2011-05-05
Original: 2011-05-05 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (caption): YOUR DAUGHTER HAS HALF YOUR GENES. HER DAUGHTER HALF THAT. HER DAUGHTER HALF THAT...
Diagram: A binary tree of descendants branching downward. A black node at the top labeled 1, then successive generations labeled 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and at the bottom (after an ellipsis) a node labeled 1/2^n.
Panel 2 (caption): IN A MERE 32 GENERATIONS, YOUR GENETIC SHARE WILL BE LESS THAN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BASE PAIRS IN YOUR GENOME.
Diagram: A DNA double helix above a number line. Text reads: BASE PAIRS: 3 BILLION / 2^32: 4.3 BILLION. The number line is marked 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and smaller fractions trailing off.
Panel 3 (caption): WHICH IS TO SAY, YOU CLEARLY HAVE NO GENETIC REASON TO CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO ANYONE WHO LIVES MORE THAN 800 YEARS FROM NOW.
Image: A red-haired man pours powder from a canister into a box-shaped container on a pedestal. A label with an arrow points to the canister: ANTHRAX. Another label with an arrow points to the box: TIME CAPSULE.
Panel 4 (caption): THE ONLY WAY TO INCENTIVIZE AWAY FROM THIS WOULD BE A SYSTEMATIC INBREEDING PROGRAM.
Diagram: A tangled, web-like family tree where the descendant lines cross and loop back into each other instead of branching cleanly.
Panel 5 (caption): SO, IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO WORRIES ABOUT THE LONG TERM A LOT...
A woman in an orange shirt holding a recycling bin and a bottle says: I RECYCLE BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THE FUTURE.
A man in a dark shirt replies: YOU PERVERT.
Votey:
The same woman, in profile, says: I'M JUST IMAGINING MY CHILDREN'S CHILDREN.
A reply (off-panel voice): I'LL BET YOU ARE...
Diagram: A binary tree of descendants branching downward. A black node at the top labeled 1, then successive generations labeled 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and at the bottom (after an ellipsis) a node labeled 1/2^n.
Panel 2 (caption): IN A MERE 32 GENERATIONS, YOUR GENETIC SHARE WILL BE LESS THAN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BASE PAIRS IN YOUR GENOME.
Diagram: A DNA double helix above a number line. Text reads: BASE PAIRS: 3 BILLION / 2^32: 4.3 BILLION. The number line is marked 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and smaller fractions trailing off.
Panel 3 (caption): WHICH IS TO SAY, YOU CLEARLY HAVE NO GENETIC REASON TO CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO ANYONE WHO LIVES MORE THAN 800 YEARS FROM NOW.
Image: A red-haired man pours powder from a canister into a box-shaped container on a pedestal. A label with an arrow points to the canister: ANTHRAX. Another label with an arrow points to the box: TIME CAPSULE.
Panel 4 (caption): THE ONLY WAY TO INCENTIVIZE AWAY FROM THIS WOULD BE A SYSTEMATIC INBREEDING PROGRAM.
Diagram: A tangled, web-like family tree where the descendant lines cross and loop back into each other instead of branching cleanly.
Panel 5 (caption): SO, IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO WORRIES ABOUT THE LONG TERM A LOT...
A woman in an orange shirt holding a recycling bin and a bottle says: I RECYCLE BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THE FUTURE.
A man in a dark shirt replies: YOU PERVERT.
Votey:
The same woman, in profile, says: I'M JUST IMAGINING MY CHILDREN'S CHILDREN.
A reply (off-panel voice): I'LL BET YOU ARE...
Alt text
A five-panel SMBC comic arguing, tongue-in-cheek, that you have no genetic reason to care about the distant future. Panel 1: a caption notes your daughter has half your genes, her daughter half that, and so on; a binary family tree is labeled 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, down to 1/2^n. Panel 2: in 32 generations your genetic share drops below your genome's base-pair count -- a DNA helix and a number line, with text 'BASE PAIRS: 3 BILLION, 2^32: 4.3 BILLION.' Panel 3: caption says you have no genetic reason to care about anyone more than 800 years out; a red-haired man pours a canister labeled ANTHRAX into a box labeled TIME CAPSULE. Panel 4: the only fix would be a systematic inbreeding program -- shown as a tangled, looping family tree. Panel 5: a woman holding a recycling bin says 'I recycle because I care about the people of the future,' and a man flatly responds 'You pervert.' Votey (aftercomic): the woman, in profile, says 'I'm just imagining my children's children,' and a voice replies 'I'll bet you are...' -- recasting her future-care as something lewd.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.