Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

The Joke

A student sits in a lecture about "econophysics." The professor explains that he is new to the field but knows two things: "economics is too slow and the math is too simple." He then lays out the econophysics approach: "We take the economy, bring it using a black hole so it experiences infinite time dilation, then returns to our reference frame, beams wealth in a Fourier transform." A student in the audience whispers: "Are you aware that the 'physics' in econophysics just means they used math that wasn't calculus?" The professor responds: "That's not possible."

The comic satirizes the field of econophysics -- a real interdisciplinary field where physicists apply methods from physics to economic problems. The joke is that the physicist character assumes "econophysics" must involve actual physics concepts like black holes, time dilation, and Fourier transforms, when in reality the field mostly just means "economists who use slightly more sophisticated mathematical tools than basic calculus."

The Humor

The humor operates on the culture clash between physicists and economists. Physicists tend to view economics as mathematically trivial, and the comic exaggerates this attitude to absurd proportions: the physicist cannot even conceive of a version of "physics" that does not involve general relativity and exotic spacetime phenomena. The professor's horrified "That's not possible" at the suggestion that econophysics is just fancier math captures the genuine incredulity many physicists feel when they discover that other fields operate at a different level of mathematical complexity. The hovertext ("I feel like '-physics' is the scientist's way of saying 'I'm not like other girls'") nails the underlying ego dynamic: adding "-physics" to a field name is a way for scientists to signal that their approach is more rigorous and special than the existing discipline.

References

Econophysics is a real interdisciplinary research field that applies theories and methods originally developed by physicists to solve problems in economics. It emerged in the mid-1990s and has been both praised for bringing new tools to economics and criticized for sometimes lacking deep engagement with economic theory. The comic also references several physics concepts: black holes, time dilation (from general relativity), reference frames, and Fourier transforms.