economist
Explanation
The Joke
The comic shows two scenarios of blunt, hurtful honesty. In the first panel, someone tells an economist "I'm an economist. You can't insult me because I perceive all human behavior as arising from natural incentive structures which no one can control." The other person responds: "You're ugly, you're stupid, and you're bad at your job." The economist remains unfazed, saying "Ehh." In the second scenario, someone says "You're a bad father. Your kids all hate you. You've failed at everything you were ever supposed to do." The father responds with "You're a self-aware guy," seeming to accept it calmly -- but then suddenly snaps: "I will destroy you, you son of a bitch's bastard!"
The comic contrasts two approaches to receiving criticism. The economist genuinely does not care about personal insults because he has intellectualized all behavior into abstract models, rendering emotional attacks meaningless. The father, however, tries to adopt the same detached posture but cannot sustain it when the criticism hits too close to home, erupting into creative profanity.
The Humor
The humor comes from the juxtaposition of the two reactions. The economist's unflappable calm in the face of vicious insults is funny because it parodies the detached rationalism of economists who really do claim to view all human behavior through incentive models. The father's attempt to be equally stoic collapses spectacularly, and the absurdly constructed insult "you son of a bitch's bastard" (an insult so convoluted it insults someone's parent's parent) is the comic's way of showing that most people simply cannot maintain intellectual detachment when someone attacks their deepest insecurities.