to accumulate more error than your model accounts for." This represents the rational, evidence-based discourse that science aspires to.
The bottom panel, labeled "When Scientists Discuss Grants," shows the same scientist abandoning all pretense of rationality. Instead of careful analysis, he relays superstitious hearsay: "A guy who worked at the NSF once told me if we light a candle within this jackal skull, the funders will smile upon our hopes." His colleague eagerly responds, "I'''ll get the altar!" The joke highlights how the grant application process is so opaque, competitive, and seemingly arbitrary that even rigorous scientists resort to magical thinking when trying to secure funding.
The votey panel extends the joke by showing a scientist excitedly holding up an approved grant document and exclaiming "Proof!" -- as if the approved grant validates the superstitious ritual rather than the scientific merit of the proposal. This reinforces the comic'''s satirical point that the grant process feels so disconnected from scientific rigor that approval seems more like a miracle than a meritocratic outcome.