eat-the-apple
Original: eat-the-apple on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Setting: a Garden-of-Eden style scene. A snake in a tree tempts a dark-haired person standing below.
Panel 1:
Snake: EEEEEEVE... YOU SHOULD EAT THE APPLE.
Person: BUT I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO
Panel 2:
Snake: THAT'S FINE. YOU WOULDN'T WANT IT. IT COSTS FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.
Person: AH
Panel 3:
Snake (close-up, red-eyed): OH WAIT. IT'S ONLY FOUR DOLLARS.
Person: OH MY GOD
Panel 4:
Person (grabbing for the apple): I DIDN'T WANT IT, BUT NOW MY ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLE'S VALUE IS ANCHORED TO THE HIGH NUMBER YOU STATED INITIALLY!
Snake: HAHAHAHAHA!
Votey:
Caption: EARLIER
Snake (reading a book):
Other snake: HEY! ARE YOU READING THE NECRONOMICON AGAIN?
Snake: NAH THATS KID STUFF
The book in the snake's coils reads: BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS
Panel 1:
Snake: EEEEEEVE... YOU SHOULD EAT THE APPLE.
Person: BUT I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO
Panel 2:
Snake: THAT'S FINE. YOU WOULDN'T WANT IT. IT COSTS FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS.
Person: AH
Panel 3:
Snake (close-up, red-eyed): OH WAIT. IT'S ONLY FOUR DOLLARS.
Person: OH MY GOD
Panel 4:
Person (grabbing for the apple): I DIDN'T WANT IT, BUT NOW MY ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLE'S VALUE IS ANCHORED TO THE HIGH NUMBER YOU STATED INITIALLY!
Snake: HAHAHAHAHA!
Votey:
Caption: EARLIER
Snake (reading a book):
Other snake: HEY! ARE YOU READING THE NECRONOMICON AGAIN?
Snake: NAH THATS KID STUFF
The book in the snake's coils reads: BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic in a Garden-of-Eden setting. A snake coiled in a tree tempts a dark-haired person (Eve) standing below. Panel 1: the snake says 'Eeeeeve... you should eat the apple,' and she replies 'But I'm not supposed to.' Panel 2: the snake says 'That's fine. You wouldn't want it. It costs four hundred dollars,' and she says 'Ah.' Panel 3: a close-up of the red-eyed snake: 'Oh wait. It's only four dollars,' and Eve gasps 'Oh my god.' Panel 4: Eve eagerly reaches for the apple, exclaiming 'I didn't want it, but now my assessment of the apple's value is anchored to the high number you stated initially!' while the snake laughs 'Hahahaha!' The joke: the serpent's temptation works through the anchoring bias rather than forbidden-fruit allure. Votey (aftercomic): a flashback panel labeled 'Earlier' shows the snake reading a book; another snake asks 'Hey! Are you reading the Necronomicon again?' and it answers 'Nah thats kid stuff' — the book is titled 'Behavioral Economics,' implying behavioral economics is more sinister than a book of dark magic. A second image shows a red circle containing a pentagram with a stylized house in its center, ringed by text reading 'Humans are dumb in systematic, predictable ways.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.