Comic #4686: the-fundamental-equation

View Original Comic

Description

Here’s the transcription of the comic text:

Panel 1:
Person 1: "It's tough having small kids at home. I'm looking forward to when they can help out. When's that happen?"

Panel 2:
Person 2: "Let me show you the fundamental kid utility function."

Panel 3:
(Graphic with a graph)

• X-axis: "ABILITY TO HELP"
• Y-axis: "DESIRE TO HELP"
• Line decreasing from left to right labeled with ages:
  • "Age 1" (4)
  • (7)
  • (10)
  • (13)
  • (16)

Panel 4:
Person 1: "Dear God. Utility remains constant."

Person 2: "Precisely."

Panel 5:
Person 2: "From a labor perspective, the main difference between a toddler and a teen is whether you're yelling at them for breaking something or for not fixing something."

Panel 6:
Person 1: "What have I done? I should probably mention that the y-axis starts at negative ten million."