maximization
Original: maximization on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Setting: Two green alien figures stand on a curved alien spaceship or station orbiting in space, with the Earth visible as a distant blue planet in the upper right.
Speech bubble (one alien): "CAT MAXIMIZATION."
Speech bubble (the other alien): "DAMMIT, I WAS GONNA GUESS THAT."
Caption below the panel: Before making First Contact with a civilization, Zorblaxians make informed guesses about their local theory of ethics.
Votey:
A single alien with a large bulbous head grins.
Speech bubble: "WOW, IT TURNED OUT TO BE *WAY* WEIRDER THAN ANYONE THOUGHT!"
Speech bubble (one alien): "CAT MAXIMIZATION."
Speech bubble (the other alien): "DAMMIT, I WAS GONNA GUESS THAT."
Caption below the panel: Before making First Contact with a civilization, Zorblaxians make informed guesses about their local theory of ethics.
Votey:
A single alien with a large bulbous head grins.
Speech bubble: "WOW, IT TURNED OUT TO BE *WAY* WEIRDER THAN ANYONE THOUGHT!"
Alt text
A black-and-white-bordered space scene: two small green aliens stand together on the curved hull of a large alien spacecraft, with planet Earth visible as a small blue dot far off in the starry black sky. One alien says, "Cat maximization." The other replies, "Dammit, I was gonna guess that." A caption beneath the panel reads: "Before making First Contact with a civilization, Zorblaxians make informed guesses about their local theory of ethics." The joke is that the aliens are betting on what Earth's ethical theory will be, and one guesses "cat maximization." Votey (bonus panel): a grinning alien with a large bulbous head exclaims, "Wow, it turned out to be WAY weirder than anyone thought!"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.