dimension
Original: dimension on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman (with orange/red hair): GOD, WHY DID YOU MAKE SPACE 3-DIMENSIONAL?
God (voice from above): WHAT? SPACE IS 1-DIMENSIONAL.
Panel 2:
God: NO IT ISN'T. IF YOU WANT TO MEET AT SOME POINT IN SPACE YOU HAVE TO SPECIFY 3 COORDINATES.
God: NO, YOU JUST GIVE THEM THE NUMBER.
Panel 3:
Woman: WHAT NUMBER?
God: WRITE OUT A NUMBER IF YOU MUST TALK IN TERMS OF "THREE DIMENSIONS." WE COULD SAY THE FIRST DIGIT IS FORWARD-BACK, THE SECOND DIGIT IS LEFT-RIGHT, AND THE THIRD DIGIT IS UP-DOWN.
Panel 4:
God: YOU CAN ACHIEVE ARBITRARY SPECIFICITY JUST BY ADDING MORE DIGITS. YOU CAN ADD MORE "DIMENSIONS" BY SPECIFYING THE MEANING OF 4N OR 5N OR WHATEVER DIGIT. BAM. ONE NUMBER CONTAINS ALL THE RELEVANT INFORMATION.
Panel 5:
God: CONVENIENT, RIGHT? BUT NOOOOOO, HUMANS INSIST ON HIDEOUS MATHEMATICAL OBJECTS! QUATERNIONS? JESUS CHRIST!
Panel 6 (small, top): The woman in profile, listening.
Panel 7 (small, top): Silhouette of a person kneeling at a bedside, praying.
Panel 8 (bottom):
Woman: I CAN'T TELL IF YOU'RE MESSING WITH ME. YOU'RE MESSING WITH ME, RIGHT?
God: YOU CAN ALSO JUST SAY "MEET ME AT DAVE'S PLACE."
Votey:
God: YOU CAN ALSO JUST LOOK AT THE SERIAL NUMBER EMBEDDED IN EACH PLANCK-VOLUME.
(Below: the woman shown in profile, looking unimpressed.)
Woman (with orange/red hair): GOD, WHY DID YOU MAKE SPACE 3-DIMENSIONAL?
God (voice from above): WHAT? SPACE IS 1-DIMENSIONAL.
Panel 2:
God: NO IT ISN'T. IF YOU WANT TO MEET AT SOME POINT IN SPACE YOU HAVE TO SPECIFY 3 COORDINATES.
God: NO, YOU JUST GIVE THEM THE NUMBER.
Panel 3:
Woman: WHAT NUMBER?
God: WRITE OUT A NUMBER IF YOU MUST TALK IN TERMS OF "THREE DIMENSIONS." WE COULD SAY THE FIRST DIGIT IS FORWARD-BACK, THE SECOND DIGIT IS LEFT-RIGHT, AND THE THIRD DIGIT IS UP-DOWN.
Panel 4:
God: YOU CAN ACHIEVE ARBITRARY SPECIFICITY JUST BY ADDING MORE DIGITS. YOU CAN ADD MORE "DIMENSIONS" BY SPECIFYING THE MEANING OF 4N OR 5N OR WHATEVER DIGIT. BAM. ONE NUMBER CONTAINS ALL THE RELEVANT INFORMATION.
Panel 5:
God: CONVENIENT, RIGHT? BUT NOOOOOO, HUMANS INSIST ON HIDEOUS MATHEMATICAL OBJECTS! QUATERNIONS? JESUS CHRIST!
Panel 6 (small, top): The woman in profile, listening.
Panel 7 (small, top): Silhouette of a person kneeling at a bedside, praying.
Panel 8 (bottom):
Woman: I CAN'T TELL IF YOU'RE MESSING WITH ME. YOU'RE MESSING WITH ME, RIGHT?
God: YOU CAN ALSO JUST SAY "MEET ME AT DAVE'S PLACE."
Votey:
God: YOU CAN ALSO JUST LOOK AT THE SERIAL NUMBER EMBEDDED IN EACH PLANCK-VOLUME.
(Below: the woman shown in profile, looking unimpressed.)
Alt text
A six-panel SMBC comic. A woman with orange hair talks to God, whose voice comes from off-panel. She asks why God made space 3-dimensional; God replies that space is actually 1-dimensional. God explains that to meet at a point you don't need three coordinates, you can just give a single number: if you must speak in 'three dimensions,' the first digit is forward-back, the second left-right, the third up-down, and you gain arbitrary specificity by adding more digits, with extra 'dimensions' assigned to further digits, so one number contains all the relevant information. God complains: 'Convenient, right? But nooooo, humans insist on hideous mathematical objects! Quaternions? Jesus Christ!' Two small panels show the woman listening and a silhouette of someone kneeling in prayer at a bedside. In the final panel the woman, looking skeptical, says 'I can't tell if you're messing with me. You're messing with me, right?' God answers, 'You can also just say "Meet me at Dave's place."' Votey (aftercomic): God adds, 'You can also just look at the serial number embedded in each Planck-volume,' as the unimpressed woman is shown in profile.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.