Editing 263: Certainty

{{comic
| number    = 263
| date      = May 18, 2007
| title     = Certainty
| image     = certainty.png
| titletext = a(b+c)=(ab)+(ac). Politicize that, bitches.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are teachers in this comic, talking about their students and the political discussions with them. Megan expresses concern that political discussions shake her beliefs in what's true, then worries that if she cannot trust herself to determine the truth, she can't trust herself to teach it. Cueball reassures her by saying that it's not possible to teach a singular, real truth. However, he is interrupted by a harrumph of the mathematics teacher [[Miss Lenhart]] and states that Mathematics is an exception (because math can actually be ''proved'', conclusively). [[Randall]] likes mathematics because mathematical political discussions are not possible.

The title text shows a simple valid mathematical equation, the {{w|distributive property}}, and Randall is daring one to politicize it. Though this happened years after the comic was published, [https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/11/1178129/-Schools-spreading-socialism-by-teaching-the-distributive-property| people have in fact politicized the distributive property], claiming that teaching it promoted socialism.

==Transcript==
:[A door seen from a hallway, with "Teachers' Lounge" on the glass. Next to the door is a sign reading "Award." Inside are two teachers talking.]
:Megan: My students drew me into another political argument.
:Cueball: Eh; it happens.
:Megan: Lately, political debates bother me. They just show how good smart people are at rationalizing.
:[The two teachers, Megan and Cueball, continue talking. Megan has her arms raised. Miss Lenhart is seen reading a book on a sofa.]
:Megan: The world is so complicated - the more I learn, the less clear anything gets. There are too many ideas and arguments to pick and choose from. How can I trust myself to know the truth about anything? 
:Megan: And if everything I know is so shaky, what on Earth am I doing teaching?

:[Megan and Cueball continue talking. Cueball has his hand raised. Miss Lenhart has looked up from her book.]
:Cueball: I guess you just do your best. No one can impart perfect universal truths to their students.
:Miss Lenhart: *ahem*
:Cueball: ...Except math teachers.
:Miss Lenhart: Thank you.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]