consider
Original: consider on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Two people stand talking in a setting framed by green leafy vines along the top and sides. One has flame-like reddish hair; the other (the questioner) addresses "evolution" directly.
Panel 1:
Questioner: Dear evolution, why is it so hard being a human?
Other person: Oh, that's easy!
Panel 2:
Other person: Consider the roach. You're a cockroach, you've been in the same body plan for over 300 million years, during which time evolution has had all the time it needs in a cushy game grooved to precisely accommodate your body.
Panel 3:
Other person: Humans have only been in their current form for about 200,000 years. Beings born in a human and expecting to enjoy it is like taking the first ever pair of shoes and imagining they'll be comfy even though they've probably just like rat fur stuffed into straw.
Panel 4:
Questioner (hand on chin, thoughtful): It's so obvious! It explains so much!
Other person: Why do you think babies start life screaming?
Votey:
A baby's head is shown mid-wail, mouth wide open, brow furrowed. A speech balloon reads: A HUMAN?! WAAAA
Panel 1:
Questioner: Dear evolution, why is it so hard being a human?
Other person: Oh, that's easy!
Panel 2:
Other person: Consider the roach. You're a cockroach, you've been in the same body plan for over 300 million years, during which time evolution has had all the time it needs in a cushy game grooved to precisely accommodate your body.
Panel 3:
Other person: Humans have only been in their current form for about 200,000 years. Beings born in a human and expecting to enjoy it is like taking the first ever pair of shoes and imagining they'll be comfy even though they've probably just like rat fur stuffed into straw.
Panel 4:
Questioner (hand on chin, thoughtful): It's so obvious! It explains so much!
Other person: Why do you think babies start life screaming?
Votey:
A baby's head is shown mid-wail, mouth wide open, brow furrowed. A speech balloon reads: A HUMAN?! WAAAA
Alt text
A four-panel comic. Two people stand talking, framed by green leafy vines around the top and sides. In panel one a person asks, "Dear evolution, why is it so hard being a human?" and a red-haired companion answers, "Oh, that's easy!" Over the next panels the companion explains: a cockroach has kept the same body plan for over 300 million years, giving evolution all the time it needs to fit it perfectly to its world, whereas humans have only existed in their current form for about 200,000 years. He compares being born human and expecting to enjoy it to wearing the very first pair of shoes ever made, expecting them to be comfortable when they're probably just rat fur stuffed into straw. In the final panel the questioner, hand on chin, says, "It's so obvious! It explains so much!" and the companion adds, "Why do you think babies start life screaming?" In the votey aftercomic, a wailing baby's head is shown with its mouth wide open, a speech balloon reading "A HUMAN?! WAAAA" — the punchline that a newborn screams in horror upon realizing it has been born into an ill-fitting human body.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.