Rational
Original: Rational on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Robot (a small yellow capsule-shaped robot): WE ROBOTS, BEING RATIONAL, WON'T HAVE WAR.
Woman (a woman with reddish-brown hair, glasses, red shirt): NAH, SORRY, YOU WILL.
Panel 2:
Woman: IRRATIONAL WAR CAN HAPPEN FOR RATIONAL REASONS. ONE GROUP MAY ATTACK ANOTHER BECAUSE THE OTHER IS A RISING POWER, RAISING FUTURE UNCERTAINTY.
Panel 3:
Woman (arms raised): COUNTRIES GO TO WAR BECAUSE THEY'VE MISCALCULATED THE POWER AND INTENTIONS OF OTHER COUNTRIES, BECAUSE BOTH NATIONS RATIONALLY CONCEAL THEIR TRUE STRENGTH.
Panel 4:
(No dialogue. Close-up of the yellow robot standing.)
Panel 5:
Woman: THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU DON'T HAVE FEELINGS AND ARE IMMORTAL SO THE SORROWS OF WAR ARE MEANINGLESS.
Robot: WOOHOO!
Votey:
Robot: GOSH IT'S GREAT HAVING NO CONSCIOUS INTERNAL WORLD-MODEL!
Robot (a small yellow capsule-shaped robot): WE ROBOTS, BEING RATIONAL, WON'T HAVE WAR.
Woman (a woman with reddish-brown hair, glasses, red shirt): NAH, SORRY, YOU WILL.
Panel 2:
Woman: IRRATIONAL WAR CAN HAPPEN FOR RATIONAL REASONS. ONE GROUP MAY ATTACK ANOTHER BECAUSE THE OTHER IS A RISING POWER, RAISING FUTURE UNCERTAINTY.
Panel 3:
Woman (arms raised): COUNTRIES GO TO WAR BECAUSE THEY'VE MISCALCULATED THE POWER AND INTENTIONS OF OTHER COUNTRIES, BECAUSE BOTH NATIONS RATIONALLY CONCEAL THEIR TRUE STRENGTH.
Panel 4:
(No dialogue. Close-up of the yellow robot standing.)
Panel 5:
Woman: THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU DON'T HAVE FEELINGS AND ARE IMMORTAL SO THE SORROWS OF WAR ARE MEANINGLESS.
Robot: WOOHOO!
Votey:
Robot: GOSH IT'S GREAT HAVING NO CONSCIOUS INTERNAL WORLD-MODEL!
Alt text
A five-panel comic. A small yellow capsule-shaped robot talks with a woman who has reddish-brown hair, glasses, and a red shirt, on a hillside at sunset. Panel 1: the robot says "We robots, being rational, won't have war," and the woman replies, "Nah, sorry, you will." Panel 2 (the woman in profile): "Irrational war can happen for rational reasons. One group may attack another because the other is a rising power, raising future uncertainty." Panel 3 (the woman throwing her arms up): "Countries go to war because they've miscalculated the power and intentions of other countries, because both nations rationally conceal their true strength." Panel 4 is a close-up of the impassive yellow robot. Panel 5: the woman says, "The good news is you don't have feelings and are immortal so the sorrows of war are meaningless," and the robot happily cheers, "Woohoo!" Votey: a rough black-and-white sketch of the robot grinning, declaring, "Gosh it's great having no conscious internal world-model!"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.