2013-07-18
Original: 2013-07-18 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title banner: WHY "YOU CAN'T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS" IN TWO GRAPHS
Graph 1:
Y-axis label: HOW STUPID YOU FEEL
X-axis label: HOW MUCH YOU'RE LEARNING
The red curve rises in an upward-accelerating (exponential-like) shape: the more you're learning, the more stupid you feel.
Graph 2:
Y-axis label: FEAR OF LOOKING STUPID
X-axis label: AGE
The red curve is an S-shaped (sigmoid) curve rising with age: fear of looking stupid increases as you get older.
Votey:
Caption header: YOU RIGHT NOW:
Text: OH BABY. TWO GRAPHS AT ONCE.
Image: A person (shown from behind/over the shoulder, with a bubbly outline and what looks like hair or a head) staring at a computer monitor that displays two stacked graphs on its screen.
Graph 1:
Y-axis label: HOW STUPID YOU FEEL
X-axis label: HOW MUCH YOU'RE LEARNING
The red curve rises in an upward-accelerating (exponential-like) shape: the more you're learning, the more stupid you feel.
Graph 2:
Y-axis label: FEAR OF LOOKING STUPID
X-axis label: AGE
The red curve is an S-shaped (sigmoid) curve rising with age: fear of looking stupid increases as you get older.
Votey:
Caption header: YOU RIGHT NOW:
Text: OH BABY. TWO GRAPHS AT ONCE.
Image: A person (shown from behind/over the shoulder, with a bubbly outline and what looks like hair or a head) staring at a computer monitor that displays two stacked graphs on its screen.
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic titled "Why 'You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks' in Two Graphs." The first graph plots 'How Stupid You Feel' (y-axis) against 'How Much You're Learning' (x-axis), with a red curve that accelerates sharply upward, the more you learn, the dumber you feel. The second graph plots 'Fear of Looking Stupid' (y-axis) against 'Age' (x-axis), with a red S-shaped curve that rises steadily as you get older. Together the graphs imply older people avoid learning because learning makes you feel stupid and fear of looking stupid grows with age. Votey: a caption reads 'YOU RIGHT NOW:' above a person seen from behind staring at a computer monitor that shows two graphs on screen, with the line 'Oh baby. Two graphs at once.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.