conscious-7
Original: conscious-7 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Older bald man with glasses and a beard (narration/lecturing): "And so you see there isn't a 'seat of consciousness' in the brain. No unified decision-making self any more than an economy can be said to have selfhood."
Younger man with dark curly hair in a red shirt: "Oh, come on."
Panel 2:
Younger man (red shirt): "If there's no self, then who am I constantly lying to?"
Panel 3:
Younger man (red shirt): "Who is perpetually being misled to believe that his bad life choices were unavoidable? Who am I forever telling 'yes, we'll find love because we're above average'? Whose mortality do I deny every. single. NIGHT? Fah!"
Panel 4 (younger man gesturing emphatically toward the bald man):
(no text — he is mid-tirade)
Panel 5:
Bald man (calm): "You're remarkably self-aware for someone so self-deceiving."
Panel 6:
Younger man (pointing back, triumphant): "THAT'S WHAT CONSCIOUSNESS IS!"
Votey:
A large speech bubble dominates the panel, with the younger man's frowning, intense face in the lower right.
Younger man: "If there's no self, who is consumed by regret?!"
Older bald man with glasses and a beard (narration/lecturing): "And so you see there isn't a 'seat of consciousness' in the brain. No unified decision-making self any more than an economy can be said to have selfhood."
Younger man with dark curly hair in a red shirt: "Oh, come on."
Panel 2:
Younger man (red shirt): "If there's no self, then who am I constantly lying to?"
Panel 3:
Younger man (red shirt): "Who is perpetually being misled to believe that his bad life choices were unavoidable? Who am I forever telling 'yes, we'll find love because we're above average'? Whose mortality do I deny every. single. NIGHT? Fah!"
Panel 4 (younger man gesturing emphatically toward the bald man):
(no text — he is mid-tirade)
Panel 5:
Bald man (calm): "You're remarkably self-aware for someone so self-deceiving."
Panel 6:
Younger man (pointing back, triumphant): "THAT'S WHAT CONSCIOUSNESS IS!"
Votey:
A large speech bubble dominates the panel, with the younger man's frowning, intense face in the lower right.
Younger man: "If there's no self, who is consumed by regret?!"
Alt text
A six-panel SMBC comic. A calm older bald man with glasses and a beard explains to a younger man in a red shirt with dark curly hair that there is no 'seat of consciousness' in the brain and no unified decision-making self, any more than an economy can be said to have selfhood. The younger man says 'Oh, come on,' then objects with escalating agitation: 'If there's no self, then who am I constantly lying to? Who is perpetually being misled to believe that his bad life choices were unavoidable? Who am I forever telling, yes, we'll find love because we're above average? Whose mortality do I deny every single night? Fah!' He gestures wildly. The bald man replies dryly, 'You're remarkably self-aware for someone so self-deceiving.' The younger man points back triumphantly and declares, 'THAT'S WHAT CONSCIOUSNESS IS!' Votey (aftercomic): a single panel, mostly a big speech bubble, with the younger man's frowning intense face below it as he adds, 'If there's no self, who is consumed by regret?!'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.