2013-02-03
Explanation
This comic depicts a conversation between a young girl and an older woman (likely her grandmother) about puberty. The girl confidently declares that she has read extensively about biology, development, and reproduction, and therefore understands the biological reasons and physiological symptoms of puberty completely. She reasons that since she understands the system, it cannot hurt her -- a classic case of youthful intellectual overconfidence.
The older woman stares at the girl with a knowing, weary expression, clearly aware that intellectual understanding of puberty is entirely different from the lived experience of it. She then delivers the punchline by telling the girl that she is going to have a rough time with art, science, love, war, money, and time -- essentially expanding the lesson beyond puberty to encompass all of life'''s great challenges. The girl dismisses this warning, saying she is "more into cookies anyway."
The humor lies in the gap between theoretical knowledge and experiential reality. The girl'''s belief that understanding a biological process intellectually will shield her from its emotional and physical effects is charmingly naive. The grandmother'''s response broadens the joke to suggest that this same naivete will apply to virtually every domain of human experience. The votey panel drives this home by showing the girl later saying "my stomach hurts," with someone responding "cookies" -- suggesting that even her one declared safe interest (cookies) has come back to bite her, reinforcing the theme that understanding something does not protect you from its consequences.