Editing 603: Idiocracy

{{comic
| number    = 603
| date      = June 29, 2009
| title     = Idiocracy
| image     = idiocracy.png
| titletext = People aren't going to change, for better or for worse. Technology's going to be so cool. All in all, the future will be okay! Except climate; we fucked that one up.
}}

==Explanation==
The title of this comic is a reference to the dystopian comedy ''{{w|Idiocracy}}''. The film postulates that over about 500 years, society will suffer from a massive decrease in intellectual potential. This development could be attributed to the fact that people are more likely to reproduce due to lack of education, absence of planning, and general negligence with regards to the consequences of their actions. Randall presents a character who 'misinterprets' this, to say that those with a lower IQ are believed to be more likely to reproduce thus more readily pass on their genes. 

[[Cueball]] professes his approval for the theories represented in the film, and the guy with the white safari hat agrees with him, lamenting the gradual decay in intelligence and education. (Note that Safari Hat is not the same guy as [[White Hat]]! See below.)

But in panel 3, Safari Hat suddenly reveals that all the "facts" he cited were wrong, and we learn that he doesn't support the dysgenic thesis at all. He turns to accuse Cueball of conceited self-righteousness (using religious zealots as an analogy), harshly condemning intelligence dysgenics as an excuse for feeling superior to the rest of society. Cueball's suggestion of {{w|Birth control movement in the United States|birth control}} for the unintelligent only furthers his attitude. Although it is not named, one thing at work here is the {{w|Dunning-Kruger effect}} &mdash; that stupid people don't realize they're stupid.

Safari Hat's punchline, playing on Cueball's birth control suggestion, is a direct insult: it would be better to reproduce with a stupid person than an elitist like Cueball.

It's pretty clear here that [[Randall]] is voicing his opinion through Safari Hat, and using Cueball as a straw man.

The title text reflects the opinion. It makes a few cheery comments on the future, but then finishes on a rather sour note about {{w|climate change}}. Climate change is a [[:Category:Climate change|recurring theme]] in xkcd.

In fact, a negative correlation between intelligence and fertility is disputed; see the Wikipedia article on the accumulation of disadvantageous genes: {{w|dysgenics}}. And regardless of this the actual absolute IQs in modern societies have been rising, see {{w|Flynn effect}}. This can be paraphrased with the statement, that if the generation of our grandparents would take a today's IQ test, they would barely score an IQ of 70 and be at the limit of intellectual disability.

It should be noted that Safari Hat was at first thought to be a version of White Hat, who had the exact opposite personality depicted here. But since White Hat had already appeared three times before this comic, and as Safari hat has never been seen since (except in [[1000: 1000 Comics]]), there is no reason to mix these two characters.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in front of three shelves with DVDs, holding a single DVD in his hand looking at the cover. A guy with a white rounded safari hat (Safari Hat from now on) stands behind him.]
:Cueball: ''Idiocracy'' is so true.
:Safari Hat: I know, right? It used to be that the intelligent, upper classes had more children.

:[Zoom in on their heads as Cueball turns towards Safari Hat.]
:Safari Hat: Sadly, the recent reversal of this trend has dragged IQ scores and average education steadily downward.
:Cueball: Depressing, huh?

:[Zoom out to show Cueball holding the DVD down as Safari Hat lifts on arm towards him.]
:Safari Hat: Yeah, except ''everything I just said was wrong.''
:Cueball: Huh?
:Safari Hat: Wrong. False. The opposite of true.

:[Zoom in only on Safari Hat.]
:Safari Hat: You're like the religious zealots who are ''burdened'' by their superiority with the sad duty of decrying the ''obvious'' moral decay of each new generation.
:Safari Hat: And you're just as wrong.

:[Zoom out to both as before, but this time it is Cueball who holds up a finger.]
:Cueball: But look at how popular—
:Safari Hat: More harm has been done by people panicked over societal decline than societal decline ever did.

:[Cueball spreads out his arms (the DVD gone) as Safari Hat has walked out off the panel.]
:Cueball: Look — all we need is a program that limits breeding to—
:Safari Hat (off-panel): New theory: Stupid people reproduce more because the alternative is sleeping with ''you.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Climate change]]