So it’s smart to scam people. Interesting take.
You’re a moron to think this is about scamming someone. The smart engineer realized he can offer a louder option but didn’t want to disturb the preset settings the customer is used to. If anything, not only is the engineer smart but empathetic towards how troublesome learning a new tool is like. Let me tell you it is not a problem that the volume is not standardized. Instead, it is nice to know that the customer can choose options he is familiar with AND now has a setting to go louder. Of course the much smarter way is to make the dial more analog input than a digital input. However, the digital dial will not move as easily when bumped. Trade-offs were made. For aesthetics and function. Yes I know some music nerds who like the dial more than a touch button.
Now don’t get me started with how they can sell it however they want. If it is louder than the product it is comparing against and the buyer likes it then it is not a scam, it was a fair trade.
Yes it is possible to look at this image with different what-ifs, and from what I see, you are only looking at the what-if where the “smart engineer” is not even acting as an engineer but rather a con artist. If we were to take the meme more literally then the what-if I have explained above is more true to the intentions of the characters in it than your narrow interpretation.
/EndRant
Isn’t the joke that the smart engineer will change the labels on the knob since they don’t have any unit? That’s the scammy aspect. I don’t think OC finds the idea of selling a better amp immoral
Unfortunately, that would not match up with the other three panels. The smart engineer should be able to figure out how to satisfy the customer. It is up mostly to public interpretation, as most art is. That is how I see it but I won’t deny someone who labels themselves as an engineer could be a con artist in disguise.
One way I see this is how we interpret the glass half full or glass half empty. There are some ways to see it and modify it a little and meaning can take a different more pronounced form. So yeah both can be valid when we isolate the panel as a completely separate meaning over the other three panels. Then we are considering if the label engineer is truth or a lie.
sigh even jokes communicate stuff; they’re especially powerful in normalizing things.
I’m aware people hate it when someone criticizes jokes. However when bad stuff gets normalized it’s necessary to point that out.
No, the joke wouldn’t have been as funny if it said “scammer” instead of “smart engineer”. Plus, I think it’s more a jab at engineers rather than anything. Because most would rather argue/explain the whole 10 vs 11 thing than just go "ok, sure, I can do that " and get paid.
We live in a capitalist world, scamming is objectively how we base how successful and smart someone is.
Celebrating selfishness and deception is just that, no matter how warped the perception of a theoretical majority of people might be. Perpetuating such nonsense will only cause more harm in the future. It’s not a sign of good behaviour or even mental health to be well adapted to a broken system.
So yeah, not “smart”. Disgusting.
I can agree with you but also recognize that’s contrary to the entirety of modern human society except ~7 countries representing just under 1/4th the GL bal population. But even then not really. I agree with the idea, but that’s not going to be the world we live in without truly ridiculous amounts of violence (which I am not advocating)