econs-2
Original: econs-2 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A woman with blonde hair (off-panel speech bubble): WHY DO ECONOMISTS SEE THE WORLD AS SO MECHANICAL?
A man with dark green-tinted hair and round white glasses, in a suit: DUE TO NEGATIVE SELECTION.
Panel 2:
The man in the suit: LOOK, ECONOMICS IS THE EASIEST DEGREE YOU CAN GET WHICH VIRTUALLY GUARANTEES A HIGH-WAGE-LOW-WORK OUTCOME. THAT'S A FILTER.
The blonde woman (small bubble at bottom): HOLY SHIT.
Panel 3:
The man in the suit (speech bubble): IMAGINE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO BY AGE 18 HAS ALREADY MINMAXED THE REST OF THEIR LIFE UNDER THE CRITERION OF MOST ADVANTAGE FOR LEAST LABOR. NOW TAKE A ROOM FULL OF SUCH PEOPLE AND ASK THEM TO MODEL HOW REALITY WORKS.
Panel 4:
The man in the suit (continuing, speech bubble): ...LIKE HOW YOU REUSED THE SAME VARIABLE FOR TWO THINGS IN STEP 8.
A man with orange hair (in earlier panel's bubble): USE THE SAME LOGIC BUT TAKE AWAY EMPLOYABILITY AND NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT SOCIOLOGISTS ARE LIKE.
Votey:
Large speech bubble: I WOULD HAVE TO KILL YOU NOW EXCEPT THAT NOBODY WOULD BELIEVE YOU, AND YOU'RE EXISTENCE IS A POSITIVE INPUT TO GDP.
(Below, a small drawing of a face — two oval eyes and a mouth.)
A woman with blonde hair (off-panel speech bubble): WHY DO ECONOMISTS SEE THE WORLD AS SO MECHANICAL?
A man with dark green-tinted hair and round white glasses, in a suit: DUE TO NEGATIVE SELECTION.
Panel 2:
The man in the suit: LOOK, ECONOMICS IS THE EASIEST DEGREE YOU CAN GET WHICH VIRTUALLY GUARANTEES A HIGH-WAGE-LOW-WORK OUTCOME. THAT'S A FILTER.
The blonde woman (small bubble at bottom): HOLY SHIT.
Panel 3:
The man in the suit (speech bubble): IMAGINE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO BY AGE 18 HAS ALREADY MINMAXED THE REST OF THEIR LIFE UNDER THE CRITERION OF MOST ADVANTAGE FOR LEAST LABOR. NOW TAKE A ROOM FULL OF SUCH PEOPLE AND ASK THEM TO MODEL HOW REALITY WORKS.
Panel 4:
The man in the suit (continuing, speech bubble): ...LIKE HOW YOU REUSED THE SAME VARIABLE FOR TWO THINGS IN STEP 8.
A man with orange hair (in earlier panel's bubble): USE THE SAME LOGIC BUT TAKE AWAY EMPLOYABILITY AND NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT SOCIOLOGISTS ARE LIKE.
Votey:
Large speech bubble: I WOULD HAVE TO KILL YOU NOW EXCEPT THAT NOBODY WOULD BELIEVE YOU, AND YOU'RE EXISTENCE IS A POSITIVE INPUT TO GDP.
(Below, a small drawing of a face — two oval eyes and a mouth.)
Alt text
A four-panel black-line SMBC comic. Panel 1: a blonde woman and a man in a suit with dark hair and round white glasses; an off-panel voice asks, "Why do economists see the world as so mechanical?" The man answers, "Due to negative selection." Panel 2: the man explains, "Look, economics is the easiest degree you can get which virtually guarantees a high-wage-low-work outcome. That's a filter." The woman, off-panel, says "Holy shit." Panel 3: a close-up of an orange-haired man listening; the man continues, "Imagine the kind of person who by age 18 has already minmaxed the rest of their life under the criterion of most advantage for least labor. Now take a room full of such people and ask them to model how reality works." Panel 4: on a yellow background, the dark-haired person leans down and screams (a jagged 'SSSSSS' speech bubble) into the face of the now-shocked orange-haired man, who has called out the suited man for sloppy reasoning — "...like how you reused the same variable for two things in step 8" — while the earlier line reads "Use the same logic but take away employability and now you understand what sociologists are like." The votey adds a final speech bubble: "I would have to kill you now except that nobody would believe you, and you're existence is a positive input to GDP," beneath a tiny doodled face.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.