Proof
Original: Proof on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A bearded man with long red hair and a green shirt stands with eyes closed, one hand raised thoughtfully. A block of text floats beside him laying out an argument:
"PREMISE: IF YOU CAN SAVE A DROWNING CHILD FOR A LITTLE MONEY, IT IS IMMORAL NOT TO.
FROM WHICH IT FOLLOWS, SPENDING THAT MONEY IN SOME OTHER WAY IS MORALLY BAD.
THUS, WHEREAS PET DOGS COST A LITTLE MONEY, ALL PET DOGS ARE BAD.
BUT, MANY PET DOGS ARE SUCH GOOD BOYS.
THEREFORE WE MUST REJECT THE PREMISE."
Caption (below panel): Disproving the Shallow Pond argument was remarkably simple.
Votey:
DO YOU REJECT YOUR PREMISE, OR DO YOU ANSWER "WHO'S A GOOD BOY" WITH "NO ONE."
A bearded man with long red hair and a green shirt stands with eyes closed, one hand raised thoughtfully. A block of text floats beside him laying out an argument:
"PREMISE: IF YOU CAN SAVE A DROWNING CHILD FOR A LITTLE MONEY, IT IS IMMORAL NOT TO.
FROM WHICH IT FOLLOWS, SPENDING THAT MONEY IN SOME OTHER WAY IS MORALLY BAD.
THUS, WHEREAS PET DOGS COST A LITTLE MONEY, ALL PET DOGS ARE BAD.
BUT, MANY PET DOGS ARE SUCH GOOD BOYS.
THEREFORE WE MUST REJECT THE PREMISE."
Caption (below panel): Disproving the Shallow Pond argument was remarkably simple.
Votey:
DO YOU REJECT YOUR PREMISE, OR DO YOU ANSWER "WHO'S A GOOD BOY" WITH "NO ONE."
Alt text
A single-panel comic shows a bearded man with long red hair and a green shirt standing with his eyes closed and one hand raised in a thoughtful gesture. Beside him floats a mock-philosophical argument: "Premise: If you can save a drowning child for a little money, it is immoral not to. From which it follows, spending that money in some other way is morally bad. Thus, whereas pet dogs cost a little money, all pet dogs are bad. But, many pet dogs are SUCH GOOD BOYS. Therefore we must reject the premise." The caption reads: "Disproving the Shallow Pond argument was remarkably simple." The joke parodies Peter Singer's famous drowning-child thought experiment by "refuting" it with the fact that dogs are good boys. Votey (aftercomic, plain text on a hand-drawn border): "Your move, Singer. Do you reject your premise, or do you answer 'Who's a good boy' with 'No one.'"
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.