Actually, in addition to being funny, this cartoon has a very pointed message.
In the first panel, Lucy makes an erroneous observation. Then, she uses that observation to draw an equally-erroneous conclusion and, in the second and third panels, she buttresses her erroneous conclusion with additional ‘facts’ and observations. Then, when Linus, in the third panel, points out the fallacy of the original observation, she uses all the fallacious ‘facts’ and observations to buttress a new and equally-fallacious conclusion.
This phenomenon is seen quite frequently in American politics, these days, in the form of people who make make statements, completely unsubstantiated by science, fact or research, and then draw equally-unsubstantiated, often-absurd conclusions from them. When the fallacies inherent in their assumptions are pointed out, they simply shift gears and use the ideas and ‘facts’ inferred from their ‘conclusions’ to draw other, equally-fallacious conclusions.
Actually, in addition to being funny, this cartoon has a very pointed message.
In the first panel, Lucy makes an erroneous observation. Then, she uses that observation to draw an equally-erroneous conclusion and, in the second and third panels, she buttresses her erroneous conclusion with additional ‘facts’ and observations. Then, when Linus, in the third panel, points out the fallacy of the original observation, she uses all the fallacious ‘facts’ and observations to buttress a new and equally-fallacious conclusion.
This phenomenon is seen quite frequently in American politics, these days, in the form of people who make make statements, completely unsubstantiated by science, fact or research, and then draw equally-unsubstantiated, often-absurd conclusions from them. When the fallacies inherent in their assumptions are pointed out, they simply shift gears and use the ideas and ‘facts’ inferred from their ‘conclusions’ to draw other, equally-fallacious conclusions.