complex

A four-panel SMBC comic. Two people walk through a snowy, dim winter landscape: one with reddish-blonde hair in an orange coat, and one with dark skin, round glasses, and a green coat. The orange-coated person muses philosophically: 'Do you think other people have real feelings? Real desire, and hopes? Complex internal worlds?' The bespectacled person flatly replies, 'God, I hope not.' The orange-coated one continues marveling that there are billions of humans, each carrying a whole vision of the cosmos that dies with them, then dismisses the idea: 'Nah. No way. That's not realism. That's faith in an evil deity.' In the final panel, shown as black silhouettes against the snow, the bespectacled person asks, 'So... you think *I* am...' and the other answers, 'A special kind of robot that I can use for nourishment in extremis.' The joke: they'd rather believe others are mindless robots they could eat for survival than accept other people have rich inner lives. Votey aftercomic: the green-coated person says, 'Speaking of which, it's pretty cold out here...' while eyeing a large fluffy fuzzy creature standing beside them, sizing it up as warmth or food.