Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

## The Joke The comic opens with a statement that "recent scientific studies suggest that fish do not feel pain in the same sense that humans do." A philosopher then steps in to argue that if this is

## The Joke The comic presents a "Mathematical Fun Fact" claiming that for each of the infinite possible espresso-to-milk ratios, there exists at least one Italian-sounding name. It shows a number li

## The Joke A man prays to God asking the classic theological question: "Dear Lord, why do bad things happen to good people?" But instead of answering, God responds with a counter-question: "How do y

## The Joke A woman rushes into a room saying "Harriet, I need you to try something!" Another woman asks "What's up?" and is told "It's your entree. It doesn't look good." The setup makes it sound li

## The Joke A patient asks a doctor, "How's my prognosis, doc?" The doctor replies, "I'm afraid it's advanced." The patient asks what stage, and the doctor says, "There is no stage" -- again sounding

## The Joke Two children discover a mermaid (or merman) washed up on the shore and are amazed. In subsequent panels, they are shown transporting the mermaid in a wagon, then walking toward a building

## The Joke A person arrives in heaven and is told "Welcome to heaven! Here, we have literally everything!" The newcomer asks if they can watch a movie, and the angel confirms they have infinite movi

## The Joke A king (or medieval ruler) is asked about his economic policy. He describes what sounds like a modern neoliberal economic agenda: trading with enemies, pursuing low prices through free tr

## The Joke A woman begins by saying she has concerns about society, and a man responds with what appears to be deep intellectual humility: "In fact, not only do I not understand your concern, I've b

## The Joke A mugger threatens someone and demands their valuables, but the victim turns the tables by revealing his financial situation is actually terrible. He explains that the majority of his wea

## The Joke A bearded man (resembling a biblical figure, likely Adam) enthusiastically tells someone, "Did you know that more people are alive today than have ever died?" The caption below reads: "Th

## The Joke A scientist excitedly tells his colleague about a new form of encryption he calls "encryption by destruction." The method works by taking a piece of information, encoding it in a random p

## The Joke A parent describes what it is like being a mother: it is "the hardest job in the world," involving being a nurse, a cook, and a teacher all at once. But then the description takes a dark

## The Joke A woman asks a Catholic priest if he is opposed to gay sex, and he confirms that he is. She then asks if he would be interested in "drastically reducing the incidence of gay sex for parti

## The Joke A woman excitedly tells her partner, "Honey, I'm pregnant! We made a baby!" The man responds with equal enthusiasm but frames it in an extremely unusual way: "Oh, wow! It's like you had s

## The Joke A person who appears to be a counselor or advisor tells someone: "Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. You have three kids, a successful career, and you're a pillar of the community. Bu

## The Joke A child calls out from bed asking a parent not to sleep yet because something is the matter. A parent figure comes in asking what is wrong, and the child says something along the lines of

## The Joke The comic presents a machine that "literally forces you to simulate concepts you have never imagined, no matter how weird or upsetting they are." In the first panel, someone describes thi

## The Joke A father is sitting at his daughter''s bedside telling her a story. He announces that "storytime has gotten way better since I started watching thrillers." He then demonstrates by telling

## The Joke The comic addresses the replication crisis in psychology, specifically the controversy around "priming effects." The first panel explains that recent studies have cast doubt on so-called

## The Joke A person returns from space travel and, echoing Carl Sagan's famous "Pale Blue Dot" speech, says something like "It's wonderful -- you've seen Earth from space! It's so small... so fragil

## The Joke A student asks the teacher if they can tell them the sum of the angles of a triangle. The teacher answers "180 degrees." The student then asks a follow-up: "So we're just being told posit

## The Joke Two scientists are observing a robot that has started declaring "There is only me!" One scientist explains that they added some CPU power and the robot suddenly began claiming that its pa

## The Joke A child is playing the classic game of "the floor is hot lava," excitedly declaring that the floor is lava again. The father decides to use his "superpower" in response. In a dramatic spl

## The Joke The comic shows God being confronted by a man who demands to know: "God, does everything happen for a reason?" God confirms, "Yes, me." He then proceeds to give deeply unsatisfying "reaso

## The Joke The comic opens with someone declaring that "Scientist: giving a child a smartphone is like giving a child a gram of cocaine." The next panel shows a child using a smartphone to do homewo

## The Joke A man on a date confesses that he is not really a person -- he is a "statistics-based conversation machine." He warns that if you ask him about a particular event in his life, instead of

## The Joke This comic is a promotional strip for Zach Weinersmith's book. It takes the form of a meta-comic where God approaches a red-headed man (a recurring character meant to represent Weinersmit

## The Joke A scientist gleefully announces that he has discovered a way to detect dark matter using electromagnetism. His colleague is stunned and asks how. The scientist explains his method: he goe

## The Joke A nihilist proclaims that nothing matters and life is meaningless. Another character agrees — and then asks the nihilist why they bothered getting dressed, eating breakfast, and coming to

## The Joke A person is asked how they feel about the state of geopolitics today and responds with what seems like it will be a thoughtful political commentary. They describe how they used to feel th

## The Joke The comic shows a risk assessment scenario. A person declares: "I am a risk assessor! I designate your voluntary level of risk: moderate fuel use that is designed to reduce future burning

## The Joke Two aliens named Znurg and Zorgax are hovering in a flying saucer above what appears to be a prehistoric ocean shoreline. One alien exclaims "Oh, Znurg!" while the other scolds: "You drop

## The Joke The comic features a character (likely meant to be an alien or future being) viewing the Mona Lisa and discussing human art. The character notes that humans are "an interesting species" a

## The Joke Two people are lying on the grass looking up at the sky. One says: "Sometimes I look at the clouds, and I feel they're speaking the truth to us." The other responds dismissively: "F*** yo

## The Joke This comic is one of a series of promotional strips for the Weinersmith book "Soonish." It tells the story of a woman who realizes that if her life were exponentially growing in boringnes

## The Joke The comic begins with a man excitedly talking about ants: "Ants are super cool! They have little elaborate trails! If you disrupt the trails, the ants get totally confused!" Another perso

## The Joke The comic presents a pitch for a device: "Can I put a device in your back that perpetually listens to everything you say to companies that use that information, prevents you from removing

## The Joke The comic opens with the header: "Fun Fact: Everything sounds more impressive if you add the word 'solo.'" It then presents three panels demonstrating this principle. In the first, a woma

## The Joke The comic is titled "Funtime Activity: Applying Cosmology to People." A person with glasses tells another man named Frank: "According to the Copernican Principle, you, Frank, in particula

## The Joke A woman is explaining the biological concept of "spandrels" to another person. In evolutionary biology, spandrels are traits that are not directly selected for by natural selection but in

## The Joke The comic depicts Jesus returning to Heaven after his time on Earth and stumbling upon Isaiah 53:2 in the Bible. The verse reads: "He hath no form nor comeliness; there is no beauty that

## The Joke A news anchor announces a momentous breakthrough: after centuries of research, a new invention will allow humanity to merge all brains with computers, creating a "First United Human Consc

## The Joke The comic is titled "Compatibilism: A Parable" and presents two parallel scenes that draw an analogy between a misleading promise and the philosophical position of compatibilism. In Scen

## The Joke A woman asks her partner if he has ever tried "geek-sleeping," which she explains as a game where every time a geek says something about their favorite media, the other person offers a si

## The Joke An interviewer tells a job candidate that interviewers do not actually read resumes and just asks how long his is. The candidate is confused, and the interviewer explains it is "to make s

## The Joke A man presents a self-help scheme to his friend: instead of buying nice things you enjoy, you should spend your money on things you hate during your earning years, then sell them off in r

## The Joke Two people in Halloween costumes are talking. One, dressed as a monster, says they are going as Frankenstein. The other corrects them with the classic pedantic objection: "It's Frankenste

## The Joke A man excitedly tells a woman about precious metals, calling them "the only source of value when civilization collapses." He outlines an elaborate survivalist fantasy: first, they cash ou

## The Joke A reporter is questioning a press spokeswoman about the president's outrageous behavior: eating a baby's candy, throwing the wrapper in the baby's face, and calling the baby a "crap-sucki