2014-11-01
Original: 2014-11-01 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A man with dark hair, wearing a yellow/olive collared shirt, speaks to a woman with reddish-brown hair and round glasses, wearing a red top.
Man: Sometimes, animals do what's called "handicapping." In order to honestly signal quality to a mate, they do something very difficult, which doesn't improve their chance for survival. For instance, the peacock's fancy tail.
Panel 2:
A red banner across the top reads: EARLIER...
The same two characters are shown. The woman speaks to the man.
Woman: I can't believe you're dating a philosophy major.
(Site signature: smbc-comics.com)
Votey:
A line-drawn image of a peacock whose elaborate tail fans out, but the tail's plumage is replaced by a rolled or unfurled scroll/diploma labeled "HUMANITIES DEGREE."
A man with dark hair, wearing a yellow/olive collared shirt, speaks to a woman with reddish-brown hair and round glasses, wearing a red top.
Man: Sometimes, animals do what's called "handicapping." In order to honestly signal quality to a mate, they do something very difficult, which doesn't improve their chance for survival. For instance, the peacock's fancy tail.
Panel 2:
A red banner across the top reads: EARLIER...
The same two characters are shown. The woman speaks to the man.
Woman: I can't believe you're dating a philosophy major.
(Site signature: smbc-comics.com)
Votey:
A line-drawn image of a peacock whose elaborate tail fans out, but the tail's plumage is replaced by a rolled or unfurled scroll/diploma labeled "HUMANITIES DEGREE."
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: A dark-haired man in a yellow collared shirt earnestly explains to a woman with reddish hair and round glasses: "Sometimes, animals do what's called 'handicapping.' In order to honestly signal quality to a mate, they do something very difficult, which doesn't improve their chance for survival. For instance, the peacock's fancy tail." Panel 2, marked with a red "EARLIER..." banner, shows the same pair earlier; the woman flatly tells the man, "I can't believe you're dating a philosophy major." The joke: pursuing a philosophy/humanities degree is itself a costly, survival-useless 'handicap' display, like a peacock's tail. Votey: a black-and-white drawing of a peacock whose fanned-out tail is not feathers but a large unfurled scroll labeled "HUMANITIES DEGREE."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.