Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

internet-3

2021-11-15 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
internet-3
Votey panel for internet-3
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 satirizes how the internet has normalized access to bizarre animal facts that previous generations would have considered obscure specialist knowledge.

In the first panel, a father tells his child: "Dad! Wait 'til I tell you! Did you know male ducks have crazy corkscrew-shaped...?" The child is excitedly sharing what they clearly learned online. The father responds: "You know how male ducks have crazy corkscrew... course they use for the... they use fertile... their labyrinthine birth canal." He already knows it all.

The second panel features two adults reflecting: "That used to be obscure knowledge. Trivia questions were about what a group of crows is called and stuff like that. Now every eight-year-old knows about the reproductive anatomy of waterfowl." This observes how the internet has democratized access to niche scientific information.

The final panel delivers the punchline with a figure at a podium: "Of course I do! Everyone does! That's a hello!" The joke is that duck reproductive anatomy has become so widely known through viral internet content that knowing about it is no longer impressive or even noteworthy -- it's as basic as a greeting. The comic pokes fun at how the internet has created a shared body of "weird facts" (particularly about animal reproduction) that has replaced traditional pub-quiz trivia as common knowledge.

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