749: Study

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Study
Volunteers needed for a study on transmission of urushiol from digital contact with thin strips of fibrous cellulose pulp.
Title text: Volunteers needed for a study on transmission of urushiol from digital contact with thin strips of fibrous cellulose pulp.

Explanation

This comic is about the ubiquitous study fliers that are placed around cities and especially college campuses. This one obviously takes it to the absurd because it is a thinly-veiled attempt to get volunteers to volunteer so that their kidneys can be "harvested" or stolen. The image text means that w:urushiol which is an oily toxic irritant principle present in poison ivy and some related plants is present on the strips of papers and the person who put up the flier is trying to see how it is transmitted.

Transcript

A posted flier with tear-off strips at the bottom reads: "Volunteers Needed for a scientific study investigating whether people can distinguish between scientific studies and kidney-harvesting scams. (Healthy Type-O Adults Only) TAKE ONE" Five of the strips are torn off.


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Discussion

Perhaps the flyer itself IS the study? If many people picks the number then the result would be that people cannot distinguish the scams. ‎103.31.5.88 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Doesn't work though. Because of the paradox involved. If it is actually a study, it doesn't prove anything if people pick it, because it is not a kidney harvesting scam. And if it is a kidney harvesting scam, it is not a study and thus the result doesn't matter (Except for the people who lack kidneys now)

Actually, it’s hinted at very strongly that it IS a kidney harvesting scam. 172.68.47.6 00:56, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

Yes, I thought it was supposed to be both when I read this one. --108.162.215.58 00:41, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

I wonder how this would work. Maybe some people get a kidney harvesting scam and some get a sugar pill. 172.71.174.237 19:06, 5 April 2023 (UTC)