The author begins his thoughtful analysis of the field of computational linguistics with a diatribe aimed at “emo kids”. The term “emo” is short for “emotional” but stands for a genre of music associated with moody teenagers wearing skinny-legged jeans and hoodies from American Apparel. Acknowledging that emo kids are easily ridiculed from the lofty heights of young adulthood, the author focuses his attention instead on a group that has escaped censure, despite riching deserving it - namely, computational linguists.
Computational linguistics is artfully contrasted with a real scientific field where practitioners do not endorse competing models, such as physics. Physicists do not subscribe to competing models and are in uniform agreement concerning a theory that unifies their models of the fundamental forces of nature: gravity, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force. The theoretical unity of a mature science is celebrated in books such as The End of Physics.
The author conveniently summarizes his insightful analysis of the field of computational linguistics by writing a short bumper sticker slogan and circling it.
The author of the comic understands the comic value of ridiculing minorities and adds the ingenious twist of ridiculing an obscure one.
