cantor
Original: cantor on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Man: And once Georg Cantor glimpsed something beyond infinity... HE WENT MAD!
Woman: Are you sure?
Panel 2:
Woman: Glimpses beyond infinity are now given to freshmen math students as homework assignments, and they don't seem especially prone to go mad.
Panel 3:
Woman: For that matter, dumbasses who haven't glimpsed anything also go mad. We just don't talk about it because it's not a good story.
Panel 4:
Woman: Like, if you heard a really good gardener went crazy, would you say "learning the secrets of horticulture... PLANTED THE SEEDS OF MADNESS"?
Panel 5:
Man: I didn't, but now I will.
Woman: Okay, let me start over.
Votey:
Woman (speech bubble): You are stupid, and that's the reason you're saying a stupid thing.
(The man's face is drawn looking shocked/blank-eyed beneath the bubble.)
Man: And once Georg Cantor glimpsed something beyond infinity... HE WENT MAD!
Woman: Are you sure?
Panel 2:
Woman: Glimpses beyond infinity are now given to freshmen math students as homework assignments, and they don't seem especially prone to go mad.
Panel 3:
Woman: For that matter, dumbasses who haven't glimpsed anything also go mad. We just don't talk about it because it's not a good story.
Panel 4:
Woman: Like, if you heard a really good gardener went crazy, would you say "learning the secrets of horticulture... PLANTED THE SEEDS OF MADNESS"?
Panel 5:
Man: I didn't, but now I will.
Woman: Okay, let me start over.
Votey:
Woman (speech bubble): You are stupid, and that's the reason you're saying a stupid thing.
(The man's face is drawn looking shocked/blank-eyed beneath the bubble.)
Alt text
A five-panel SMBC comic, a conversation between a man and a curly-haired woman wearing glasses. Panel 1: The man says "And once Georg Cantor glimpsed something beyond infinity... HE WENT MAD!" The woman asks, "Are you sure?" Panel 2: The woman replies, "Glimpses beyond infinity are now given to freshmen math students as homework assignments, and they don't seem especially prone to go mad." Panel 3: She continues, "For that matter, dumbasses who haven't glimpsed anything also go mad. We just don't talk about it because it's not a good story." Panel 4: She adds, "Like, if you heard a really good gardener went crazy, would you say 'learning the secrets of horticulture... PLANTED THE SEEDS OF MADNESS'?" Panel 5: The man says, "I didn't, but now I will," and the woman, exasperated, says, "Okay, let me start over." The joke debunks the romantic trope that great knowledge drives people mad. Votey (aftercomic): A single panel showing the man's shocked, blank-eyed face below a speech bubble from the woman reading, "You are stupid, and that's the reason you're saying a stupid thing."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.