natural-selection
Explanation
The Joke
The comic is set entirely in darkness (a black panel), with only speech bubbles visible. One person screams "AAAH! Why are you putting a spoon in my ear?!" and the other calmly responds, "I will be the first to admit, it appears to be a low-fitness mutation."
The joke is that the second person is treating their sexual encounter as an evolutionary experiment. Instead of apologizing for an obviously bad move in bed, they frame it in the clinical language of evolutionary biology -- calling it a "low-fitness mutation," meaning a trait that would not survive natural selection because it does not improve reproductive success.
The caption below reads: "Funtime activity: Using evolutionary algorithms to generate sex moves." This confirms the premise: someone is literally applying the logic of genetic algorithms (random mutations, fitness testing, selection) to figuring out what works in bed.
The Humor
The comedy works on multiple levels. First, there is the absurdity of applying rigorous scientific methodology to something as intimate and intuitive as sex. Second, the specific "mutation" tested -- putting a spoon in someone's ear -- is so bizarre that it is obviously a terrible idea, yet the person responds with detached scientific analysis rather than embarrassment. Third, the darkness of the panel suggests we are witnessing this intimate moment, but all we get is the ridiculous dialogue. The humor is characteristic of SMBC's love of taking scientific concepts to their most absurd logical conclusions in everyday life.
References
- Natural selection and evolutionary algorithms are optimization processes inspired by Darwinian evolution, where random mutations are tested for "fitness" and successful ones are kept while unsuccessful ones are discarded.
- Fitness in evolutionary biology refers to an organism's ability to survive and reproduce; here it is repurposed to mean sexual effectiveness.