wow-2
Explanation
In this comic, two people are walking through a wooded area. One asks, "Why did you want to meet at MIT?" The other responds, "Oh, well, I'm a Fellow here at the Physics Department." The first person is visibly impressed: "Wow!"
The caption reveals: "Changing my last name to Fellow was the best decision of my life."
The joke hinges on the double meaning of "Fellow." In academic contexts, being a "Fellow" at MIT's Physics Department is an extremely prestigious position -- it implies you are a distinguished researcher or scholar. However, the caption reveals that the man's actual last name is "Fellow," meaning his statement "I'm a Fellow here" is technically true but deliberately misleading. He is simply a person named Fellow who happens to be at MIT, not necessarily someone who holds a fellowship.
The humor satirizes both academic status-seeking and the social power of prestigious institutional affiliations. It also plays on how easily people are impressed by credentials and titles, and how a simple linguistic trick can manufacture an aura of intellectual authority. The pipe the man is holding adds to the affected image of academic sophistication.