2009-09-27
Explanation
This comic presents a graph with "Time Spent Single" on the x-axis and "Acceptable Varieties of Masturbation" on the y-axis. Two lines are plotted: a red/pink line labeled "What you'd think is true" shows a gradual, roughly linear increase over time, while a blue line labeled "Reality" shoots up almost vertically at the start and quickly reaches the maximum.
The joke is about how quickly a single person's standards for self-pleasure deteriorate after a breakup. The "expected" trajectory suggests a slow, gradual expansion of what one considers acceptable. But "reality," according to the comic, is that people almost immediately abandon all restraint the moment they become single, with the blue line rocketing to the top almost instantly. It is a self-deprecating observation about human behavior and loneliness, presented in the pseudo-academic format of a scientific graph -- a hallmark of SMBC's humor style.
The votey panel shows a shirtless man happily reading a textbook titled "Numerical Analysis," which serves as a punchline by providing a specific (and absurd) example of one of these "acceptable varieties" -- suggesting that even dry mathematics textbooks become stimulating material when one has been single long enough.