Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

In this comic, a woman explains: "People tend to think gender is socially constructed. I'm more holistic." Another person asks her to elaborate: "I have a set of criteria that I think are socially con

This comic is a riff on philosophical skepticism about external reality -- specifically the "brain in a vat" thought experiment. In the first panel, one character challenges another by pointing out t

This comic is a retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" with a darkly humorous twist about mob mentality and witch hunts. In the first panel, we see the classic fairy tale setup: a woodsman explains th

This comic satirizes the cold, utilitarian logic of health economics and the concept of "Quality-Adjusted Life Years" (QALYs). In the opening panel, a doctor or health economist explains to a patient

This comic is about the social dynamics and gatekeeping culture around taste preferences, particularly regarding food and drink. The comic opens with a character asking whether AI will replace human

This comic takes place in what appears to be a natural history museum's "Hall of Sea Life." A visitor asks a museum guide a question: "Yes, I do have a question. What if whales or other sea mammals e

This is a short, punchy comic playing on the trope of a villain monologuing to their defeated enemy. In the first panel, a villain (appearing to be a young girl with a sinister grin) declares to some

This is a single-panel comic built around a wordplay joke involving scarification and tree species. The header text reads: "Scarification idea: Have it look like some trees were in love and cut their

This comic features a child and what appears to be an older sibling or relative near a Christmas tree. In the first panel, the older person asks: "Whatcha doing, kiddo?" The child, a girl with red ha

This is a long-form comic that explores the philosophical and social problem of collective responsibility, blame, and how societies deal with large-scale harm. The comic appears to follow a progressi

This comic plays on the trope of a family heirloom sword being passed down through generations, with an anticlimactic twist. In the first panel, a parent or elder presents a sword to a younger person

A fantasy hero returns to his village after completing a classic "Hero's Journey," announcing that he has gained wisdom and fortitude through his quest. He excitedly tells the villagers about how he f

A scientist at a computer tells a colleague: "Wait! Look, if we change our hypothesis a little, run this other model, and then make a few tweaks to the variables... bam! No need to publish. The weeken

The comic shows someone shouting "Everyone! Fire! Go panic! Make sure to panic! Paniiiiiiiiic!" while a building is clearly on fire. In the next panel, people are screaming "AAAA!" in panic while one

The comic opens with someone asking "Are robots conscious?" A philosopher or expert responds with a lengthy explanation: consciousness requires subjective experience, unified perception of selfhood, a

A man in Victorian-era clothing delivers an elaborate, Lovecraftian pickup line to a woman: "Wanna come back to my place and perceive the twisted fringes and gibbous surfaces lurking leeringly in the

This is a longer-format SMBC comic depicting a conspiracy theory presentation that spirals into increasingly absurd territory. The comic begins with a conspiracy theorist giving a presentation, layin

The comic shows someone (likely a grandmotherly figure) explaining that "Darling, a lot of end-of-life care is performative." She elaborates that there is little evidence that it improves quality of l

A person is praying: "Dear God, why don't you answer prayers?" God responds: "Sally, you have three coworkers you personally wished death on." Sally protests: "Those were more like... things I would

A person at what appears to be a comedy show or public forum declares: "It's not fair that robots are gonna take our jobs first! If they can replace us, why not replace the CEOs first?" The second ha

An older man in a hat approaches a younger person and says: "Hey kid, you want some drugs? First one's free!" The young person declines: "Nah, I'm good." The older man, seemingly offended, changes his

This comic is a promotional announcement by Zach Weinersmith (the creator of SMBC) for his children's book "Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home." Rather than being a traditional SMBC joke comic

The comic shows a man holding flowers, apparently celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary, when his wife cheerfully delivers shocking news: "Turns out you can have a happy marriage without the wife f

The comic depicts a classic fairy tale setup: a fisherman catches a talking fish. In the first panel, the fisherman is excited, exclaiming "My god, I caught a talking fish!" The magical fish offers th

The comic shows two people observing something remarkable: a statue that appears to be crying. One person exclaims, "Oh my God! Look at its eyes! Are those... tears?" But instead of witnessing a genui

The comic depicts people discovering the interior of the Statue of Liberty, only to find it "filled with dead Frenchmen." One person suggests they should have put airholes in the statue and wonders if

This is a longer-form SMBC comic exploring the concept of declining attention spans and its implications for society. The comic begins with someone observing that "our attention spans are larger than

The comic presents a scene from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, depicting what appears to be a conversation among ancient Israelites about sacrifice and divine commands. In the first panel, someone d

The comic shows a conversation about cultural myths and universals. One character begins by noting that there are certain myths or cultural elements that appear in virtually all human cultures from th

The comic references the concept of "consilience" -- the idea, most famously championed by biologist E.O. Wilson in his 1998 book of the same name, that all branches of human knowledge should be unifi

The comic is minimalist and elegant. It shows just a few punctuation marks arranged as a mathematical-style inequality: " , " > " , " That is, it displays a comma in double quotes being declared "gr

The comic shows a group of women with their breasts prominently displayed (pixelated/censored in the image), accompanied by a fake network disclaimer: "NBC wishes to assure its viewership that these e

The comic presents a mathematical equation displayed on a board: (e^i)^0 = (2pi/tau)', labeled as "Weinersmith's Identity," with the caption stating it "has been far less popular than Euler's Identity

The comic is titled "Deceptive Conversation Tip" and presents the following scenario: the archaic English word "aweless" means "failing to inspire awe." In the comic, one person tells another, "Wow! T

The comic shows a person pitching a screenplay to a studio executive. The pitcher says, "So you won't buy my screenplay?" The executive replies, "Obviously not." The pitcher protests: "But it's educat

The comic engages with Immanuel Kant's concept of synthetic a priori knowledge, using simple arithmetic as a test case. In the first panel, a character declares: "Immanuel Kant was right! We can know

The comic is about the difficulty of explaining quantum computing to a general audience. In the first panel, a scientist announces: "Hey, I'm gonna use science to blow your mind!" The audience cheers

The comic is a multi-panel strip about heart surgery with an unexpected twist. In the first panel, a patient asks their doctor: "Doc, ever since that new kind of surgery on the heart, has anything st

The comic shows a person looking up at the sky in alarm and shouting: "Oh my God! That asteroid is headed straight for the old cemetery! I hope all the corpses are okay!" The caption below reads: "Th

This is a lengthy philosophical comic exploring ethical frameworks through a dialogue between two characters, presented as a progression through increasingly extreme thought experiments. The conversa

The comic shows a shirtless man with his eyes closed, speaking from what appears to be an intimate setting. He says: "I'd like to dedicate this oral sex to world peace." The caption below reads: "Our

## The Joke A group of Puritan-era men (wearing the distinctive tall hats and dark clothing of 17th-century New England colonists) are testing a man by putting him in a river. One exclaims, "I knew i

## The Joke A conversation takes place between what appears to be a political figure (shown in silhouette) and an advisor or citizen. The advisor asks why the administration is funding something with

## The Joke A man is praying in bed at night: "Dear God, it's Steve. I'm... having lustful thoughts again." God responds with exasperation: "We've talked about this. No praying while wearing a thong.

## The Joke A group of people are discussing the use of the word "irregardless." One person insists on not using improper grammar, saying something like "no more saying 'irregardless' to mean 'regard

## The Joke Two characters are having a lengthy conversation about the concept of "order" or hierarchy. One character (a bearded man) appears to be defending some kind of established order or system,

## The Joke This is one of Zach Weinersmith's periodic "Books of the Month" comics, where he recommends books he has recently read and enjoyed. This installment features three books: 1. **Bloodlands

## The Joke A character explains an interesting linguistic fact: "Ur" can be used to refer to the original version of something (as in "the ur-text" or "the ur-example") because "Ur" was historically

## The Joke A couple is in bed together after sex. One partner asks, "You're not faking orgasms, are you?" The other responds reassuringly, "No, I never have to, with you." The first partner begins t

## The Joke A person in what appears to be religious robes (possibly a Christian figure) is talking with another character. The robed figure says something like "It must be so beautiful to be a Chris