𐀀𐀩𐀯𐀂𐀰𐀅𐀡𐀄
Good thing that the species creating that history is an emotional one.
Secret Signature
The only unbiased account of an event would be one that allowed for experiencing that event directly, and from every possible point of view. No material being could ever produce or observe such an account.
Oh, bother.
Lost in Space
That's not fair. ChatGPT could generate much more believable sex talk. If you asked it. Hypothetically, I mean.
Add an extra dimension and miracles seem less miraculous.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Oh, bother.
Too old for this
I want to know where the next Adulthood Anonymous meeting is held.
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.
Lost in Space
Your first 9-to-5 job is a gateway drug.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Calendar enthusiast
Does anybody actually work 09:00 to 17:00?
Ukrainian Red Cross
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
People do in fact work jobs from 9 to 5, yes. Now, whether they actually work is a somewhat more complicated question.
Oh, bother.
I think the question is whether anyone actually leaves as early as 17:00.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Calendar enthusiast
In my experience, 08:00 to 17:00 is the standard.
Ukrainian Red Cross
Lost in Space
Albinism is associated with near-sightedness, so maybe we could fix a lot of the conflicts in fables by prescribing glasses.
Shakespeare was really crafting a cautionary tale about struggling futilely for justice.
Edited by Fighteer on May 4th 2024 at 5:47:25 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Oh, bother.
Leave it to SMBC to come up with a Trolley Problem variant I actually like.
And seriously, 501 kids? I guess some guys just don't have an off-switch.
Edited by M84 on May 5th 2024 at 10:02:22 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Lost in Space
I love these kinds of thought experiments mainly because they serve as a reduction to absurdity of the Trolley Problem. This comic's version is a little more lighthearted than the ones that were going around a while back, like "you can misgender someone to prevent the Holocaust".
Nobody actually bases their ethics on this methodology. It's just there to get people riled up.
The Trolley Problem is to ethics as Schrodinger's Cat is to quantum physics. Both are meant to be absurdities to illustrate the flaws in their respective fields.
ETA: A person of childbearing age can in principle have infinite offspring by way of their descendants. If you kill someone, you also kill every child they could have had, every child of their children, and so on.
From the point of view of species survival, an individual's value decreases rapidly once they've had their last child and raised it to maturity. They may bring other value to the table, of course, such as wisdom, leadership, teaching, or indeed sacrificing themselves in defense.
The veneration of age is a very interesting phenomenon in human cultures.
Edited by Fighteer on May 5th 2024 at 12:10:30 PM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
501 progeny is so many though. We have to be assuming multiple generations because that's way too many kids. Maybe we're better off without this dude.
Too old for this
If the trolley can see the future, can it predict how many of these descendants will become Hitlers?
Edited by C105 on May 6th 2024 at 2:50:50 PM
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.
Lost in Space
Since we are not, in fact, living out our juvenile porn fantasies, we must conclude that this universe is not a simulation.
Bit of a wonky chain of reasoning there, but I'll allow it.
Edited by Fighteer on May 10th 2024 at 12:42:21 PM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
I guess it's easier to admit that to an AI than to another human.
Disgusted, but not surprised