2013-01-02
Explanation
The comic presents a conspiracy theorist who takes two real observations -- that population growth in developed countries follows a logistic curve (rising, slowing, then leveling off) and that computing power has risen exponentially -- and notes that these trends are historically coincident. From this correlation, he constructs an elaborate conspiracy theory: computers haven't actually gotten faster; instead, 100 billion secret people are hidden somewhere, manually performing calculations whenever you run a computer program, and the chips in your computer are just radios that send data to these hidden workers. Under this theory, Moore's Law isn't about transistors at all -- it's tracking population growth.
The punchline comes when someone asks if the conspiracy theorist actually believes any of this, and he replies, "I believe everything that sounds cool enough." The comic ends with a "Fun Fact" banner: "Conspiracy theories are just fan theories about real life." The humor works by parodying the structure of conspiracy thinking -- taking real data points, noting a superficial correlation, and then constructing an absurdly elaborate hidden explanation while ignoring far simpler ones. The comparison to fan theories is particularly apt, as both involve people spinning creative narratives from limited evidence, driven more by the desire for an interesting story than by rigorous analysis. The comic also touches on the appeal of conspiracy theories: they make the world seem more narratively coherent and exciting than mundane reality.