Didn't you already do a comic like this on how to remember names?

Your boss is right, Scott, knowledgeable and intelligent are not the same thing. Same for ignorant and stupid. One has to do with critical thinking skills, the other with rote memorization.

Panel Three FTW! It took me a few seconds though.

Did Mullet Boss just score a point in Panel 3? Oh, well, I guess it's more interesting if the bad guy is a worthy opponent instead of a complete moron.

Knowledgeable and intelligent are in no way shape or form the same thing. Knowledgeable is mental competence in a specific area, based upon the remembered. Intelligence is general mental competence, based upon active functionality.

If you built a time machine, and brought Leonardo da Vinci back to the present day; you wouldn't dare call him unintelligent for having no idea how to program a new operating system for your computer. Instead, he would be -unknowledgeable-, a perfectly manageable task for even the brilliantly intelligent.

The boss saying he wants you to be knowledgeable and intelligent is absolutely correct. He is saying, "I want you to know what you're doing AND be smart enough to do it properly."

There, I just had to agree with mulletboss to correct you, I think we both feel dirty now.

KOIN is the local CBS affiliate in Portland! They have a lovely tower downtown...

If I were capable of building a time machine, I think I could confidently call anyone unintelligent.

I'm pretty sure everybody explaining the difference between knowledge and intelligence may be scoring successes on both but failing on "not bugging me".

Most pedantic fan-base on the Internet, woo!

I was expecting Scott to rearrange KOIN to OINK and throw it back in mullet boss' face.

Some people here seem to be getting into the spirit of "knob"
Happy new year!

Maybe an alternative mnemonic for Panel 4 could be:
Smart, Obedient, and Bug-Me-Not...
That would make the goal for the workforce to all be ... SOBs!
(Which might already be done, unless the workforce is diverse
and includes daughters as well as sons.) ;-)

What, are we going to rehash the "INT vs WIS" debate here?

One has to do the capacity to learn and the other with stuff learned.

I find it amusing that it was a census instead of a survey. Did you get useful demographics?

Mullet boss dure knows how to koin a phrase. I do wonder however if his instructins in the fourth panel are for all employees. Maybe they have to take turns being a knob.

um..Scott.... the copyright date is 2012.... isn't it 2013 now? yes it is!

Hah, figured someone would still point out the copyright date despite the note Scott put up a few weeks ago. I'm just upset they beat me to the punch.

Happy New Year all, hope it's filled with more Basic Instructions!

You have more than 750 strips in your folder? I have more than 700 in mine. Have there been so many reruns?

Happy New Year to you and all of the readers. Keep up the good work, I am looking forward to the new copyright date in the lower left corner, always a highlight of the comic.

I'm very sorry, not native speaker here, I can't get around what definition of knob is being used. Can I get some help?

It's used as slang for a person who is either obnoxious or an idiot. I remember it back into the '80s, but I couldn't tell you how it came to be slang. ~Missy

The letters "koin-" are significant (as taken from ancient Greek) to some Christians, as explained on these links (I'm an atheist):

http://www.studylight.org/dic/hbd/view.cgi?number=T2031

http://www.todayschristianmusic.com/artists/koine/biography/

The letters "knob" (as taken from England, I thought) signify the male member, and this is about as unwelcome a thing to call somebody as most other terms that signify the male member. "Rod" is all right, though, usually. "Percy" is sort of all right, I think.

Happy new year, Scott and Mrs. Scott!

I look forward to the day my boss calls me a knob; I'd have respect for him.

I like making mnemonics. Here's one for remembering the order of the months - Jack felt merry as mandy juggled jacks aching sack of nannies donuts (a little juvinile but i made it up when i was about 12). the spelling of bourgeois - but only u r good enough on ice skates. the spelling of bureaucrat - balls usually roll eratically along uneven cliff ridges and tops. I made both those up for one exam at university and i still remember them. these are all acronym mnemonics. I also have a visual mnemonic for the wives of Henry the VIII and the seven wonders of the ancient world but that's they're a little NSFW. I think they work best if you make them up yourself but i would be interested in hearing other peoples.

Oh dear. Another comic with a second meaning in the UK, where "knob" is not just an upright individual, typically male, with a penchant for screwing things up, but also childish slang for the male upright member also capable of screwing things. :O)

I look forward to future strips, with references to "pants in bed", "faggots with dumplings" and "I say William, why don't you get your chopper out and take me up the Oxo Tower?"

"Knob" as wang-slang exists here in the USA as well. But we've used it far more as the screwup variant. Please know, when these double-meanings occur, we're almost always aware that there will be UK confusion or giggling. :) ~Missy