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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Those damned Sciences

What's Mallard raving about today?

Science. College.

Mallard Fillmore, noted how-can-global-warming-be-real-if-it-is-cold-outside-ologist and one of the world's foremost Republican mathematicians. is appalled that this young man did not pursue a degree in Math or Science.

I honestly wonder sometimes what it is like going through life so blissfully stupid and unaware.

16 comments:

Iron Dragon said...

Umm, ok? Hard sciences can mean anything, physics, chemistry, biology, or any of the subtopics therein. Some of them might not be relevant for a major (A med student is better off in chemistry and biology than in physics classrooms, and someone doing journalism doesn't directly need any of them). But even then, this might work if he wasn't putting his voice out among people who use phrases like 'over-educated' and 'pointy-headed-intellectuals'.

As it is this comes out to being another 'I hate everything' rant, similar to his complaints about teachers attempting to do things to make the classwork easier/more fun but then also complaining that school is boring.

exanonymous said...

Personal experience speaking there?

Hard science is obviously too hard for Mr. Dummystrawprop. The councilor was only giving the truth. However, I've never really run into anyone who was discouraged for any reason other than for the sexism/racism in the field if they show an interest and some intelligence.

And as every college student ending their education knows, you are free to ignore the advice of councilors or switch councilors. And anyone who has completed more than two years of college knows that the last few years are based more on the advice of professors anyways. Our school system doesn't discourage scientists, and is in fact desperate for them. What is discouraging is the lack of respect the profession gets (scientists vs. Bible!) and the amount of money it costs to complete the education.

Tog said...

Since Davey, Iron, and Exanon have already covered the jaw-dropping stupidity of this strip's text, I'd just like to point out that Batshit's drawn basically the same strip five days in a row.

Talk about avoiding effort...woooo.

Tog said...

Oh, poor Batshit. Even Wonderella is kickin' your ass, and doesn't even mean to.

Kip W said...

This strip is like a talking Barbie doll. You pull the string and it says "Humor is hard. Whining is fun!"

(footnote: If you want "hard," try staying focused through Featherbutt's eternal whining. You'll soon beg for the icy relief of integral calculus.)

exanonymous said...

It's occurred to me after the fact, but there was that Pew study that showed that an overwhelming number of scientists leaned to the left.

So, if Mallard thinks poorly of the students taking "easier" routes (quotes because I'm well aware of work put into other degrees), what does that say about liberals and conservatives? Not quite the zinger it was supposed to be at the very least.

Tinsley: Sociopath said...

I wanted to become a scientist, but my father, who was a scientist, explained that the fields of science were horribly closed, and thousands of talented students were stuck waiting for jobs. This graduate's counselor gave him the right advice.

Tinsley, however, is saying that science is pure evil, and lazy, greedy liberal parents, and teachers are using it to destroy this country. He is saying that Republicans should council students to avoid science, and work towards destroying the advancements of the last two centuries. He misses his middle age, when slavery was legal, and no one understood the faintest concept of electronics.

Word Verification: Peted, pete is a type of moss that forms on things that have been inert for long periods of time, like Tinsley when he tries to think, or imagine.

Tinsley: Sociopath said...

Tinsley's arguments during this series of cartoons:

Day one: Insurance is evil.
Day two: Demanding change in a flawed system is evil.
Day three: Diversifying one's knowledge is evil.
Day four: Science, and, therefore, technology is evil.

My guesses as to the rest of the week:

Day five: Reading, and, therefore, philosophy is evil.
Day six: Allowing anyone who is different from Tinsley to live is evil.
Day seven: Allowing the survivors to acquire basic social services, rather than fight for survival in an Objectivist wasteland is evil.

Word Verification: Dionom, an onom is half of the most evil thing possible, and Tinsley is a dionom.

Frank Stone said...

Ah-HAH!! So it's the GUIDANCE COUNSELOR'S fault!! He's probably a damn HIPPIE from the damn SIXTIES with his damn PEACE and LOVE and CIVIL RIGHTS and shit! Damn SIXTIES!!!

Oh -- but he counseled the student against studying "hard science". That means he's anti-intellectual ... which is GOOD, because them damn eggheads is what's ruining the country ... but colleges is full of book-learnin' types, an' the guidance counselor WORKS at a college, which makes him BAD ... but he CAN'T be bad, because he's against book-learnin' ... RRLLAAAUGGHHBRAINHURTSWHERE'SMYBOOOZZZE????

Steve-O said...

This student obviously doesn't go to Liberty University where the students are guided into the "hard science" classes of "Geology 101, how the earth was formed 6,000 years ago" or "Astronomy 204, how we can see those stars that are millions of light-years away if the earth is only 6,000 years old. (the answer to these questions is always "because God said so")"

Kaitlyn said...

Ha ha kids these days are so lazy!

Is that the point?

Because previous strips say that science is bad, school is bad, so it's good he didn't do that.

I thought school related head aches would end when the semester did. I was so wrong...

rewinn said...

Exo is referring quite accurately to this Pew study.

A new study compliments this finding by providing evidence that
"... liberalism and atheism, and for men (but not women), preference for sexual exclusivity correlate with higher intelligence... ."

Thus today's "comic" is extra ironic. When it comes to the "hard sciences" Tinshley backs a political movement that asks scientists what the facts are and then announces the opposite.

P.S. Brewsky's "college degree" was in WHAT hard science?

Tinsley: Sociopath said...

Hey Tinsley, here is a fun fact that expands upon Steve's argument: The speed of light is equal to the flow of time, yet we can see objects that are many lightyears away, suggesting that different points in space are, also, different points in time, and we are seeing stars that exist millions of years, as well as light years, from us. How do you reconcile this with the idea that the earth is 6,000 years old? O, never mind, you do not, because you ignore any evidence that contradicts your lies!

Word Verification: Shrownbu, a very powerful hallucinogen that makes you see things that make far more sense than any Mallard Fillmore comic.

Ducky is Right said...

Man who spends his days guzzling down Fox News and making shitty drawerings for a living attacks students for not wanting to do "hard" things.

Yup.

Rewinn reminded me of that Daily Show, about the Texas education board thing. Mr. Dentist thinks that SOMEONE has to stand up to the "experts".
Jon: Is that so, Dentist? Well, you believe brushing and flossing will prevent tooth decay? Well, I think rubbing my teeth with chocolate will. I guess we'll just have to teach the controversy.

Rootbeer said...

This kid WANTED to become a Sciencey Mathy Person, but his EVILIBERAL "guidance" "counselor" poisoned his mind!

Nevermind that one of the defining characteristics of American colleges (vs. other post-secondary institutions like trade schools) is that students are compelled to get a well-rounded education by engaging in studies outside of their major.

In the real world, Mallard's Straw Graduate here would probably have taken at least two semesters' worth of Hard Science, even if it was "Rocks for Jocks" and "Intro to Food Science".

Muzition said...

I love the term "how-can-global-warming-be-real-if-it-is-cold-outside-ologist".