Basic
Original: Basic on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A professor (a woman with long gray hair, glasses, and a brown turtleneck) stands at the front of a classroom gesturing toward a chalkboard. On the board is a drawing of a spherical planet labeled with an upward arrow marked "L" and a curved rotation symbol marked "ω". Two students are seen from behind in the foreground.
Professor: THAT'S RIGHT. NO MORE SIMPLISTIC 101 STUFF.
Caption (below panel): In advanced physics, you learn about perfectly spherical cows under rotation.
Votey:
A close-up of a person with a worried, sweating, wide-eyed expression.
Speaker (the professor/teacher): ALSO, HERETOFORE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN EQUAL TO 10. NOW SOME THINGS WILL BE EQUAL TO 1.
A professor (a woman with long gray hair, glasses, and a brown turtleneck) stands at the front of a classroom gesturing toward a chalkboard. On the board is a drawing of a spherical planet labeled with an upward arrow marked "L" and a curved rotation symbol marked "ω". Two students are seen from behind in the foreground.
Professor: THAT'S RIGHT. NO MORE SIMPLISTIC 101 STUFF.
Caption (below panel): In advanced physics, you learn about perfectly spherical cows under rotation.
Votey:
A close-up of a person with a worried, sweating, wide-eyed expression.
Speaker (the professor/teacher): ALSO, HERETOFORE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN EQUAL TO 10. NOW SOME THINGS WILL BE EQUAL TO 1.
Alt text
A webcomic. Main panel: a gray-haired professor in a brown turtleneck and glasses stands at the front of a classroom, gesturing toward a chalkboard. On the board is a drawing of a spherical planet with an upward arrow labeled "L" (angular momentum) and a curved arrow labeled "ω" (angular velocity). Two students watch from the foreground, seen from behind. She says, "THAT'S RIGHT. NO MORE SIMPLISTIC 101 STUFF." A caption below reads: "In advanced physics, you learn about perfectly spherical cows under rotation." The joke riffs on the classic physics-class simplifying assumption of a "spherical cow," now upgraded for an advanced course. Votey (aftercomic): a close-up of a wide-eyed, sweating, anxious face as the teacher adds, "ALSO, HERETOFORE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN EQUAL TO 10. NOW SOME THINGS WILL BE EQUAL TO 1." — a joke about how intro physics rounds everything to convenient round numbers, now newly complicated.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.