infinite
Original: infinite on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Man (praying, hands clasped): God, can you explain infinities to me?
God (voice from above): They don't exist.
Panel 2:
God: You have to distinguish "potential infinite" from "actual infinite." You can count as high as you want but there's not a meaningful way to talk about "the set of all counting numbers."
Panel 3:
Man: But a bunch of stuff in calculus only works if you assume actual infinities are real.
God: What? No way. Show me.
Panel 4:
Man (reading a large book titled "CALCULUS FOUNDATIONS"): What in the hell! I am freaking out man. I am FREAKING OUT!
Votey:
God's face (large, in a panel filled with enormous scrawled letters): AAAAAAA (a long, panicked scream)
Man (praying, hands clasped): God, can you explain infinities to me?
God (voice from above): They don't exist.
Panel 2:
God: You have to distinguish "potential infinite" from "actual infinite." You can count as high as you want but there's not a meaningful way to talk about "the set of all counting numbers."
Panel 3:
Man: But a bunch of stuff in calculus only works if you assume actual infinities are real.
God: What? No way. Show me.
Panel 4:
Man (reading a large book titled "CALCULUS FOUNDATIONS"): What in the hell! I am freaking out man. I am FREAKING OUT!
Votey:
God's face (large, in a panel filled with enormous scrawled letters): AAAAAAA (a long, panicked scream)
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: A bearded man kneels with hands clasped in prayer and asks, "God, can you explain infinities to me?" A speech bubble from above (God) answers, "They don't exist." Panel 2: God continues, "You have to distinguish 'potential infinite' from 'actual infinite.' You can count as high as you want but there's not a meaningful way to talk about 'the set of all counting numbers.'" Panel 3: The man replies, "But a bunch of stuff in calculus only works if you assume actual infinities are real." God, now shown as a small shadowy figure, says, "What? No way. Show me." Panel 4: The man sits reading a thick book titled CALCULUS FOUNDATIONS while God, off-panel, exclaims, "What in the hell! I am freaking out man. I am FREAKING OUT!" The joke: an omniscient God is rattled to discover actual infinities really are baked into math. Votey (aftercomic): God's stunned face peeks out from a panel completely overrun by huge, jagged hand-drawn letters spelling a long, terrified scream, "AAAAAAA."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.