2013-01-12
Explanation
This comic proposes an "Event Idea: Festival of Ad Hoc Biological Adaptation Hypotheses." A presenter at a lectern argues that babies are shaped like footballs and have flexible bones because "primitive man would have wanted to spread his genes as far as possible." The hypothesis: early humans accomplished this by punting babies from village to village so they would arrive in a different population. She further explains that babies' ample fat (organ protection during punting), need for burping (gas would have been expelled by the dropkick), and smooth, hairless skin (good aerodynamics) all support this theory. The audience applauds enthusiastically, and she is awarded "first prize" -- a gold statue of Darwin looking doubtful.
The comic is a sharp satire of evolutionary psychology and the broader tendency in popular science to construct "just-so stories" -- post hoc explanations that reverse-engineer an evolutionary purpose for any observed trait. The presenter takes real biological facts about babies (flexible bones, high body fat, hairlessness, need for burping) and constructs a hilariously absurd but internally consistent narrative to "explain" them. The prize being a statue of Darwin "looking doubtful" is the perfect final touch, suggesting that even the father of evolutionary theory would be skeptical of these kinds of speculative adaptionist narratives. The comic skewers a real problem in science communication where unfalsifiable evolutionary explanations are presented as though they are established fact.