A version of this joke was told in Monday’s stats class by my favorite stats professor ever. If you get it, you’re probably an academic. Or an economist. (Hmmm. I wonder — is there a distinction?)
An economist, an engineer, and a physicist are marooned on a deserted island. One day they find a can of food washed up on the beach and contrive to open it. The engineer said: “let’s hammer the can open between these rocks.” The physicist said: “that’s pretty crude. We can just use the force of gravity by dropping a rock on the can from that tall tree over there.” The economist is somewhat disgusted at these deliberations, and says: “I’ve got a much more elegant solution. All we have to do is assume a can-opener.”
Suffice it to say, the room dissolved into giggles at the punchline. When I retold it last night, I was the only one truly laughing. So I’m guessing you’re probably, um, not. Oh well.
As an Econ graduate, I actually DID LOL. Sad.