stating-the-obvious
Original: stating-the-obvious on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman (red hair): Do we really need philosophy of life?
Panel 2:
Man (dark hair): I mean, there are whole sections of Musonius about how you shouldn't get too upset when someone is mean to you.
Panel 3:
Woman: But... isn't that obvious?
Panel 4:
Man: Maybe there are no wise men. Maybe everything's true is obvious and we just empower certain people to tell us what we already know.
Panel 5:
Man: You're missing the point.
Panel 6:
Man: There are people who go cradle to grave having never read a great book, gone on a great adventure, or thought a beautiful thought.
Panel 7:
Man: They live whole lives without the presence of profoundly happy, carefree, joyous in their nescience. Then, one day, with a smile on their lips, they expire.
Panel 8:
(The two figures shown as small silhouettes against a light background, no dialogue.)
Panel 9:
Man: And...
Panel 10:
Man (leaning in intensely): And they need to know they're WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Votey:
A woman with curly dark hair and glasses, eyes half-lidded, speaks in a hand-lettered speech bubble:
Woman: GOD, I HATE HAPPY PEOPLE.
Woman (red hair): Do we really need philosophy of life?
Panel 2:
Man (dark hair): I mean, there are whole sections of Musonius about how you shouldn't get too upset when someone is mean to you.
Panel 3:
Woman: But... isn't that obvious?
Panel 4:
Man: Maybe there are no wise men. Maybe everything's true is obvious and we just empower certain people to tell us what we already know.
Panel 5:
Man: You're missing the point.
Panel 6:
Man: There are people who go cradle to grave having never read a great book, gone on a great adventure, or thought a beautiful thought.
Panel 7:
Man: They live whole lives without the presence of profoundly happy, carefree, joyous in their nescience. Then, one day, with a smile on their lips, they expire.
Panel 8:
(The two figures shown as small silhouettes against a light background, no dialogue.)
Panel 9:
Man: And...
Panel 10:
Man (leaning in intensely): And they need to know they're WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Votey:
A woman with curly dark hair and glasses, eyes half-lidded, speaks in a hand-lettered speech bubble:
Woman: GOD, I HATE HAPPY PEOPLE.
Alt text
A ten-panel SMBC comic shows a conversation between a red-haired woman and a dark-haired man lying or sitting in a grassy green outdoor setting. She asks, 'Do we really need philosophy of life?' He launches into a passionate defense, citing Stoic philosopher Musonius on not getting upset when people are mean. She counters, 'But... isn't that obvious?' He muses that maybe there are no wise men and everything true is obvious, then insists she's missing the point. He describes people who go 'cradle to grave' never reading a great book, having an adventure, or thinking a beautiful thought, who 'live whole lives... profoundly happy, carefree, joyous in their nescience' and die one day with a smile. A wordless panel shows the two as tiny silhouettes. Then he leans in with mounting intensity and declares, 'And they need to know they're WRONG WRONG WRONG!'
Votey (aftercomic): A black-and-white drawing of a woman with curly dark hair and glasses, eyes half-closed in disdain, saying in hand-lettered text, 'GOD, I HATE HAPPY PEOPLE.' The joke: the man's lofty philosophical argument is really just resentment of contentedly happy people.
Votey (aftercomic): A black-and-white drawing of a woman with curly dark hair and glasses, eyes half-closed in disdain, saying in hand-lettered text, 'GOD, I HATE HAPPY PEOPLE.' The joke: the man's lofty philosophical argument is really just resentment of contentedly happy people.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.