2012-02-29
Original: 2012-02-29 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1
Woman (dark hair): Do you think we're in a simulated reality?
Woman (red hair): The real question is whether we can simulate reality here.
Panel 2
Red-haired woman: If we can make a simulation, then we're not in the least complicated reality.
Red-haired woman: And if that simulation can contain another simulation, then we're not even the second-least complicated reality.
Panel 3
Red-haired woman: If we assume each simulation is at most one thousandth the size of the "universe" it's in, and that the smallest possible volume from the perspective of our universe is one Planck-volume, then we are...
Panel 4
Voice from a calculator/device: 6.9?
Display reads: 6.9
Caption/label: Cuz from the bottom!
Panel 5
Dark-haired woman: So are there any simulations above us?
Red-haired woman: Well, for that we'd just have to find some way to be optimized for good computation.
Panel 6
Red-haired woman: Like maybe a minimum temperature, or a maximum speed, or a rule that position and momentum are only knowable to certain tolerances.
Panel 7
Red-haired woman: Oh my GOD! I'm just a program! And I'm not even a good one!
Dark-haired woman: Hey now, that's not true!
Panel 8
Dark-haired woman: The universe is a program; you're just a subroutine.
Votey:
Red-haired woman (crying): I'm gonna delete myself!
Woman (dark hair): Do you think we're in a simulated reality?
Woman (red hair): The real question is whether we can simulate reality here.
Panel 2
Red-haired woman: If we can make a simulation, then we're not in the least complicated reality.
Red-haired woman: And if that simulation can contain another simulation, then we're not even the second-least complicated reality.
Panel 3
Red-haired woman: If we assume each simulation is at most one thousandth the size of the "universe" it's in, and that the smallest possible volume from the perspective of our universe is one Planck-volume, then we are...
Panel 4
Voice from a calculator/device: 6.9?
Display reads: 6.9
Caption/label: Cuz from the bottom!
Panel 5
Dark-haired woman: So are there any simulations above us?
Red-haired woman: Well, for that we'd just have to find some way to be optimized for good computation.
Panel 6
Red-haired woman: Like maybe a minimum temperature, or a maximum speed, or a rule that position and momentum are only knowable to certain tolerances.
Panel 7
Red-haired woman: Oh my GOD! I'm just a program! And I'm not even a good one!
Dark-haired woman: Hey now, that's not true!
Panel 8
Dark-haired woman: The universe is a program; you're just a subroutine.
Votey:
Red-haired woman (crying): I'm gonna delete myself!
Alt text
An eight-panel black-and-purple SMBC comic showing a conversation between two women, one with dark hair and one with red hair. In panel 1 the dark-haired woman asks if they're in a simulated reality; the red-haired woman counters that the real question is whether they can simulate reality. Over the next panels the red-haired woman reasons that if their world can run nested simulations, theirs isn't the least-complicated reality, and works out a calculation about simulation sizes relative to a Planck-volume. A calculator-like device chimes in with a result of "6.9" and a joke caption "Cuz from the bottom!". The red-haired woman wonders if there are simulations above them, suggesting telltale signs of being optimized for computation: a minimum temperature, a maximum speed, or position and momentum knowable only to certain tolerances (nods to real physics). She suddenly panics: "Oh my GOD! I'm just a program! And I'm not even a good one!" The dark-haired woman reassures her, then deadpans: "The universe is a program; you're just a subroutine." In the hand-drawn black-and-white votey panel, a close-up of the red-haired woman crying declares, "I'm gonna delete myself!"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.