2012-11-07
Original: 2012-11-07 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Girl with red/orange hair (to a girl with brown hair): Because distance is infinitely divisible, if you assign number pairs to each letter of the alphabet, you can specify any string of letters just by pointing to a very specific place on this centimeter and getting its decimal output.
(A chart/legend reads: 00=a, 01=b, 02=c)
Panel 2:
Red-haired girl (holding up a small object): In fact, that sentence I just said is at a particular point on the centimeter, as was this one, and whatever you or I say in the future.
Panel 3:
Red-haired girl: The centimeter has read every book there will ever be and knows every scientific fact that CAN be. It knows the future of our friendship. It knows how we'll die. It knows how the universe ends and how it began.
Panel 4:
Brown-haired girl: What's the point of doing anything then?
Red-haired girl: Well, the centimeter also "knows" a bunch of crazy stuff.
(Lines point from the centimeter to several labeled statements: "2+2 = 3", "UP IS DOWN, ROTATED 90 DEGREES", "PONIES AREN'T AWESOME")
Panel 5:
Brown-haired girl: So I know infinity less than the centimeter, but have infinity better discretion.
Red-haired girl: Yeah, that's basically your life. You know relatively no information, but you're relatively great at using it.
Panel 6:
Brown-haired girl: I bet if I tell Bobby about this, he'll LIKE me.
Red-haired girl: Well, you're OKAY at using it.
Votey:
Text on a sign/placard: FREE LIBRARY OF EVERYTHING!
(Below the text is a small yellow square representing the centimeter.)
Girl with red/orange hair (to a girl with brown hair): Because distance is infinitely divisible, if you assign number pairs to each letter of the alphabet, you can specify any string of letters just by pointing to a very specific place on this centimeter and getting its decimal output.
(A chart/legend reads: 00=a, 01=b, 02=c)
Panel 2:
Red-haired girl (holding up a small object): In fact, that sentence I just said is at a particular point on the centimeter, as was this one, and whatever you or I say in the future.
Panel 3:
Red-haired girl: The centimeter has read every book there will ever be and knows every scientific fact that CAN be. It knows the future of our friendship. It knows how we'll die. It knows how the universe ends and how it began.
Panel 4:
Brown-haired girl: What's the point of doing anything then?
Red-haired girl: Well, the centimeter also "knows" a bunch of crazy stuff.
(Lines point from the centimeter to several labeled statements: "2+2 = 3", "UP IS DOWN, ROTATED 90 DEGREES", "PONIES AREN'T AWESOME")
Panel 5:
Brown-haired girl: So I know infinity less than the centimeter, but have infinity better discretion.
Red-haired girl: Yeah, that's basically your life. You know relatively no information, but you're relatively great at using it.
Panel 6:
Brown-haired girl: I bet if I tell Bobby about this, he'll LIKE me.
Red-haired girl: Well, you're OKAY at using it.
Votey:
Text on a sign/placard: FREE LIBRARY OF EVERYTHING!
(Below the text is a small yellow square representing the centimeter.)
Alt text
A six-panel SMBC comic between two girls, one with orange hair and one with brown hair. The orange-haired girl explains that because distance is infinitely divisible, you can encode any string of letters as a decimal point on a single centimeter (shown with a legend: 00=a, 01=b, 02=c). She says that one centimeter therefore contains every sentence ever said or to be said, has read every book that will ever exist, and knows every true scientific fact, the future of their friendship, how they'll die, and how the universe begins and ends. When the brown-haired girl asks what the point of doing anything is, the orange-haired girl notes the centimeter also "knows" a bunch of false things, pointing to labels like "2+2=3," "UP IS DOWN, ROTATED 90 DEGREES," and "PONIES AREN'T AWESOME." The brown-haired girl concludes she knows infinitely less than the centimeter but has infinitely better discretion; the orange-haired girl agrees, saying she knows almost no information but is relatively great at using it. The brown-haired girl says she bets if she tells Bobby about this, he'll like her, and the orange-haired girl deflates the compliment: "Well, you're OKAY at using it." Votey: a blue sign reading "FREE LIBRARY OF EVERYTHING!" above a small yellow square (the centimeter).
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.