Editing 1170: Bridge
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
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"If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?" This is a common question, used to challenge a decision based on the {{w|bandwagon effect}}. It challenges someone to consider whether something is really a good idea, even if everyone else does it (in this case, friends). The sentence is, upon closer analysis, a {{w|straw man}} attack that over-extrapolates the bandwagon effect. | "If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?" This is a common question, used to challenge a decision based on the {{w|bandwagon effect}}. It challenges someone to consider whether something is really a good idea, even if everyone else does it (in this case, friends). The sentence is, upon closer analysis, a {{w|straw man}} attack that over-extrapolates the bandwagon effect. | ||
− | [[Cueball]] responds by assuming that if all of his friends jumped off a bridge, there must have been some extreme circumstance that made it logical to do so; for example, that the bridge is on fire. This points out a logical fallacy with the question: if | + | [[Cueball]] responds by assuming that if all of his friends jumped off a bridge, there must have been some extreme circumstance that made it logical to do so; for example, that the bridge is on fire. This points out a logical fallacy with the question: if they really are jumping off a bridge, they're probably motivated by something serious as opposed to an idiotic risk. The title texts adds upon this, given that the unseen speaker (most likely a parent) expects Cueball to see the foolish decision of his friends with cynicism instead of concern. |
− | + | So the humor of this comic is in all the different ways the question can be turned on its head, and made to mean something the unseen speaker probably never intended. | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
:[A youthful Cueball talking to an unseen parent.] | :[A youthful Cueball talking to an unseen parent.] | ||
:Parent: No, you can't go. | :Parent: No, you can't go. | ||
− | :Cueball: But all my | + | :Cueball: But all my friends — |
:Parent: If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too? | :Parent: If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too? | ||
:Cueball: Oh, jeez. Probably. | :Cueball: Oh, jeez. Probably. | ||
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:Parent: What!? Why!? | :Parent: What!? Why!? | ||
:Cueball: Because all my friends did. | :Cueball: Because all my friends did. | ||
− | :Cueball: Think about it — which scenario is more likely: | + | :Cueball: Think about it — which scenario is more likely: |
:Cueball: Every single person I know, many of them levelheaded and afraid of heights, abruptly went crazy at exactly the same time... | :Cueball: Every single person I know, many of them levelheaded and afraid of heights, abruptly went crazy at exactly the same time... |