literary-turing
Original: literary-turing on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title (above the comic): PROPOSAL: "THE LITERARY TURING TEST" TO EVALUATE IF A NON-FICTION BOOK SHOULD'VE BEEN A PARAGRAPH.
Panel 1 (STEP 1): "STEP 1: TAKE 150 READERS AND DIVIDE THEM INTO THREE GROUPS."
Diagram: three circles labeled A, B, and C. An arrow to B is labeled "read the actual book." An arrow to C is labeled "read a paragraph summary."
Panel 2 (STEP 2): "STEP 2: ONE MONTH AFTER READING, PAIR EACH MEMBER OF GROUP 'A' WITH EXACTLY ONE MEMBER OF GROUP 'B' AND ONE OF GROUP 'C.'"
Grid of circled A's, each grouped with a small B and C.
Panel 3 (STEP 3): "STEP 3: EACH GROUP 'A' MEMBER SEPARATELY INTERROGATES THEIR ASSIGNED PEOPLE FROM GROUPS 'B' AND 'C.'"
A person with an 'A' on their chest faces a smiling person holding a sign with a 'B' on it.
Panel 4 (STEP 4): "STEP 4: EACH GROUP 'A' MEMBER WRITES DOWN WHO THEY BELIEVE READ THE PARAGRAPH AND WHO THEY BELIEVE READ THE BOOK."
A person with an 'A' on their chest sits writing at a desk.
Panel 5 (STEP 5): "STEP 5: TABULATE RESULTS."
A person operates an old-fashioned adding machine / calculator.
Panel 6: "IF GROUP 'A' IS CORRECT ON MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR GUESSES, THE BOOK PASSES THE TEST."
A yellow book titled "Especially Uninteresting Episodes in History" with a green check mark.
Panel 7: "IF GROUP 'A' DOES NO BETTER THAN CHANCE, THE BOOK FAILS THE TEST."
A green book titled "American America: Why America is gooder than not-America," resting on an American flag, with a red X.
Panel 8: "IF GROUP 'A' IS CORRECT ON FEWER THAN ONE-THIRD OF THEIR GUESSES, THE BOOK IS ASSIGNED FOR A CLASS ON PHILOSOPHICAL MODERNISM."
An older bearded professor stands before a seated audience, speech bubble: "THE GOAL OF THIS COURSE IS TO READ FOUCAULT UNTIL YOU BREAK DOWN AND BUY THE CLIFFNOTES."
Votey:
A cartoon face (the bearded professor) thinking, with text: "THIS ALSO GOES FOR ANY PHILOSOPHER WHO WAS FROM THE 20TH CENTURY AND FRENCH."
Panel 1 (STEP 1): "STEP 1: TAKE 150 READERS AND DIVIDE THEM INTO THREE GROUPS."
Diagram: three circles labeled A, B, and C. An arrow to B is labeled "read the actual book." An arrow to C is labeled "read a paragraph summary."
Panel 2 (STEP 2): "STEP 2: ONE MONTH AFTER READING, PAIR EACH MEMBER OF GROUP 'A' WITH EXACTLY ONE MEMBER OF GROUP 'B' AND ONE OF GROUP 'C.'"
Grid of circled A's, each grouped with a small B and C.
Panel 3 (STEP 3): "STEP 3: EACH GROUP 'A' MEMBER SEPARATELY INTERROGATES THEIR ASSIGNED PEOPLE FROM GROUPS 'B' AND 'C.'"
A person with an 'A' on their chest faces a smiling person holding a sign with a 'B' on it.
Panel 4 (STEP 4): "STEP 4: EACH GROUP 'A' MEMBER WRITES DOWN WHO THEY BELIEVE READ THE PARAGRAPH AND WHO THEY BELIEVE READ THE BOOK."
A person with an 'A' on their chest sits writing at a desk.
Panel 5 (STEP 5): "STEP 5: TABULATE RESULTS."
A person operates an old-fashioned adding machine / calculator.
Panel 6: "IF GROUP 'A' IS CORRECT ON MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR GUESSES, THE BOOK PASSES THE TEST."
A yellow book titled "Especially Uninteresting Episodes in History" with a green check mark.
Panel 7: "IF GROUP 'A' DOES NO BETTER THAN CHANCE, THE BOOK FAILS THE TEST."
A green book titled "American America: Why America is gooder than not-America," resting on an American flag, with a red X.
Panel 8: "IF GROUP 'A' IS CORRECT ON FEWER THAN ONE-THIRD OF THEIR GUESSES, THE BOOK IS ASSIGNED FOR A CLASS ON PHILOSOPHICAL MODERNISM."
An older bearded professor stands before a seated audience, speech bubble: "THE GOAL OF THIS COURSE IS TO READ FOUCAULT UNTIL YOU BREAK DOWN AND BUY THE CLIFFNOTES."
Votey:
A cartoon face (the bearded professor) thinking, with text: "THIS ALSO GOES FOR ANY PHILOSOPHER WHO WAS FROM THE 20TH CENTURY AND FRENCH."
Alt text
An eight-panel SMBC comic titled "PROPOSAL: 'THE LITERARY TURING TEST' TO EVALUATE IF A NON-FICTION BOOK SHOULD'VE BEEN A PARAGRAPH." It lays out a step-by-step experiment. Step 1: take 150 readers and split them into groups A, B, and C; group B reads the actual book, group C reads a paragraph summary (shown as three labeled circles). Step 2: one month after reading, pair each group A member with one B and one C member (a grid of circled A's with small B's and C's). Step 3: each A member separately interrogates their assigned B and C people (a figure labeled A questioning a smiling figure holding a B sign). Step 4: each A member writes down who they think read the paragraph versus the book (an A figure writing at a desk). Step 5: tabulate results (a figure using an old adding machine). The verdict panels: if group A guesses right more than two-thirds of the time, the book passes (a book titled "Especially Uninteresting Episodes in History" with a green check). If they do no better than chance, the book fails (a book titled "American America: Why America is gooder than not-America" on a flag, with a red X). If they guess right fewer than one-third of the time, the book is assigned for a class on philosophical modernism, where a bearded professor tells a seated audience, "The goal of this course is to read Foucault until you break down and buy the cliffnotes." In the votey, the professor adds in thought, "This also goes for any philosopher who was from the 20th century and French."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.