2012-05-14
Explanation
This comic, titled "In the Future, Dog Tags Will Be More Functional," shows a military drill sergeant issuing dog tags to a soldier. He explains that the first tag serves the traditional purpose of listing the soldier's name, number, and blood type. The second tag, however, has a very modern function: it destroys the soldier's browser history if his heart stops beating.
The joke plays on the common anxiety people have about what would happen to their internet browsing history if they died unexpectedly. The traditional purpose of military dog tags -- identifying fallen soldiers -- is juxtaposed with the very contemporary and relatable fear that someone might discover your embarrassing or private browsing habits after death. The comic suggests that in the future, protecting one's digital privacy in death will be considered just as essential as medical identification, which is both absurd and uncomfortably plausible.