Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

consensus

2018-07-18 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
consensus
Votey panel for consensus
This explanation is incomplete or may contain errors. It was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human editor.

Explanation

This comic explores how people selectively invoke group consensus to support their arguments. A man tells his wife that experts agree collecting samurai swords is "odd" and it's common knowledge. The wife asks "according to who?" and the husband responds "husband is right" as though citing a source. When robots are consulted to arbitrate, they note that the husband was right about the swords but is now using a "biased sample" by selectively invoking consensus only when it supports his position.

The wife is declared "wrong" by the robots on the factual question, but the husband is also criticized for his methodology. The final twist is that one character got promoted at work for being exactly this kind of selective reasoner, suggesting that intellectually dishonest argumentation tactics are actually rewarded in professional settings. The comic pokes fun at how people weaponize "consensus" and "common knowledge" in arguments, and how the desire to win an argument often trumps genuine interest in truth.

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