p-humans
Original: p-humans on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Narrator/man: There's this idea in philosophy called P-zombies. "Philosophical zombies" are individuals who appear human but have no conscious internal experience.
Panel 2:
Man: I think "P-zombies" are people who appear human but ACT as if human, but actually have a conscious internal experience.
Panel 3:
Man: For example, there's Sandra here.
Panel 4:
Man: I'm a computer programmer. Okay? I look like I'm doing tons of stuff, but I'm doing tons of stuff.
Panel 5:
Woman (Sandra): Absolutely fascinating, isn't it?
Man: I'm a... actual person?
Panel 6:
Woman: How do you know it doesn't have a rich internal world?
Man: I was overheard saying a grueling, monotonous way Python of mine was better.
Panel 7:
Woman: People are wrong and they need to KNOW!
Panel 8:
Woman: Absolutely fascinating.
Votey:
Caption (in speech bubble): Fun fact: there is nothing inside a cartoonist.
(A smiling face with long hair fills the panel.)
Narrator/man: There's this idea in philosophy called P-zombies. "Philosophical zombies" are individuals who appear human but have no conscious internal experience.
Panel 2:
Man: I think "P-zombies" are people who appear human but ACT as if human, but actually have a conscious internal experience.
Panel 3:
Man: For example, there's Sandra here.
Panel 4:
Man: I'm a computer programmer. Okay? I look like I'm doing tons of stuff, but I'm doing tons of stuff.
Panel 5:
Woman (Sandra): Absolutely fascinating, isn't it?
Man: I'm a... actual person?
Panel 6:
Woman: How do you know it doesn't have a rich internal world?
Man: I was overheard saying a grueling, monotonous way Python of mine was better.
Panel 7:
Woman: People are wrong and they need to KNOW!
Panel 8:
Woman: Absolutely fascinating.
Votey:
Caption (in speech bubble): Fun fact: there is nothing inside a cartoonist.
(A smiling face with long hair fills the panel.)
Alt text
An eight-panel SMBC comic about philosophical zombies. A man explains the idea of "P-zombies" — philosophical zombies who appear human but have no conscious internal experience. He riffs on the concept, gesturing toward a woman named Sandra and a computer programmer, debating who really has a rich internal world and who only appears to. The exchange spirals into the punchline-style line "People are wrong and they need to KNOW!" while the woman calmly repeats "Absolutely fascinating." The humor comes from the characters arguing about consciousness and inner experience while behaving like the very zombies they describe. Votey (aftercomic): A simple hand-drawn smiling face with long hair fills a single panel, with a speech bubble reading "Fun fact: there is nothing inside a cartoonist."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.