Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

The Joke

A character uses statistics to prove something obviously misleading — like "on average, humans have one testicle and one ovary" or "Bill Gates walks into a bar and on average everyone is a billionaire." The point is that statistical summaries can be technically correct while completely misrepresenting reality.

The Humor

The comic illustrates how averages and other summary statistics can be weaponized to tell any story you want. Every example is technically true but creates a wildly false impression. The humor is in the gap between the mathematical correctness and the obvious absurdity of the conclusion.

Context

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a well-known saying (often misattributed to Mark Twain). The specific problem illustrated — that averages can be misleading when distributions are skewed — is fundamental to statistical literacy. SMBC frequently returns to statistics as a source of humor because the gap between what numbers say and what they mean is endlessly fertile.