2013-07-27
Original: 2013-07-27 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman (lying down): Bobby's pretty upset. I think you'd better talk to him.
Panel 2:
Man: Dad... I'm afraid to die.
Father: Oh no you aren't. Your brain has many parts, and most of them have nothing to do with fear of death.
Panel 3:
Father: A unique bunch of brain problems could remove your fear of death or even your belief that you're still alive. And in all those situations you'd have pretty much the same personality as you do now.
Panel 4:
Father: So you don't fear death. A less self-aware part of the brain is just dropping a fear of death for evolutionary reasons.
Panel 5:
Father: And by the time you're old, there'll probably be a way to flip off that part and die without feeling you've lost anything.
Panel 6:
Son: You interrupted me! I was gonna say "I'm afraid to dial the girl I like! Now it all seems pointless!"
Panel 7:
Father: And that's when I just took off running.
Votey:
Father (to a bearded man): No one has "dialed" anything in 20 years.
Woman (lying down): Bobby's pretty upset. I think you'd better talk to him.
Panel 2:
Man: Dad... I'm afraid to die.
Father: Oh no you aren't. Your brain has many parts, and most of them have nothing to do with fear of death.
Panel 3:
Father: A unique bunch of brain problems could remove your fear of death or even your belief that you're still alive. And in all those situations you'd have pretty much the same personality as you do now.
Panel 4:
Father: So you don't fear death. A less self-aware part of the brain is just dropping a fear of death for evolutionary reasons.
Panel 5:
Father: And by the time you're old, there'll probably be a way to flip off that part and die without feeling you've lost anything.
Panel 6:
Son: You interrupted me! I was gonna say "I'm afraid to dial the girl I like! Now it all seems pointless!"
Panel 7:
Father: And that's when I just took off running.
Votey:
Father (to a bearded man): No one has "dialed" anything in 20 years.
Alt text
A seven-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: a woman lying down tells a man, "Bobby's pretty upset. I think you'd better talk to him." Panel 2: a young man says "Dad... I'm afraid to die," and his bespectacled father replies, "Oh no you aren't. Your brain has many parts, and most of them have nothing to do with fear of death." Panels 3-5: the father launches into a long reassuring lecture, explaining that brain disorders could strip away the fear of death or even the belief that one is alive while leaving the personality intact, that a less self-aware part of the brain is just dropping the fear of death for evolutionary reasons, and that by old age there will probably be a way to switch off that part and die without feeling any loss. Panel 6: the son, exasperated, says, "You interrupted me! I was gonna say 'I'm afraid to dial the girl I like! Now it all seems pointless!'" Panel 7: the father, alone, narrates, "And that's when I just took off running." Votey: a close-up of the father leaning over the shoulder of a bearded man, deadpan, saying, "No one has 'dialed' anything in 20 years."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.