Special
Original: Special on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Man with light hair: Do you believe in the "Copernican Principle"? The idea that we should assume there's no special vantage point in the universe?
Woman with dark curly hair (gesturing, on a far ledge): You mean THE COPERNICAN PARADOX?
Panel 2:
Woman with dark curly hair: In order to believe the Copernican Principle you gotta believe Copernicus' 1543 book represents a privileged moment of inflection in science. But that would violate the Copernican Principle.
Panel 3:
Woman with dark curly hair (climbing a slope): Indeed, looking at Copernicus' actual work, we find him continuous with what came before and after, citing a number of Islamic scholars, and retaining features of Ptolemy, like circular orbits and epicycles.
Panel 4:
Man with light hair: So then it WASN'T a special vantage point?
Panel 5:
Woman with dark curly hair: Right. In fact it was the MOST non-special point in the entire—
Man with light hair: STOP IT!
Votey:
(ANYONE WHO WRITES TO SAY I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE COPERNICAN PRINCIPLE WILL BE HEARTILY CONGRATULATED ON THEIR OBSERVATION)
Man with light hair: Do you believe in the "Copernican Principle"? The idea that we should assume there's no special vantage point in the universe?
Woman with dark curly hair (gesturing, on a far ledge): You mean THE COPERNICAN PARADOX?
Panel 2:
Woman with dark curly hair: In order to believe the Copernican Principle you gotta believe Copernicus' 1543 book represents a privileged moment of inflection in science. But that would violate the Copernican Principle.
Panel 3:
Woman with dark curly hair (climbing a slope): Indeed, looking at Copernicus' actual work, we find him continuous with what came before and after, citing a number of Islamic scholars, and retaining features of Ptolemy, like circular orbits and epicycles.
Panel 4:
Man with light hair: So then it WASN'T a special vantage point?
Panel 5:
Woman with dark curly hair: Right. In fact it was the MOST non-special point in the entire—
Man with light hair: STOP IT!
Votey:
(ANYONE WHO WRITES TO SAY I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE COPERNICAN PRINCIPLE WILL BE HEARTILY CONGRATULATED ON THEIR OBSERVATION)
Alt text
A five-panel comic set on dark, starry mountain landscapes where two characters stand on separate snowy peaks and ledges. A man with light hair asks whether the other believes in the "Copernican Principle," the idea that we should assume there's no special vantage point in the universe. A woman with dark curly hair, gesturing from a distant ledge, replies that he means "the Copernican Paradox." She explains that to believe the Copernican Principle you'd have to believe Copernicus' 1543 book was a privileged moment of inflection in science—which would itself violate the principle. As she climbs a slope, she adds that Copernicus' actual work was continuous with what came before and after, cited Islamic scholars, and kept Ptolemaic features like circular orbits and epicycles. The man asks, "So then it WASN'T a special vantage point?" She begins, "Right. In fact it was the MOST non-special point in the entire—" and he cuts her off, shouting "STOP IT!" across the dark valley. The votey panel is a hand-drawn boxed note reading: "(Anyone who writes to say I don't understand the Copernican Principle will be heartily congratulated on their observation.)"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.