2010-11-01
Original: 2010-11-01 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (caption): PEOPLE SAY GEORG CANTOR WENT MAD AS HE PURSUED A MATHEMATICAL UNDERSTANDING OF INFINITY.
[A bald, bearded older man stares forward against a background of tangled, scribbled lines.]
Panel 2 (caption): BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT HIS BREAKDOWN ONLY CAME AFTER HE WAS SHUNNED BY ACADEMIA FOR HIS IDEAS.
[The bald bearded man (Cantor) holds papers and faces two other academics.]
Cantor: THEY'RE CALLED TRANSFINITES.
Mustached academic: TRANSFINITE? IS THAT THE GAY VERSION OF INFINITY?
Mustached academic: BURN!
Panel 3 (caption): STILL, HE HAD IT BETTER THAN MOST. PEOPLE USUALLY GO CRAZY WITHOUT ANY SORT OF POETIC JUSTIFICATION.
[Two women stand talking; a disheveled red-haired bearded man sits slumped beside them.]
Woman in purple: MY BROTHER'S IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO BE A TELEMARKETING TEMP WORKER WERE SO PROFOUND... HE WENT MAD!
Votey:
[A person speaks, with a large speech bubble of laughter beside them.]
Person: WHAT IF WE TELE-MARKETED THINGS PEOPLE WANT?
Laughter: BA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
[A bald, bearded older man stares forward against a background of tangled, scribbled lines.]
Panel 2 (caption): BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT HIS BREAKDOWN ONLY CAME AFTER HE WAS SHUNNED BY ACADEMIA FOR HIS IDEAS.
[The bald bearded man (Cantor) holds papers and faces two other academics.]
Cantor: THEY'RE CALLED TRANSFINITES.
Mustached academic: TRANSFINITE? IS THAT THE GAY VERSION OF INFINITY?
Mustached academic: BURN!
Panel 3 (caption): STILL, HE HAD IT BETTER THAN MOST. PEOPLE USUALLY GO CRAZY WITHOUT ANY SORT OF POETIC JUSTIFICATION.
[Two women stand talking; a disheveled red-haired bearded man sits slumped beside them.]
Woman in purple: MY BROTHER'S IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO BE A TELEMARKETING TEMP WORKER WERE SO PROFOUND... HE WENT MAD!
Votey:
[A person speaks, with a large speech bubble of laughter beside them.]
Person: WHAT IF WE TELE-MARKETED THINGS PEOPLE WANT?
Laughter: BA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Alt text
A three-panel SMBC comic about Georg Cantor and infinity. Panel 1: a bald, bearded older man stares ahead against a background of chaotic tangled scribbles. Caption: 'People say Georg Cantor went mad as he pursued a mathematical understanding of infinity.' Panel 2: the bald bearded man holds papers facing two academics. Caption: 'But the truth is that his breakdown only came after he was shunned by academia for his ideas.' He says, 'They're called transfinites.' A mustached academic mocks, 'Transfinite? Is that the gay version of infinity?' then jeers, 'Burn!' Panel 3: two women talk while a disheveled, slumped red-haired bearded man sits beside them. Caption: 'Still, he had it better than most. People usually go crazy without any sort of poetic justification.' A woman in purple says, 'My brother's ideas about how to be a telemarketing temp worker were so profound... he went mad!' Votey (black-and-white aftercomic): a person says, 'What if we tele-marketed things people want?' and is met with a huge speech bubble of mocking laughter, 'Ba ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!' The joke contrasts Cantor's profound mathematical madness with the absurdly mundane idea of a telemarketer driven mad by 'profound' insights about junk-call work.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.