Time
Original: Time on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A red hot air balloon floats among clouds in a blue sky.
Man with flame-like (orange) hair: WHY DO YOU THINK THERE'S ONLY ONE DIMENSION OF TIME?
Balloon pilot: OTHERWISE, YOU COULDN'T EVOLVE INTELLIGENT LIFE.
Panel 2:
The two men stand in the basket of the hot air balloon. The orange-haired man wears a green shirt; the pilot wears a blue uniform and cap and operates the burner.
Pilot: YOU KNOW HOW SOMETIMES YOU'RE GOING THROUGH A HARD TIME? IMAGINE THERE WERE FIVE AXES OF TIME.
Panel 3:
Close-up of the pilot's face, looking weary.
Pilot: ODDS ARE YOU'RE ALWAYS GOING THROUGH AT LEAST ONE BAD TIME, AND OCCASIONALLY YOU'RE GOING THROUGH FIVE BAD TIMES AT ONCE.
Panel 4:
The balloon, now white, floats alone against a black background.
Pilot (off-panel): ANY INTELLIGENT MIND IN THAT UNIVERSE IS JUST GONNA GIVE UP.
Panel 5:
The small balloon drifts over a beach and sea at dusk.
Pilot: ONE TIME AXIS IS THE ONLY STRUCTURE IN WHICH SAPIENT LIFE CAN BOTH EVOLVE, AND GIVE ENOUGH OF A SHIT TO OBSERVE THE NATURE OF REALITY.
Panel 6:
The orange-haired man and the pilot stand together, the pilot's face in shadow.
Pilot: HONESTLY ONE IS ALREADY PUSHING IT.
Pilot: THIS IS WHY GOD EXISTS BEYOND TIME.
Votey:
Close-up of the orange-haired man's face, sketched in a loose black-and-white style.
Man: MAYBE WE COULD GET RID OF SPACE DIMENSIONS? THAT'S WHERE MOST BAD STUFF HAPPENS.
A red hot air balloon floats among clouds in a blue sky.
Man with flame-like (orange) hair: WHY DO YOU THINK THERE'S ONLY ONE DIMENSION OF TIME?
Balloon pilot: OTHERWISE, YOU COULDN'T EVOLVE INTELLIGENT LIFE.
Panel 2:
The two men stand in the basket of the hot air balloon. The orange-haired man wears a green shirt; the pilot wears a blue uniform and cap and operates the burner.
Pilot: YOU KNOW HOW SOMETIMES YOU'RE GOING THROUGH A HARD TIME? IMAGINE THERE WERE FIVE AXES OF TIME.
Panel 3:
Close-up of the pilot's face, looking weary.
Pilot: ODDS ARE YOU'RE ALWAYS GOING THROUGH AT LEAST ONE BAD TIME, AND OCCASIONALLY YOU'RE GOING THROUGH FIVE BAD TIMES AT ONCE.
Panel 4:
The balloon, now white, floats alone against a black background.
Pilot (off-panel): ANY INTELLIGENT MIND IN THAT UNIVERSE IS JUST GONNA GIVE UP.
Panel 5:
The small balloon drifts over a beach and sea at dusk.
Pilot: ONE TIME AXIS IS THE ONLY STRUCTURE IN WHICH SAPIENT LIFE CAN BOTH EVOLVE, AND GIVE ENOUGH OF A SHIT TO OBSERVE THE NATURE OF REALITY.
Panel 6:
The orange-haired man and the pilot stand together, the pilot's face in shadow.
Pilot: HONESTLY ONE IS ALREADY PUSHING IT.
Pilot: THIS IS WHY GOD EXISTS BEYOND TIME.
Votey:
Close-up of the orange-haired man's face, sketched in a loose black-and-white style.
Man: MAYBE WE COULD GET RID OF SPACE DIMENSIONS? THAT'S WHERE MOST BAD STUFF HAPPENS.
Alt text
A six-panel comic set on a hot air balloon ride. An orange-haired man in a green shirt asks the blue-uniformed balloon pilot why there's only one dimension of time. The pilot explains: otherwise you couldn't evolve intelligent life. He says imagine five axes of time instead of one — odds are you'd always be going through at least one bad time, and sometimes five bad times at once, so any intelligent mind in that universe would just give up (shown as the balloon alone in a black void). One time axis, he says, is the only structure where sapient life can both evolve and give enough of a shit to observe reality. In the final panel, his face in shadow, he adds that honestly even one time axis is already pushing it — which is why God exists beyond time. Votey: a loosely sketched close-up of the orange-haired man suggesting they could instead get rid of space dimensions, since that's where most bad stuff happens.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.