2012-08-28
Explanation
This single-panel comic, captioned "If sex were like standardization tests," shows two people in an intimate setting. One asks, "Wait! How do I know you'''re good at sex?" The other responds, "I got an 87% on erotic reading comprehension." When the first person asks, "What'''s that have to do with sex?" the reply is: "Nothing, but it'''s testable."
The comic satirizes standardized testing and the broader tendency in education and credentialing to measure what is easily testable rather than what is actually important. Just as standardized tests in education often assess skills like reading comprehension that may have little bearing on real-world competence, the comic imagines applying the same flawed logic to sex -- measuring "erotic reading comprehension" because it can be quantified, even though it has nothing to do with actual sexual ability. The phrase "Nothing, but it'''s testable" perfectly captures the absurdity of valuing measurability over relevance.
The votey panel extends the joke: the man adds, "I also got a 4.0 in sex discussion group." This further parodies academia by suggesting that talking about sex in a seminar format (getting a perfect GPA in a discussion-based course) is treated as a meaningful credential, when in reality it demonstrates nothing about practical ability. It mirrors how academic credentials can become disconnected from the skills they are supposed to represent.