estimate
Explanation
This single-panel comic shows an office scene where a boss says to an employee named Dave: "Dave, I have more work for you, but... but I can't give it to you because I can't correctly estimate your distance or direction of motion!" Dave, wearing a bold black-and-white geometric-patterned shirt, laughs heartily. The caption reads: "People who think there's no point in studying history have never learned about Dazzle camouflage."
The joke is built on the real historical concept of Dazzle camouflage (also called Razzle Dazzle), a naval camouflage technique used primarily during World War I. Unlike conventional camouflage that tries to hide an object, Dazzle camouflage uses bold, intersecting geometric patterns to make it difficult for enemies to estimate a ship's speed, distance, range, and heading. The goal was not invisibility but confusion -- making it harder for U-boats to aim torpedoes accurately.
Dave has applied this principle to office wear. His aggressively patterned shirt functions as Dazzle camouflage, making it impossible for his boss to correctly estimate his distance or direction of motion, and therefore impossible to assign him more work. The comic works as both a history lesson and a workplace fantasy: who has not wanted to become literally untrackable by management?
The caption ties it together by arguing that studying history has practical applications -- in this case, learning an obscure WWI naval tactic and repurposing it to avoid work. It playfully counters the common complaint that history is useless by presenting the most absurd possible "practical application."