a-simulation
Original: a-simulation on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A woman: You ever wonder if the whole world is a simulation?
A man: No. Never. Why?
Panel 2:
The man: There are philosophical arguments, like... if simulations are possible, it's likely we're in one, since simulated realities outnumber real realities.
Panel 3:
The man: But that always felt flawed to me. People have complete universes for no reason. If you're in a simulation, you should be able to spot a reason for it to exist.
Panel 4:
The man: So far, nothing. So far, just-
The woman: Sally, do you love me?
Panel 5:
The man: Ha, what? Oh, very serious. I mean, I think you're nice, but I-
Panel 6 (a woman with red hair, looking grim/angry):
DELETE
RELOAD
Votey:
Caption (handwritten): This time, humans evolve less impulse control!
A close-up of a screaming/shouting open mouth.
A woman: You ever wonder if the whole world is a simulation?
A man: No. Never. Why?
Panel 2:
The man: There are philosophical arguments, like... if simulations are possible, it's likely we're in one, since simulated realities outnumber real realities.
Panel 3:
The man: But that always felt flawed to me. People have complete universes for no reason. If you're in a simulation, you should be able to spot a reason for it to exist.
Panel 4:
The man: So far, nothing. So far, just-
The woman: Sally, do you love me?
Panel 5:
The man: Ha, what? Oh, very serious. I mean, I think you're nice, but I-
Panel 6 (a woman with red hair, looking grim/angry):
DELETE
RELOAD
Votey:
Caption (handwritten): This time, humans evolve less impulse control!
A close-up of a screaming/shouting open mouth.
Alt text
A six-panel comic. Panels 1-5 show two people sitting and talking. A woman asks a man if he ever wonders whether the whole world is a simulation. He says no, never, then lays out the philosophical argument: if simulations are possible, simulated realities outnumber real ones, so we're probably in one. But, he says, that always felt flawed because people have complete universes for no reason; if you were in a simulation, you should be able to spot a reason for it to exist, and so far he's found nothing. Mid-sentence the woman abruptly interrupts: 'Sally, do you love me?' He fumbles: 'Ha, what? Oh, very serious. I mean, I think you're nice, but I-'. The final panel is a close-up of a grim red-haired woman with the words 'DELETE / RELOAD' beside her, revealing she is running the simulation and is rebooting it because he didn't return her feelings. Votey: a close-up of a wide-open screaming mouth, captioned in handwriting 'This time, humans evolve less impulse control!' implying she keeps re-running the simulation to engineer a version where he loves her back.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.