It’s called absurdity. It’s funny because it’s obviously not true, and also funny because of the undertones that it’s a clever way to get horny teenagers to study physics who really just want to see the photos.

It would be absurd if pop stars by defintion could not explain semiconductor physics. Like how a snake wearing boots is absurd.

Dr. Brian May comes to mind...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May#Scientific_career

Maybe not so absurd.

Also, Todd Rundgren used to be a registered Apple developer. We'd see him moseying around the WWDC, every year.

You are being pedantic, but I’ll play along. Absurd has multiple meanings. It can mean nonsensical, but it can also mean utterly ridiculous or silly. Under those other meanings I believe the pop-star-physics-professor still qualifies.

It sounds pedantic, but "absurd" is fundamentally different from "rare". A lot of baggage comes from flagging something as absurd, instead of just unexpected or uncommon. Winning the lottery isn't absurd, having 3 pairs of some chromosome isn't either, and being a successful pop singer with an academic background isn't either, it's just rare.

It IS pedantic, because we are talking not of pop stars in general, but Britney Spears specifically.

Very heteronormative even for 2000

Everyone knows Alanis Morissette is a master electrician. That's why she has one hand in her pocket, while the other is probing a circuit.

Anyway, it's kind of Ironic [1] that the dude from Queen is an astrophysicist, and Britney Spears is writing Semiconductor Physics tutorials. Something something music and math.

[1] Sorry

> master electrician

It’s true, she’s high but she’s grounded (not sorry).

Same as “the narwhal bacons at midnight” or 67.

Simpler time, simpler jokes.

Others have pointed it out, but it’s the juxtaposition of the fact that she’s definitely not an expert in this subject with a lesson in the subject.

There’s some subtle bits to the humor depending on how charitable you’re feeling. It might just be absurdist, as in “Blackbeard’s guide to astrobiology”, or it may be more mean spirited and playing on a belief that she is not intelligent.

TL;DR - the joke formula is just:

subject=…

person_not_familiar_with_subject=…

joke=“${person_not_familiar_with_subject}’s guide to {subject}“

And the amount of implied cruelty in the comparison is variable.

I guess we can now use an LLM to produce a new absurdist book every day.

It's a non-sequitur.

"I don't get it."

At the time she was ground zero for all of pop culture and pretty much every single man’s crush. When that website came out it was funny because we were all looking at pictures of Britney anyway so may as well learn some physics at the same time.

Btw, she really went downhill once she fell out of popularity. I think she has a life put back together finally but she got a raw deal. I’m rooting for her.