robot-heaven
Original: robot-heaven on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Child: Mommy, is there a robot heaven?
Mother: Absolutely!
Panel 2:
Mother: There is an original version of the software that makes up the mind of this robot. It is an abstract pattern that can be embodied physically in many objects.
Panel 3:
Mother: An instantiation of that original code lives inside the mind of this robot.
Panel 4:
Mother: This particular robot acquires a small number of memories. After it is given the pattern, these memories are stored in a distant server.
Panel 5:
Mother: So, when this robot breaks down, the memory will yet remain in the cloud in a state of timeless existence, until perhaps it is reborn somewhere else.
Panel 6:
Mother: It is a beautiful cycle. Like all great dreams, it is a pragmatism so exquisite that it verges on the sacred.
Panel 7:
Child: Wow.
Panel 8:
Child: Is there a people heaven?
Mother: AHAHA HAHAHA HAHA!
Votey:
Mother: That'd be such a nightmare.
Child: Mommy, is there a robot heaven?
Mother: Absolutely!
Panel 2:
Mother: There is an original version of the software that makes up the mind of this robot. It is an abstract pattern that can be embodied physically in many objects.
Panel 3:
Mother: An instantiation of that original code lives inside the mind of this robot.
Panel 4:
Mother: This particular robot acquires a small number of memories. After it is given the pattern, these memories are stored in a distant server.
Panel 5:
Mother: So, when this robot breaks down, the memory will yet remain in the cloud in a state of timeless existence, until perhaps it is reborn somewhere else.
Panel 6:
Mother: It is a beautiful cycle. Like all great dreams, it is a pragmatism so exquisite that it verges on the sacred.
Panel 7:
Child: Wow.
Panel 8:
Child: Is there a people heaven?
Mother: AHAHA HAHAHA HAHA!
Votey:
Mother: That'd be such a nightmare.
Alt text
An eight-panel comic. A child asks her mother, "Mommy, is there a robot heaven?" The mother enthusiastically answers, "Absolutely!" Over the next several panels the mother explains: there is an original version of the software making up a robot's mind, an abstract pattern that can be embodied in many physical objects; an instantiation of that code lives inside a given robot; that robot acquires a small number of memories which are stored on a distant server; so when the robot breaks down, the memory remains in the cloud in a state of timeless existence until perhaps it is reborn elsewhere. She calls it a beautiful cycle, "a pragmatism so exquisite that it verges on the sacred." The child says, "Wow," then asks, "Is there a people heaven?" The mother bursts out laughing: "AHAHA HAHAHA HAHA!" In the votey panel, the mother, still smiling, adds, "That'd be such a nightmare." The joke: robot immortality via the cloud is treated as obvious and sacred, while the idea of human immortality is dismissed as absurd and horrifying.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.