free-will-3
Original: free-will-3 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (caption): A HUMAN AND A PERFECT SIMULATION OF THAT HUMAN WALK INTO A BAR.
Panel 2 (caption): THE HUMAN SAYS:
The woman (the human): I HAVE FREE WILL, AND I USE IT TO BUY A BEER.
Panel 3 (caption): THE SIMULATION SAYS:
The simulation (a robot — a gray rounded box with a glowing circular eye above a vertical bar): I AM IDENTICAL TO THE HUMAN, FROM WHICH IT FOLLOWS THAT I MUST SAY "I HAVE FREE WILL, AND I USE IT TO BUY A BEER."
Panel 4 (caption): THE HUMAN REEVALUATES HER NOTION OF FREE WILL.
The woman (the human): MAKE THAT EIGHT BEERS.
Votey:
A thought bubble rising from the robot/simulation reads: Ennui.
Panel 2 (caption): THE HUMAN SAYS:
The woman (the human): I HAVE FREE WILL, AND I USE IT TO BUY A BEER.
Panel 3 (caption): THE SIMULATION SAYS:
The simulation (a robot — a gray rounded box with a glowing circular eye above a vertical bar): I AM IDENTICAL TO THE HUMAN, FROM WHICH IT FOLLOWS THAT I MUST SAY "I HAVE FREE WILL, AND I USE IT TO BUY A BEER."
Panel 4 (caption): THE HUMAN REEVALUATES HER NOTION OF FREE WILL.
The woman (the human): MAKE THAT EIGHT BEERS.
Votey:
A thought bubble rising from the robot/simulation reads: Ennui.
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1 caption: "A human and a perfect simulation of that human walk into a bar." A brown-haired woman in a yellow shirt stands beside a gray robot (a rounded box with a glowing circular eye over a vertical slit). Panel 2 caption: "The human says:" — the woman smiles and declares, "I have free will, and I use it to buy a beer." Panel 3 caption: "The simulation says:" — the robot states, "I am identical to the human, from which it follows that I must say 'I have free will, and I use it to buy a beer.'" Panel 4 caption: "The human reevaluates her notion of free will." — the woman, now slumped at the bar, says flatly, "Make that eight beers." Votey aftercomic: the robot sits alone with a thought bubble above it containing a single elegant word: "Ennui."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.