Also called IQ Bell Curve Meme · Midwit Meme · Wojak Bell Curve
The figures at both ends reach the same simple answer while the person in the middle overcomplicates it. Repeat a short caption on the left and right, and give the middle figure an elaborate alternative.
The joke treats the left figure as arriving at an answer instinctively and the right figure as returning to it after experience. The distressed middle figure is still tangled in the reasoning.
The IQ chart is a comic ranking device here, not evidence that a real preference measures intelligence. Everyday choices work well: going to bed, writing a note, or seasoning a meal.
Early bell-curve comparison memes circulated on 4chan, with a documented example from January 2017. Some early versions used the chart for racist or other political claims. Later versions applied the same ends-agree, middle-disagrees structure to ordinary preferences and decisions. [1]
Know Your Meme traces the familiar three-Wojak arrangement to a July 11, 2020 post by owenbroadcast. The simple face at the left, distressed face above the peak, and hooded figure at the right became a widely reused version of the format. [1]
A 4chan post uses the diagram to claim agreement between the two ends of a spectrum. [1]
A documented owenbroadcast post uses the arrangement associated with this template. [1]
Versions appear in communities such as Dungeons & Dragons meme forums, beyond the earlier political uses. [1]
Put the simple answer above the left figure and repeat it above the hooded figure on the right. Place the middle argument in the wide blank space along the top, above the crying face.
The middle line can sound more technical or needlessly procedural. Keep it short enough to read at a glance; the image can suggest overthinking without a whole paragraph.
Original captions to try with this template.
Both ends settle on the immediate action while the middle searches for a system.
Choosing the tool becomes more work than writing down the note.
A small practical adjustment gets lost inside a much larger analysis.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
Documents the early political uses and the later three-Wojak arrangement. The source includes offensive historical examples.
