undecidable
Original: undecidable on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A bespectacled woman looks up and speaks toward the sky.
Woman: "DEAR GOD, WHY DID YOU CREATE UNDECIDABILITY? CAN THERE REALLY EXIST MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS THAT CAN'T BE PROVED FROM A REASONABLE AXIOM SET?"
God (offscreen voice, in a circular speech bubble): "OH YEAH."
Panel 2:
God: "IT'S SO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO ONCE YOU RUN OUT OF SCIENCE."
Panel 3:
God: "LOOK, IN THE LAST UNIVERSE, HUMANS SOLVED SCIENCE, SOLVED LONGEVITY, SOLVED BRAINS. THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO FIGURE OUT. SO EVERYONE WENT CRAZY AT THE SAME TIME."
Panel 4:
God: "SO I THOUGHT, NEXT TIME I MAKE A HUMAN TERRARIUM, I GOTTA PROVIDE MORE STUFF TO DO."
Panel 5:
God: "IN THIS UNIVERSE, YOU HAVE INFINITE POSSIBLE THEOREMS AND NO WAY TO KNOW IF THE WORK YOU'RE CURRENTLY DOING WILL BEAR FRUIT."
Panel 6: The woman looks uneasy.
God: "THAT WAY YOUR WORK IS ONLY *PROBABLY* POINTLESS. NOT *DEFINITELY* POINTLESS."
Woman: "THAT DOESN'T SOUND GREAT?"
Panel 7:
God: "LOOK, YOU CAN EITHER HAVE A FINITE LIST OF MEANINGFUL WORK, WHICH YOU RUN OUT OF, *OR* YOU HAVE AN INFINITE LIST OF MEANINGFUL WORK THAT YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY COMPLETE. THERE'S NO SENSIBLE MIDDLE GROUND."
Panel 8: A small ghostly figure stands grinning, laughing.
Figure: "AHAHAHAHAAH! HOO HOO HOO HOO! HAHAHAHA!"
Panel 9: The woman, now wild-eyed with spiral eyes, throws up her hands in a manic expression.
God: "DAMMIT."
Panel 10 (caption banner): "LATER, IN *THIS* UNIVERSE..."
A woman: "AND SO, I MADE IT SO HUMANS DON'T LIVE VERY LONG AND DON'T HAVE IMMORTAL SOULS, SO THE WHOLE INFINITE-OR-NOT-INFINITE THING DOESN'T MATTER!"
A man (laughing, pointing): "AHAHAHAHA! AHOOHOOHOO! HAHAHAHAHA."
Votey: A speech bubble fills the panel.
Voice: "SCREW IT. NO MORE PRAYERS GET ANSWERED EVER AGAIN."
Woman: "DEAR GOD, WHY DID YOU CREATE UNDECIDABILITY? CAN THERE REALLY EXIST MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS THAT CAN'T BE PROVED FROM A REASONABLE AXIOM SET?"
God (offscreen voice, in a circular speech bubble): "OH YEAH."
Panel 2:
God: "IT'S SO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO ONCE YOU RUN OUT OF SCIENCE."
Panel 3:
God: "LOOK, IN THE LAST UNIVERSE, HUMANS SOLVED SCIENCE, SOLVED LONGEVITY, SOLVED BRAINS. THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO FIGURE OUT. SO EVERYONE WENT CRAZY AT THE SAME TIME."
Panel 4:
God: "SO I THOUGHT, NEXT TIME I MAKE A HUMAN TERRARIUM, I GOTTA PROVIDE MORE STUFF TO DO."
Panel 5:
God: "IN THIS UNIVERSE, YOU HAVE INFINITE POSSIBLE THEOREMS AND NO WAY TO KNOW IF THE WORK YOU'RE CURRENTLY DOING WILL BEAR FRUIT."
Panel 6: The woman looks uneasy.
God: "THAT WAY YOUR WORK IS ONLY *PROBABLY* POINTLESS. NOT *DEFINITELY* POINTLESS."
Woman: "THAT DOESN'T SOUND GREAT?"
Panel 7:
God: "LOOK, YOU CAN EITHER HAVE A FINITE LIST OF MEANINGFUL WORK, WHICH YOU RUN OUT OF, *OR* YOU HAVE AN INFINITE LIST OF MEANINGFUL WORK THAT YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY COMPLETE. THERE'S NO SENSIBLE MIDDLE GROUND."
Panel 8: A small ghostly figure stands grinning, laughing.
Figure: "AHAHAHAHAAH! HOO HOO HOO HOO! HAHAHAHA!"
Panel 9: The woman, now wild-eyed with spiral eyes, throws up her hands in a manic expression.
God: "DAMMIT."
Panel 10 (caption banner): "LATER, IN *THIS* UNIVERSE..."
A woman: "AND SO, I MADE IT SO HUMANS DON'T LIVE VERY LONG AND DON'T HAVE IMMORTAL SOULS, SO THE WHOLE INFINITE-OR-NOT-INFINITE THING DOESN'T MATTER!"
A man (laughing, pointing): "AHAHAHAHA! AHOOHOOHOO! HAHAHAHAHA."
Votey: A speech bubble fills the panel.
Voice: "SCREW IT. NO MORE PRAYERS GET ANSWERED EVER AGAIN."
Alt text
An SMBC comic in which a bespectacled woman prays, asking God why undecidability exists — whether there really are mathematical statements that can't be proved from a reasonable axiom set. God answers "Oh yeah," and explains it's so humans have something to do once they run out of science. In the previous universe, he says, humans solved science, longevity, and brains, had nothing left to figure out, and everyone went crazy at once. So this time he gave them infinite possible theorems with no way to know if their current work will bear fruit — meaning your work is only "probably" pointless rather than "definitely" pointless. He insists there's no middle ground: a finite list of meaningful work you run out of, or an infinite list you can never complete. A small grinning ghost cackles. The woman's eyes spiral and she goes manic; God mutters "Dammit." A final panel labeled "Later, in this universe" shows a woman declaring she made it so humans don't live long and don't have immortal souls, so the whole infinite-or-not-infinite thing doesn't matter, while a man beside her laughs maniacally and points. In the votey aftercomic, a large speech bubble reads: "Screw it. No more prayers get answered ever again."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.