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{{comic
 
{{comic
 
| number    = 703
 
| number    = 703
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| date      = February 17, 2010
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| date      = February 15, 2010
 
| title    = Honor Societies
 
| title    = Honor Societies
 
| image    = honor_societies.png
 
| image    = honor_societies.png
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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[[Cueball]] has apparently been invited to join an {{w|Honor society|honor society}}, but he considers the reason he should join to be a circular argument: because honorable people are in honor societies and people who are in honor societies are supposedly honorable. He objects that this is a {{w|tautology (language)|tautology}}: a claim that something is true because it is true (and thus a meaningless claim). From this, he concludes that he might as well be in a "tautology club" and then starts one. Thus [[Randall]] mocks honor society clubs for being pointless.
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{{incomplete}}
  
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In the final panel where Cueball has formed the club, [[Ponytail]] asks a new member (a Cueball-like guy) how he found out about them and he tells about their Facebook page. The reference to {{w|Facebook}} mocks {{w|Facebook groups}} whose names refer to a number of members they hope to attract (such as I Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Dislike Romanian Dog Abusers), usually ostensibly to raise awareness for some issue but perhaps in fact just for the ego-stroking pleasure of amassing a large number of followers. Tautology Club employs this tactic only for the sake of creating yet another tautology.  
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Cueball finds himself presented with an offer in the form of a circular argument. Because he's an honorable person, he should join an honor society; honorable people are in honor societies and people who are in honor societies are supposedly honorable. He decides that he might as well be in a tautology club, which would be another type of society that depends solely on its own premises: People who are in tautology clubs are in tautology clubs. Thus Randall mocks honor society clubs for being pointless.  
  
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Cueball is listing the rules of the club from a podium. The phrase "The first rule of _______ Club" is a reference to the 1999 movie ''{{w|Fight Club}}'' (see also [[922: Fight Club]]), which contains the famous line "The first rule of Fight Club is 'You do not talk about Fight Club,'" a reference to the club's intended secrecy. This phrase has been appropriated for myriad other varieties and parodies, such as the one mentioned in the comic.
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{{w|Tautology}} is an unnecessary repetition of meaning, using dissimilar words that effectively say the same thing. "The first rule of _ Club" is a reference to {{w|Fight Club}} (see also [[Fight Club]] comic).
  
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The short guy with glasses could be {{w|List of FoxTrot characters#Jason Fox|Jason Fox}} from the {{w|FoxTrot}} comic (see the first two frames of [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]].) Although it takes a little imagination to see, the hair, the height, the glasses, and the geek factor fits. Three of the other characters from the audience look like regular characters but with slightly different hairstyles than usual. There is a buzz cut version of [[Hairy]], [[Hairbun]], and [[Megan]].
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The answer to the title text would be a tautology.  Thus, he gets to be the president because he is the president.
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Tautologies would be mentioned again in [[1310: Goldbach Conjectures]]. Tautology Club was mentioned in [[1602: Linguistics Club]].
 
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The answer to the title text would also be a tautology: he gets to be the president because he is the president.
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:[Cueball sits at a desk, while someone off-screen answers his question.]
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:[Cueball sits at a desk, while a teacher or counselor out of frame advises]
 
:Cueball: Wait. I should join this honor society to show colleges I'm honorable, and I'm honorable because I'm in an honor society?
 
:Cueball: Wait. I should join this honor society to show colleges I'm honorable, and I'm honorable because I'm in an honor society?
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:Off-screen voice: Basically, yes.
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:Teacher: Basically, yes.
  
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:[Close up of Cueball.]
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:[Tighter shot of Cueball.]
 
:Cueball: Sounds like I could save time by joining the Tautology Club directly.
 
:Cueball: Sounds like I could save time by joining the Tautology Club directly.
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:Off-screen voice: That's not a real club.
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:Teacher: That's not a real club.
 
:Cueball: Then I'm starting it.
 
:Cueball: Then I'm starting it.
  
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:[Inserted in a frame crossing the top of the third panel's frame is a caption. Cueball is standing on a podium in the right part of the panel speaking. From left to right we find Ponytail, a Cueball-like guy, a short guy with glasses, a buzz cut version of Hairy, Hairbun, and to the right of Cueball, a woman that looks like Megan although with an uncharacteristically white stripe in her hair.]
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:TAUTOLOGY CLUB
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:Caption: Tautology Club:
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:[Seven individuals appear: Ponytail, a man, a shorter male with glasses that bears a striking resemblance to Jason Fox, a taller man with a buzz cut, a brunette woman with curly hair in a ponytail, Megan and Cueball standing on a box.]
 
:Ponytail: So how'd you learn about us?
 
:Ponytail: So how'd you learn about us?
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:Cueball-like guy: From your Facebook group, "If 1,000,000 People Join This Group, It Will Have 1,000,000 People In It."
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:Man: From your Facebook group, "If 1,000,000 People Join This Group, It Will Have 1,000,000 People In It."
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:Cueball: ''Listen up!'' The first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club.
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:Cueball: LISTEN UP! The first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club.
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Philosophy]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
 
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
 
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[[Category:Philosophy]]
 
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[[Category:Logic]]
 
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[[Category:Fight Club]]
 
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[[Category:Self-reference]]
 

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