2009-10-18
Explanation
This comic features a professor at a podium delivering a common philosophical point about science: "'Why' is outside the domain of science. Science seeks only to answer 'how' and 'what.' If you want answers to 'why,' go take a philosophy class." This is a real and frequently cited distinction in the philosophy of science -- that science describes mechanisms and phenomena but does not address purpose or meaning.
The caption below reveals the absurd context: "Professor Beiser gave a brief Q&A as to his experiments on bears flying jetpacks." The humor is that this lofty philosophical distinction about the limits of science is being invoked not in the context of, say, the origin of the universe, but to dodge the very reasonable question of why anyone would strap jetpacks to bears. The professor is hiding behind epistemological boundaries to avoid admitting he has no good reason for his research.
The votey panel delivers the perfect visual punchline: a bear wearing a jetpack, with a label reading "How: Jetpack. What: Bear. Why: The fuck not?" This demolishes the professor's evasion by showing that the real answer to "why" is simply gleeful recklessness, and that the how/what/why framework, when applied honestly to this experiment, reveals the absurdity rather than dignifying it.